A Measure of Desperation

Strict legislation has done little to control the practice of female feticide. According to the latest UNICEF figures, 7000 female feti are aborted daily in India – this figure can at least explain why the female population of India is on the decline. The latest statistics reveal that there are 927 females for every 1000 males.

It’s little wonder then that the Indian authorities have realized that the matter is getting out of hand. They have now changed tactics to try and control this deplorable practice. Instead of banning abortions, it has been decided to offer financial benefits to families which raise daughters.

It has been reported that the government will offer Rs. 15,500 rupees (equivalent to $384) as cash payment to families where daughters are born. Additionally, when that girl reaches the age of 18, the family will be entitled to a further payment of Rs. 100,000 ($2,500) – but only if that daughter is educated and single.

This decision is definitely commendable and certainly comes at a time when the Indian society is feeling the negative aftermath of the lack of female population, one must consider that the success of such a scheme depends upon many other factors as well.

First and foremost, looking down upon daughters as a burden is something which is not restricted to poor families. It is a mindset which dominates quite a few privileged families as well. For such families, more sons are a matter of prestige – while daughters are still a burden (even if they are not a financial burden). The question is how will the government motivate these people to have daughters in their families, and raise them up? Financial benefits would do little to motivate such people, as they are already rich.

Secondly, the government will have to ensure that the cash payment is going to the right people. It is entirely possible that financially challenged families take the requisite money as incentive, but use it for the education and health of their male offspring, at the cost of the same for their daughter. A system of checks and balances will have to be implemented to ensure that the female child is not neglected in these areas.

Also, how will the government determine that the eighteen-year-old girl is educated enough to be entitled for the Rs. 100,000 cash payment? It is again possible that families produce fake certificates which show their daughter to be educated while in reality, she has never seen the inside of a school or she was only allowed to study till matriculation. The government will have to formulate some criteria to ensure that the cash payment goes only to those girls who are genuinely educated.

At the end of the day, however, the monetary benefit should serve as some motivation to mothers who abort their unborn, female child for fear of being ostracized by their family in particular and society in general. It doesn’t hurt to be optimistic about the fact that a girl child who comes along with a government incentive might get some prestige in a family. However, it is too early to come to any conclusion about the effectiveness of this policy. At best, one can only hope that it helps curtail a barbaric practice which sounds as though it belongs in a history book rather than the contemporary, so-called modern world.