The Pre Conception and Pre Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Cell, a state department set-up to execute the provisions of the PCPNDT ACT of 1994 which prohibits sex selection, hosted a celebration in the Barmer district of Rajasthan, a state in northeast India, to celebrate the birth of girl children. Typically, rituals that celebrate only baby boys reflect the strong cultural preference for sons. Girls are assigned an inferior status in most of India. Practices of sex selective abortion and denial of medical care have contributed to a growing disparity in the sex ratio of the country. At 883 females per 1000 males Rajasthan is among the states with lowest child sex ratios in India. Organizers hope that by extending activities beyond conferences of experts to events that include the general population they can begin to raise awareness of the need to save girl children and chip away at the discrimination that degrades their life chances.
Compiled from: Sharma, Abha. India: Celebrating Daughters in Times of Female Foeticide, Women’s Feature Service, WUNRN (14 May 2012).