SOCIETY

Orissa has a problem of unwed mothers

     Cuttack/Bhubaneswar: Orissa has a unique problem of unwed mothers, the population of which shows no signs of decreasing. Thousands of cases are reported annually, out of which some find refuge at "Basundhara", a home and shelter for unwed mothers. Social activists here say that the problem has arisen because of factors like abject poverty and people not being informed properly about sex education. Most of the girls who come to "Basundhara" are mainly in the age group of 12 to 19 years and belong to the lower strata of society. "The cases are increasing day by day and age has come down to 12 years, this due to lack of sex education," said Dr. Jogmaya, Advisor at Basundhara. The girls admit that most of the time poverty forces them to into such a relationship. "I could not help it, as he (her lover) promised that he will marry, but later ran away," said Nazia, a victim from Salepur. "I loved a man who was from our village. He assured me that he will marry me but he did not. He stayed with me for sometime but when I was pregnant he left me. Now I don't know about his whereabouts," said Lakshmi, another victim. The State's Women Commission says it is not armed with the required powers to halt this practice and find the guilty. "The cases have been increasing day by day and everyone is quite worried, but the poverty is to be blamed, " said Namrata Chaddha, a social activist and a member of the Women's Commission. The commission also blames the government for not coming out with an effective law for protecting such girls, adding that so far it has received complaints from 1280 minors and teenagers since 1998. With the government turning a blind eye and social groups battling hard to meet the impossible, another calamity stares Orissa in the face.
-July 23, 2004

Abandoned lepers yearn for acceptance by fearful families

     Gorakhpur: Their lives are all about hope-hope of hearing from their loved ones someday. Shunned by society, abandoned by family, these men and women, all afflicted with leprosy are waiting in vain to be reclaimed by their families. Housed at a charitable home here, most of these people were brought here by social workers in near-death conditions languishing in pain without treatment. The home, which has close to 60 patients, says half of these people have been nursed back to health and can live with their families while continuing with the treatment. But there are no takers from their family. Attempts at relocating them have failed as the men and women, left with huge, ugly scars or crippled hands or legs face distrust and hatred from employers and co workers. Superstitious and poorly educated family members, most of who are in small villages, have also refused to take them back. "All problems are created by the society. I used to work for railways but now I am no more capable to work for them, nobody tolerates me there," Pancham, a former railway employee, who spends his Sundays sitting at the gate anxiously waiting for his son, who works in a big city. "Family doesn't want to keep us with them. They fear that the disease would be transmitted to them, which will hinder marriages of their daughters and sons," 25-year-old Noorjahan, who was abandoned by her husband and makes a miniscule living doing needlework for the home employees, said. Though authorities have introduced a series of self-help programmes, which include vocational training, farming and other skills, they say battling the mental trauma and loneliness remained the real challenge. "The patients think that they have a some dangerous disease because of which they have been abandoned by the family. The family members leave them here with wrong addresses and after sometime stop visiting them also," Vinod Kumar Srivastav, head of the charitable home, said. There are close to four million leprosy patients in the country and are amongst the high-risk communities in need of massive support. Ostracized from society and often unable to work, these people are victims of a disease that changes their lives permanently. Leprosy is a leading cause of permanent disability in the world. Though not fatal, the chronic symptoms often afflict individuals in their most productive stage of life.
-July 11, 2004

Female foeticide on rise in Himachal Pradesh

     Shimla: A large number of female foeticide cases in Himachal Pradesh have resulted in a steep decline in child sex ratio. A recent census revealed that the female ratio between 0- 6 age group had fallen to 896 females per 1,000 males, the lowest after Haryana and Punjab. The situation is grave in five districts of the state adjoining Punjab and Haryana. The skewed figures are proof of the increased incidence of sex- selective abortions or female foeticide in the state, not an isolated phenomenon but an alarming trend in many states of the country. The staggering decline in child sex ratio despite the state's high literacy rate of 80 percent is a cause of concern for authorities as well as non government organisations (NGO). "Sutra", a non-government organisation (NGO) studying the state's demographic character, says the state lost 42,000 child girls due to terminated pregnancy in the last one decade. Sandhya Gautam, coordinator of "Sutra", blames the rise in female foeticide on the use of cheap medical facilities available in the market. It also says the government's strict policy of two childs per couple has also contributed to the large number of abortions. The yearning for a son is deep-rooted social phenomenon in Indian society. "Nowadays couples are opting for smaller families. So for them an ideal family is having one boy and one girl. If they (couples) have boy as their first child then the couples generally are free to opt for the second one. I think the government policy of stressing at two children per couple puts pressure on them to go for the sex verification," said Gautam. The state government seems to be caught off guard on the issue. Chandresh Kumari, health minister of Himachal Pradesh, said the figures are astonishing as the state does not have social problems like other states which are seen as a major cause of female foeticide. States like Bihar and Rajasthan have a long history of female infanticide of girls poisoned, suffocated, drowned or left to die. Sex selective abortion is a much sought after solution to what is considered to be the ordeal of raising and marrying off a girl. "I have to look into it and see the reasons for the female foeticide. I can understand this happening in any other state like Bihar where dowry system is prevalent and people are not able to afford for their girls dowry. So they tend to go towards female foeticide. But in Himachal Pradesh it (dowry system) does not exist so why are we going for this evil practice. So we have to have proper investigation," said Kumari. Himachal Pradesh ranks fourth in human index ratio in the country. India's sex ratio currently stands at 926 females per 1000 males. According to reports, more than two million foetuses are killed in India every year through abortion, simply because they are female. Stringent laws to check female foeticide have been in place for almost a decade but they are unable to check this malpractice.
-July 4, 2004

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