As “behind-the-curtains” sex-selection practices continue to persist in India due to deep-seated patriarchal preference for a male child, the Supreme Court on Thursday called for stricter enforcement of the Pre-Conception and the Pre-conception and Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act, saying it was needed until there’s widespread change in mentality.
Passed by Parliament in 1994, the PCPNDT Act bans prenatal sex determination, sex selection and associated advertisements in order to stop female foeticide and address the issue of declining sex ratio. It also regulates the use of ultrasound and genetic testing equipment exclusively for detecting genetic abnormalities.
A bench of Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra quoted the Manusmriti’s famous shloka — “Yatra naryastu pujyante ramante tatra devata”, meaning “where women are honoured, divinity blossoms” — to drive home message against deep-seated patriarchal preferences for a male child and female foeticide. It also referred to a poem by Subhadra Kumari Chauhan titled ‘Balika ka Parichay’, which described the beautiful joy of a mother upon the birth of her daughter.
The Census data showed that the national child sex ratio declined from 945 in 1991 to 927 in 2001 and further to 919 in 2011, reflecting the severity of the imbalance that prompted stringent implementation of the PCPNDT Act, it noted.
“The recovery to 929 at birth signals a partial course correction, but yet, not a path of true equality and acceptability. Differences across state drive home this point. For example, Haryana and Punjab, which recorded child sex ratios below 900 in the years immediately after the turn of the century, have demonstrated improvement in subsequent surveys showing the success of the regulations as enforced and the awareness measures being implemented.
“Nonetheless, several states still do report sex ratios at birth below the national average. This shows the continuing presence of deep-seated patriarchal preferences towards a male child and the ‘behind the curtains’ prevalence of sex selection practices”, it said.
Dismissing an appeal filed by a doctor from Maharashtra challenging an order of cognisance in a case under Section 23 of the violation of the PCPNDT Act, the bench said, “It is true that in general terms, the declining sex ratio issue is better and has shown considerable improvement but, however, diluting the provisions of law, or letting infractions thereof slide cannot be countenanced… The current scenario, good, or not so good, with scope of improvement, as it may be, is a result of continued efforts by central and state governments.”
However, it said “that more than seventy-five years after we have set out to chart our own path, even today seeing posters for education and upliftment, including financial security, of a girl child is not a sight out of the ordinary, in any town or city, including Delhi, where it is most often visible on the buses of Delhi Transport Corporation.”
The bench noted that there were various schemes for the girl child such as “Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, Janani Suraksha Yojana, Ladli Lakshmi Yojana” that were indicative of continued efforts to eradicate the systemic bias suffered by girls in an inherently patriarchal system. Much progress has been made, and yet, much is left to be desired, it added.
“Consequently, the integrity and strict enforcement of welfare-oriented legislation such as the PCPNDT Act remain essential along with efforts continued and earnest, till the time there is a widespread change in mentality and what, till now, is perceived as the ‘inherent weakness’ of the woman, is replaced by true equality, when there will dawn a realisation that efforts such as these are no longer required.
“This is not to say that the laws protecting women within legislation such as IPC/BNS will no longer be required but at least, there will no longer be a question on whether a girl child deserves to be born,” the bench said, adding that several states still do report sex ratios at birth below the national average,” it said.
