Helter-shelter

A woman shelters herself from rain while getting down an auto in Dehradun on Sunday. Tribune photo: VInod Pundir

Striking high notes
Sonia Anand wants to open a music academy with state-of-the-art studio for recording and other facilities
Dehradun, August 30
Dehradun's singing sensation Sonia Anand would like to set up a music academy here in order to harness and nurture the talent available here. “I want to give back to society what it had given me in ample measure. The academy would have a state-of-art studio with recording and other facilities.

Mountaineer Aitwal, team to be honoured today
Dehradun, August 30
After successful scaling of Srikant Peak, Mountaineer Padam Shri and Arjun Awardee Chandraprabha Aitwal, along with her team of 10 members, was rendered a standing ovation at Uttarakashi.

Chinaware makes way into every kitchen Dehradun, August 30 Chinaware has become an integral part of almost every kitchen and drawing room. An art from Khurja, a town in western Uttar Pradesh, is attracting lot of attention of everybody who wants to decorate every corner of their space. A women selects chinaware utensils displayed by a vendor in Dehradun. A Tribune photograph

Female foeticide strikes roots in hill areas
Statistics provided by the Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra say female child sex ratio per thousand males in the age group of 0-6 is 918 for rural areas and 872 urban areas, clearly a cause of concern for the government
Neena Sharma
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, August 30
The practice of female foeticide is slowly taking roots in Uttarakhand that is showing a continuous decline in the sex ratio. The condition in the two plain districts of Dehradun and Haridwar is critical.

The state has earned the dubious distinction of having one of the poorest juvenile sex ratio districts among juveniles. Statistics provided by the Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra (RLEK) say female child sex ratio per thousand males in the age group of 0-6 is 918 for rural areas and 872 urban areas, clearly a cause of concern for the government.

The two districts of Dehradun and Haridwar have performed consistently low on several social indicators. “Though educated, preference for a male child is deeply entrenched among city dwellers. Sex selection is leading to a skewed sex ratio in these districts. It is shocking and must be stopped. But the practice is now raising its ugly head in the hills,” said Avdhesh Kaushal, chairperson RLEK.

“Most women are now going to city clinics to for sex determination tests and one can well imagine what this will lead to. In Uttarakashi district there are no marriageable men and women are being married off to far of places in Haryana,” said Kaushal.

Census reports have recorded a better sex ratio in the hill districts, mainly due to male migration. The sex ratio in Almora district (1147 females/1000 males) is the highest in the state. In contrast, Haridwar with 868 females per 1000 males has the poorest ratio. Four districts, Almora, Rudraprayag, Bageshwar, and Pitthoragarh, recorded a very high sex ratio of 1100 females per 1000 males) in the 2001 census.

But the juvenile sex ratio figures for the same period point towards an all-together different picture. Preference for the male child and certain misconceptions in society despite education and open environment is responsible for female feticide The 2001 census reveals a decline in the number of female children in the age group of 0-6 in the last decade. The female sex ratio in the age group of zero to six was 932 in Almora, 929 in Bageshwar, 944 in Chamoli, 934 in Champawat, 894 in Dehradun, 929 in Pauri, 862 in Haridwar, 910 in Nainital, 902 in Pitthoragarh, 953 in Rudraprayag, 927 in Tehri, 913 in Udham Singh Nagar and 942 in Uttarkashi.

“The situation is precarious for the state in general. We need to do a lot more and not go the Haryana and Punjab way. The practice can be weeded only by building awareness and bringing about change in the mindset of people,” said Keshav Desi Raju, principal secretary, health.

Bias against the girlchild became amply clear after the census figures.

Despite poor health infrastructure, the number of ultrasounds machines has increased in the state. “The problem could have been addressed in the initial stages but our lopsided views on society prevented us from accepting the facts presented by demographers. The 2001 census has been an eye-opener,” said Cyril Raphael, secretary, Sri Bhuwneshwari Mahila Ashram.

It is a fact that the hills do not have a history or culture of female infanticide. There is no apparent discrimination towards the girlchild in terms of food, medicare and other childcare facilities but female foeticide is going on even if not openly.

Social workers point out that couples opt for sterilisation only after having at least a son in the family. It is rare to find couples having opted for sterilisation after a daughter or daughters.

“An analysis of the 2001 census data points to the fact that selective abortions are being done by the urban population in larger proportion than the rural populace. The district headquarters and other towns have shown a poor sex ratio in the 0-6 age group,” says Savita Sethi of Women Power Connect (WPC).

The decline in the number of female children in urban areas “points to the fact that people with access to abortion services are opting for sex selective abortion. Clearly, the dice is loaded against the girlchild,” Sethi stressed.

Consistent efforts by Himachal Pradesh have yielded encouraging results. Pre-natal tests have been banned in Himachal and a reward of Rs 10,000 given to any person giving information about the same.

An additional development grant of Rs 5 lakh is being provided to the gram panchayat with the best birth ratio at the district level.

On the contrary, Uttarakhand has only now begun to take note of the problem by strengthening the girlchild scheme started by the central government called Nanda Devi Kanya Yojana under which families with two daughters are given Rs 5,000 in fixed deposit. The money can be utilised towards the girlchild’s education.

The government needs to bring more programmes and pay adequate attention to the girlchild. It is believed that every year 12 million girls are born in the country but unfortunately only 1/3 of those survive.

Some are killed in the womb, some at the time of birth, some die due to ill-health and some due to poor nutritional status. Only a few are able to survive till their 15th birthday.

Female foeticide and infanticide are the most popular social evils prevailing in the country. This evil is the outcome of poverty and illiteracy.

It is said that God created mothers because he could not be present everywhere. It’s unbelievable that a God’s representative is killing its own flesh and blood.

Poverty, gender discrimination and son preference have also influenced the nutritional status of a girlchild.

There are almost 75 million malnourished children in the country. It is estimated that 75 per cent of the total malnourished children are girls who show signs of chronic and acute malnutrition.

Galling fruit prices make it harder on fasting Muslims
Sandeep Rawat
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, August 29
In the ongoing festive season, the demand for fruits has gone up and so have their rates.

Markets in Old Haridwar, New Haridwar, Kankhal, Ranipur Mod, Jwalapur, Kathaira Bazaar all are abuzz these days with people. As a result, fruit vendors are raking in the moolah.

The devout are either on a fast as Muslims in the case of Ramzan or their Hindu brethren celebrating festivals like Ganesh Chathurti.

Fasting Muslims have fruit during the holy month of Ramzan while Hindus offer these to the gods as ‘prasad’ during festivals.

The rates of fruit have touched the season’s high. In the past 15 days, a significant rise in rates was witnessed.

Dry fruits are the most expensive these days with dates (khajoor) being much in demand during the month of Ramzan.

The common variety is available at Rs 85-90/kg while better quality ones are available at Rs 200/kg.

Apples too have burning holes in the customers’ pocket. Starting from Rs 80, these red delights touch the 140-150 mark in most fruit marts. Same is the case with bananas, oranges, pineapple and other fruits.

The story of vegetables is no different. Sanjana Sharma, a housewife, said that price rise had definitely hurt her home budget and reduced the quantity of food being cooked in households.

“The government seems to be totally incapable of checking rising prices,” said Sanjana.

Despite high prices, there is no dearth of customers at fruit and vegetable vends as these are an essential commodity during the festive season.

“After observing ‘rozas’ for a month, the body needs the vitamins that fruits provide,” said Mohammed Hilal, a resident.

Striking high notes
Sonia Anand wants to open a music academy with state-of-the-art studio for recording and other facilities
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, August 30
Dehradun's singing sensation Sonia Anand would like to set up a music academy here in order to harness and nurture the talent available here.

“I want to give back to society what it had given me in ample measure. The academy would have a state-of-art studio with recording and other facilities. It would train young boys and girls in music and its numerous and intricate nuances,” she said.

Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank had launched her CD ‘Rath Yatra’ with seven most memorable poems of the Hindi poet Girija Shanker Trivedi last week. She said that the CD was 100 per cent her effort, in which she not only sang but had also provided musical score.

This was her ‘guru dakshina’ to her late mentor.

Sonia who is writing a dissertation on Swami Vivekananda's musical attainments said that Swamiji had a mastery over music, though that historical fact was not widely known. She hopes to submit her thesis by next year.

Sonia had given musical performances in several cities, including Chandigarh, Khanna (Ludhiana), Kasauli, Meerut, Yamunanagar, Patiala, Delhi and 20 more towns in the past decade.

Mountaineer Aitwal, team to be honoured today
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, August 30
After successful scaling of Srikant Peak, Mountaineer Padam Shri and Arjun Awardee Chandraprabha Aitwal, along with her team of 10 members, was rendered a standing ovation at Uttarakashi.

An all-women’s team, Indian Mountaineering Federation (IMF), led by mountaineer Aitwal, scaled mount Srikant at a height of 6,133 metre above seal level on August 24.

Uttarakashi District Magistrate Dr Purshottam and IS Thapa, Nehru Institute of Mountaineering director, were among others who felicitated the successful mountaineering team.

Sixtyeight-year-old Aitwal said the team that left Uttarakhand on August 8 reached the base camp the subsequent day. Braving adverse weather conditions, mountaineers had to stay at the summit base camp for over four days and it was finally after conditions getting a bit clear that the team started to scale the peak further.

The successful team will now be participating in a flag-in ceremony on August 31, where IMF will honour the team members.

Aitwal hails from Dharchula in Pitthoragarh district. She was part of a mountaineering team that successfully scaled the Nanda Devi peak in 1981 and also a part of IMF’s sponsored Mount Everest campaign in 1984.

After Bachendra Pal, Aitwal has been among few of women from the state, who have made a mark in the sphere of mountaineering.

Chinaware makes way into every kitchen
Divya Semwal
Tribune News Service