By Maxwell Pereira
The Delhi Government under chief secretary Shailaja Chandra was the only time when some serious effort was made to tackle effectively the beggar menace in the national capital. The social welfare department whose baby it is to manage beggars had utterly failed despite a law on anti-beggary and adequate beggar homes in position for incarceration and rehabilitation, and police backup available at the drop of a hat when sought. No amount of court interventions and High Court directives had helped either.
Then on 24 September 2002, the Delhi High Court again directed Delhi administration to clear the capital city of beggars and hawkers as they `obstruct the smooth flow of traffic'. The order came in response to a public interest litigation (PIL) petition that described beggars and homeless people as the `ugly face of the nation's capital' and as people who, among other things, caused `road rage'.
Taking cue from the High Court, Ms Chandra latched on to me as the city’s then traffic chief to come up with a workable plan that could rid our road junctions of beggars. While I had nothing in the ‘traffic’ arsenal to target beggars, the traffic police could definitely target those vehicle owners and drivers who patronized begging and vending on the road – and that’s what we did by invoking the powers to issue direction to regulate road traffic etc - to ban giving of alms and vending activity at road junctions under pain of fine. The Traffic Police notification provided for the imposition of a fine on motorists who gave money to beggars or bought things from vendors at road junctions.
This was seen as an aggressive approach against beggary. And I was quoted critically as how beggary is a menace that "flourishes with impunity in the streets of Delhi much to the disgust, distaste and horror of the community at large. The first thing every tourist learns about India is that it is a land of beggars."
I am an avid supporter of the NGO movement and find laudable the work they do in varied areas of deprivation and discrimination. But the effective enforcement of the new rule was pinching and not palatable to the NGOs working in the field of street children. The entire NGO world descended on me like a ton of bricks. I was constrained to pick up the gauntlet to face the tirade against the traffic police move, and face the NGO music in different fora – panel discussions, conferences and jan-sunwaiis. The plight of those deprived of their livelihood by my merciless act of sweeping them off the road with a draconian law was thrashed threadbare - under intense media scrutiny.
The people of Delhi though, strongly approved our move and stood by us. The result, within days Delhi’s roads were clean of beggars, enough even to attract the international media to carry India’s this step against beggars to their own distant lands across continents and oceans.
As part of the debate while facing the NGO onslaught, when I insisted that there was a vested interest commercialising beggary through maiming and dismemberment of victims kidnapped or recruited for the purpose, an old Delhi Police crime branch study was waved in my face claiming that the study did not find any role of criminals or mafia operating behind begging in Delhi. Delhi Police’s inability to expose the mafia content behind beggary was used by Indu Prakash Singh, the director of Ashray Adhikaar Abhiyan to defend beggar community as a “distressed people” and that the police should decriminalize begging – especially since “people do not beg out of choice, but out of compulsion. How can the government say it is an organized crime?"
I am sure there is a vast segment of beggars who fall in the category described by the NGOs as “distressed people”. But I firmly believed in the existence of beggar mafias that exploit and commercialise the Indians’ tendency to gain punya by giving alms. That crime syndicates working behind begging do exist. And no doubt a large number of people are brought into Delhi for begging. I also remember reading how Professor BB Pande of Delhi University’s Law Faculty was then quoted saying there were seven gangs who controlled organized begging in the city.
True, the criminal mafia character behind beggary needed more attention of the police, even while the infrastructure created within social welfare department needed to have been put to adequate and effective use to fight the beggar menace sincerely. Given the pressures and list of priorities the police are saddled with, that beggars do not come anywhere near the top priority should not surprise anyone.
Even so, the gory expose over the weekend by the CNN-IBN TV channel of a beggar-doctor mafia is incomprehensible. That a beggar mafia exists and it tortures and maims people to make them beg. And there are doctors too who help the mafia by amputating the limbs of healthy people. The channel claimed there are more than 12,000 handicapped beggars in Delhi alone. And it is doctors like the ones they captured on sting camera that help the beggar mafia to mutilate, terrorise and live off the beggars of the city – a fact, confirmed by beggars themselves.
In the absence of an aggrieved complainant and “an act in furtherance of the stated intention” it is unfortunate that the ‘exposed’ doctors are likely to go scot free… infuriating even further and shocking people’s conscience more. Much sensation, that is all the channel has achieved. Had it consulted its own legal advisors how to go about it so the perpetrators could be effectively punished, perhaps the expose could have been better handled. But then the channel has achieved its objective of ratings. The rest of course, they expect, is up to the police - with or without evidence!
31.07.2006: 950 words: Copyright © Maxwell Pereira:
Available at: http://www. maxwellpereira.com and mfjpkamath@gmail.com
Comments
jennifer arul : Jakarta-Indonesia/ Malaysia/ Chennai : 01.08.2006
Interesting piece....if the cops in other states could take a leaf out of your book it would be nice!!
Monday 31 July 2006
Tuesday 25 July 2006
Did u know about IndiaTopCops?
By Maxwell Pereira
Not many know about the exclusive discussion forum on the web for senior police officers – IndiaTopCops@YahooGroups.com. Not even most cops! In fact, even though I could be excused as an ex-cop, I myself had no clue to its existence before I was invited recently by its moderator Nandkumar Saravade to join this forum. Saravade who is running this exclusive group with over 350 members now, is an active police officer with nearly 20 years in the IPS - currently on deputation to NASSCOM.
The IndiaTopCops forum is a free and easy-to-use service to send and receive group messages, coordinate events, share photos and files, and more. It provides a platform to the young and the old still serving – the raw and the seasoned; and others retired who are never tired but just re-tyred yet again ready for more miles to roll on with their instructional pearls and repertoire of educational yarns and experience. It is an electronic meeting place to participate and share, and provide insights to group members on this forum; meant to enable police officers to keep in touch, learn from each other, discuss matters of professional interest, post articles on new trends in policing with focus on technology, and examine governance issues facing the police service. All with the hope that it would evolve sooner than later into a vibrant online community determined to make a change for the better.
Much as IndiaTopCops is a dynamic and vibrant interactive arena for the still serving, it is no less a learning field for forgotten seniors to keep abreast of latest trends and developments in contemporary thought and events. And especially for the ignoramus often stricken by the pox of the ‘blissfully ignorant’ and yet with a tendency to think we are the ultimate – the know-alls on everything – unlike the diligent learner for whom it is never too late to learn more. It is only the latter who realises with each new day, how little we know and how much more there is to know! So IndiaTopCops is pleasantly for has-beens like me too, irrespective of the miles already trudged and traversed, affording a new learning ground with life’s each new step.
In the short span of my own exposure to IndiaTopCops forum and its archives of messages, files and folders, I am fascinated by the variety of topics covered, the level of intellectual debate generated, the quality of discussion and learning, the opportunity to read from those more knowledgeable, to offer, participate and debate one’s own point of view.
Topics ranging from (…to name just a few) Police Vision 2010-2020, developments and status of ongoing efforts at Police Reforms, reforms in the Criminal Justice Administration and Delivery System, the recent Plea Bargaining debut in India, and Trial by Media; on Police Systems and prevailing varied practices despite the unifying Police Act of 1861, guidelines for Public Private Partnership, the phenomenon of Burking, and Corruption; narco-analysis in investigation, ‘forensic nursing’ for ‘victim support’; on Information Forensics – the flip sides and requirements of law for Police Blogs – their merits, demerits, advantages and limitations; aspects of cyber crime, the mobile revolution in India, tracking criminals through cellphones; vehicle tracking devices; on ‘bandhs’ and ‘hartals’, money laundering, the naxal menace, even illegal sex selection for female foeticide; and importantly, the topic of the day – terrorism, the Mumbai blasts discussed and analysed threadbare, the defence of the ‘Intelligence’ community, especially the role of the National Security Advisor unjustly and irrationally attacked in the media.
Fascinating also, to experience the breaking of boundaries and hierarchical barriers between seniors and juniors, the superior and the subordinate – to enable free and frank flow of thought in a conducive non-intimidating environment. Reflects Prof Arvind Verma, “This is in sharp contrast to the earlier period when we had difficulty in even communicating with senior police officers. Now that this wall has come down in the virtual sphere, hope it will bring down the walls existing in the real world of Indian police and bureaucracy”.
Elaborates Nandkumar the initiator of the forum, “The dynamics of virtual groups are fascinating; a feature that catches one's attention, is the level playing field available to all. Nothing else matters than the ability to articulate one's opinions in a clear, logical and concise manner. An ideal way to overcome constraints of hierarchy, especially in a country like ours which has seen stifling social stratification for hundreds of years”
Veteran Dr. S.Subramanian finds the Topcop forum highly educative, the views expressed by young officers refreshing. He feels it is necessary for the police fraternity to set “our own house in order”, which we can do ourselves without outside support. In this context, he welcomes the discussions on internal organisational infirmities. He too bemoans the fact that very few young officers are aware of Topcop.
Already dubbed one of the most promising developments in Indian policing scenario, IndiaTopCops reflects the positive transformation in the police services with many inductees coming in as technocrats with professional qualifications impacting with their fresh perspectives. They lend a new dimension to police work, initiating well conceived and impressive projects with lofty objectives suggestive of venturing out of the beaten path. An opinion also expressed, that “some of the distilled wisdom of seniors and super seniors is flowing into and influencing younger copminds”. “All this augurs well for the Indian police where bold innovative thinking is required”.
IndiaTopCops completed one year of its existence last weekend – cause to celebrate and raise a toast. One can see it is well on its way to become the voice of police leadership in the country – mandarins in the ministries that shape destinies would do well to note.
July 25, 2006: 950 words: Copy Right © Maxwell Pereira:
web: www.maxwellpereira.com
--------------------------------------------------
Comments
Shefali Gupta : shefali.gupta@gmail.com : New Delhi/India: 26.07.2006
Glad to hear about this excellent forum.
I was searching for a way to reach some music (devoted to good cops, produced by Blaaze)
and also invite cops interested in Clean Delhi and a Womens radio program etc
D.R.Kartikeyan (IPS retd) : karthi@bol.net.in : Delhi/ India: 26.07.2006
Many thanks for your frequent, brilliant write-ups.....particularly the piece, " Did you Know about India Top Cops"?.
Infact I did not know about this interesting development......
I admire your energy, interest and felicity of the language.God Bless You!
Prabhsharan S. Kang : pskang@vsnl.com : Delhi/ India: 27.07.2006
I didn’t know about this group and cannot have any link, but this is a positive development and maybe even inevitable because the younger the age group, the higher is the computer/net literacy. (......you are an exception, with few Indian officials of our vintage being computer literate – even if they sat with computers in their rooms for years.)
See if this forum could work out practical ways of bringing the public closer to the police. To make it worthwhile, one always has to first introspect, then strategise and act/communicate.
The UP IAS officers’ anti-corruption movement is another good precedent that could be refined and widened. If the civil service/s act as a group or as several constructive groups, they can expedite reforms in other categories and help our nation achieve its potential much faster.
Sounds like a sermon, sorry, but this can be exciting.
Not many know about the exclusive discussion forum on the web for senior police officers – IndiaTopCops@YahooGroups.com. Not even most cops! In fact, even though I could be excused as an ex-cop, I myself had no clue to its existence before I was invited recently by its moderator Nandkumar Saravade to join this forum. Saravade who is running this exclusive group with over 350 members now, is an active police officer with nearly 20 years in the IPS - currently on deputation to NASSCOM.
The IndiaTopCops forum is a free and easy-to-use service to send and receive group messages, coordinate events, share photos and files, and more. It provides a platform to the young and the old still serving – the raw and the seasoned; and others retired who are never tired but just re-tyred yet again ready for more miles to roll on with their instructional pearls and repertoire of educational yarns and experience. It is an electronic meeting place to participate and share, and provide insights to group members on this forum; meant to enable police officers to keep in touch, learn from each other, discuss matters of professional interest, post articles on new trends in policing with focus on technology, and examine governance issues facing the police service. All with the hope that it would evolve sooner than later into a vibrant online community determined to make a change for the better.
Much as IndiaTopCops is a dynamic and vibrant interactive arena for the still serving, it is no less a learning field for forgotten seniors to keep abreast of latest trends and developments in contemporary thought and events. And especially for the ignoramus often stricken by the pox of the ‘blissfully ignorant’ and yet with a tendency to think we are the ultimate – the know-alls on everything – unlike the diligent learner for whom it is never too late to learn more. It is only the latter who realises with each new day, how little we know and how much more there is to know! So IndiaTopCops is pleasantly for has-beens like me too, irrespective of the miles already trudged and traversed, affording a new learning ground with life’s each new step.
In the short span of my own exposure to IndiaTopCops forum and its archives of messages, files and folders, I am fascinated by the variety of topics covered, the level of intellectual debate generated, the quality of discussion and learning, the opportunity to read from those more knowledgeable, to offer, participate and debate one’s own point of view.
Topics ranging from (…to name just a few) Police Vision 2010-2020, developments and status of ongoing efforts at Police Reforms, reforms in the Criminal Justice Administration and Delivery System, the recent Plea Bargaining debut in India, and Trial by Media; on Police Systems and prevailing varied practices despite the unifying Police Act of 1861, guidelines for Public Private Partnership, the phenomenon of Burking, and Corruption; narco-analysis in investigation, ‘forensic nursing’ for ‘victim support’; on Information Forensics – the flip sides and requirements of law for Police Blogs – their merits, demerits, advantages and limitations; aspects of cyber crime, the mobile revolution in India, tracking criminals through cellphones; vehicle tracking devices; on ‘bandhs’ and ‘hartals’, money laundering, the naxal menace, even illegal sex selection for female foeticide; and importantly, the topic of the day – terrorism, the Mumbai blasts discussed and analysed threadbare, the defence of the ‘Intelligence’ community, especially the role of the National Security Advisor unjustly and irrationally attacked in the media.
Fascinating also, to experience the breaking of boundaries and hierarchical barriers between seniors and juniors, the superior and the subordinate – to enable free and frank flow of thought in a conducive non-intimidating environment. Reflects Prof Arvind Verma, “This is in sharp contrast to the earlier period when we had difficulty in even communicating with senior police officers. Now that this wall has come down in the virtual sphere, hope it will bring down the walls existing in the real world of Indian police and bureaucracy”.
Elaborates Nandkumar the initiator of the forum, “The dynamics of virtual groups are fascinating; a feature that catches one's attention, is the level playing field available to all. Nothing else matters than the ability to articulate one's opinions in a clear, logical and concise manner. An ideal way to overcome constraints of hierarchy, especially in a country like ours which has seen stifling social stratification for hundreds of years”
Veteran Dr. S.Subramanian finds the Topcop forum highly educative, the views expressed by young officers refreshing. He feels it is necessary for the police fraternity to set “our own house in order”, which we can do ourselves without outside support. In this context, he welcomes the discussions on internal organisational infirmities. He too bemoans the fact that very few young officers are aware of Topcop.
Already dubbed one of the most promising developments in Indian policing scenario, IndiaTopCops reflects the positive transformation in the police services with many inductees coming in as technocrats with professional qualifications impacting with their fresh perspectives. They lend a new dimension to police work, initiating well conceived and impressive projects with lofty objectives suggestive of venturing out of the beaten path. An opinion also expressed, that “some of the distilled wisdom of seniors and super seniors is flowing into and influencing younger copminds”. “All this augurs well for the Indian police where bold innovative thinking is required”.
IndiaTopCops completed one year of its existence last weekend – cause to celebrate and raise a toast. One can see it is well on its way to become the voice of police leadership in the country – mandarins in the ministries that shape destinies would do well to note.
July 25, 2006: 950 words: Copy Right © Maxwell Pereira:
web: www.maxwellpereira.com
--------------------------------------------------
Comments
Shefali Gupta : shefali.gupta@gmail.com : New Delhi/India: 26.07.2006
Glad to hear about this excellent forum.
I was searching for a way to reach some music (devoted to good cops, produced by Blaaze)
and also invite cops interested in Clean Delhi and a Womens radio program etc
D.R.Kartikeyan (IPS retd) : karthi@bol.net.in : Delhi/ India: 26.07.2006
Many thanks for your frequent, brilliant write-ups.....particularly the piece, " Did you Know about India Top Cops"?.
Infact I did not know about this interesting development......
I admire your energy, interest and felicity of the language.God Bless You!
Prabhsharan S. Kang : pskang@vsnl.com : Delhi/ India: 27.07.2006
I didn’t know about this group and cannot have any link, but this is a positive development and maybe even inevitable because the younger the age group, the higher is the computer/net literacy. (......you are an exception, with few Indian officials of our vintage being computer literate – even if they sat with computers in their rooms for years.)
See if this forum could work out practical ways of bringing the public closer to the police. To make it worthwhile, one always has to first introspect, then strategise and act/communicate.
The UP IAS officers’ anti-corruption movement is another good precedent that could be refined and widened. If the civil service/s act as a group or as several constructive groups, they can expedite reforms in other categories and help our nation achieve its potential much faster.
Sounds like a sermon, sorry, but this can be exciting.
Tuesday 18 July 2006
Sunday 16 July 2006
Not Home Sex-test Kits please
By Maxwell Pereira
The unholy spectre of Illegal sex selection to prevent or destroy female offspring – at the pre-conception stage or the pre-natal, just doesn’t seem to stop haunting us. Even as the country is battling to remedy its skewed female to male sex ratio, we are confronted with newer onslaughts through technology driven procedures available in different parts of the world, which the warped Indian brain is quick to learn about and adapt to its situation and ulterior motives. All in an effort to circumvent existing laws prohibiting sex selection for purpose of eliminating the very possibility of a girl child being born.
In early July the Indian news media stumbled on to the increasing practice among Indian parents to access through Internet facilities available in the USA that guaranteed a male issue even at the pre-conception stage. A process based on PGD - the preimplantation genetic diagnosis, or the ICSI - Intra Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection technique that could make sex determination of the child possible at the conception level by taking one healthy sperm for fertilisation of the egg with freedom to chose Y over X chromosome. New techniques developed in America, which combined the spectacular advances in molecular genetics and assisted reproductive technology (ART) – to enable physicians to identify genetic diseases in the embryo, prior to implantation, before the pregnancy is established.
But PGD was developed for patients – especially those resorting to intrauterine insemination or In Vitro Fertilization, who were at risk of having children with serious genetic disorders, such as haemophilia, which often discouraged them having their own biological children. In genuine cases, PGD also offered parents to balance their family with equal number of girl and boy children.
For the Indian community in America though, this technique came handy to perpetuate even while on alien soil their ancient prejudices. The obsession for son preference against a background of patriarchal social framework (to carry the family name forward, support in old age and for performing last rites); the girl child invariably relegated to secondary status being ultimately ‘paraya dhan’ leading to economic considerations arising out of the tag on daughters as a liability translating into the curse of dowry, etc. Prejudices, under bizarre conditions that conspired to promote female foeticide! They latched on to PGD as a godsend, to eventually tutor and educate their kith and kin back home in India too.
Quick on the uptake to realise its commercial potential, websites of fly-by-nite operators sprung up in the US offering the facility to Indian couples across the globe – and true to form with enough gullible or eager Indians to bite the bait for dubious use at this end. Websites like www.meditest.com, Tell Me Pink or Blue, GenSelect and www.babyzendormentor.com which rural Punjabis quickly transformed to jantarmantar, and so on – offering home pregnancy kits for a dollar price translating to around Rs.15,000 or less. Facilities to pack a blood sample to a lab in the US to know the baby’s gender in a few days.
Protagonists of sex selection attempt to justify the practice claiming gender selection has been a quest of couples for as far back as recorded history allows. That drawings from prehistoric times suggest our earliest ancestors were investigating sex selection efforts. Of evidence in later history too of intense interest in sex selection by early Asian (Chinese), Egyptian and Greek cultures, followed by documented scientific efforts beginning in the 1600's to sway chances of achieving a pregnancy by a variety of methods. Finally, about research and work carried out in the 1980's and 90's providing possible methods for obtaining a desired pregnancy gender outcome ranging from excellent to the virtually guaranteed.
But they are criminally remiss though of ignoring the impact of the declining sex ratio. That it reflects gross discrimination against one sex within society, confirming that in India girls are less wanted. That the practice demeans women by looking on daughters as a burden because of the dowry to be paid for them and because any investment in them – for their nutrition, education, health, general well-being etc will not help the natal family’s future security.
The increasing deficit of girls is also creating a social imbalance within society, with pockets in the country where very few girls are born. Resulting in no brides for the burgeoning son population, with the prospect of having to import girls from other regions of the country. Resulting in social problems of purchasing young girls from poor regions, women treated as commodities, contributing to further fall in their status in society. This can only lead to further exploitation and abuse of women, violence against them, increased trafficking and sex trade, and re-emergence of practices like polyandry. Letting the cycle of discrimination and gender inequities to continue, fuelled now by newer and more accurate technologies for sex selection.
Alarmed over this latest threat, the Union Health Ministry has addressed the Ministry of Information Technology through the Home Ministry to initiate measures to ban or block these websites. The exact implications and the dimensions of the impact on Indian society of this new menace need study. Especially when the battle is on against the nation-wide plague of illegal sex selection through the ultrasound facility – that throws up gory cases of the Patran type with scores of aborted foetuses in doctors’ backyard wells!
While the new threats would need the attention of the expert medical fraternity to suggest an appropriate course of action, the aspect of effecting dollar payment over internet, or through relatives abroad, would also need to be looked into. There is need for the Ministries of Science & Technology, of Communications and Information Technology, of Finance and Revenue (Income Tax) to be sensitive to the issue and be involved.
16.07.2006: Copyright © Maxwell Pereira:
Website: http://www. maxwellpereira.com ; email: mfjpkamath@gmail.com
The unholy spectre of Illegal sex selection to prevent or destroy female offspring – at the pre-conception stage or the pre-natal, just doesn’t seem to stop haunting us. Even as the country is battling to remedy its skewed female to male sex ratio, we are confronted with newer onslaughts through technology driven procedures available in different parts of the world, which the warped Indian brain is quick to learn about and adapt to its situation and ulterior motives. All in an effort to circumvent existing laws prohibiting sex selection for purpose of eliminating the very possibility of a girl child being born.
In early July the Indian news media stumbled on to the increasing practice among Indian parents to access through Internet facilities available in the USA that guaranteed a male issue even at the pre-conception stage. A process based on PGD - the preimplantation genetic diagnosis, or the ICSI - Intra Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection technique that could make sex determination of the child possible at the conception level by taking one healthy sperm for fertilisation of the egg with freedom to chose Y over X chromosome. New techniques developed in America, which combined the spectacular advances in molecular genetics and assisted reproductive technology (ART) – to enable physicians to identify genetic diseases in the embryo, prior to implantation, before the pregnancy is established.
But PGD was developed for patients – especially those resorting to intrauterine insemination or In Vitro Fertilization, who were at risk of having children with serious genetic disorders, such as haemophilia, which often discouraged them having their own biological children. In genuine cases, PGD also offered parents to balance their family with equal number of girl and boy children.
For the Indian community in America though, this technique came handy to perpetuate even while on alien soil their ancient prejudices. The obsession for son preference against a background of patriarchal social framework (to carry the family name forward, support in old age and for performing last rites); the girl child invariably relegated to secondary status being ultimately ‘paraya dhan’ leading to economic considerations arising out of the tag on daughters as a liability translating into the curse of dowry, etc. Prejudices, under bizarre conditions that conspired to promote female foeticide! They latched on to PGD as a godsend, to eventually tutor and educate their kith and kin back home in India too.
Quick on the uptake to realise its commercial potential, websites of fly-by-nite operators sprung up in the US offering the facility to Indian couples across the globe – and true to form with enough gullible or eager Indians to bite the bait for dubious use at this end. Websites like www.meditest.com, Tell Me Pink or Blue, GenSelect and www.babyzendormentor.com which rural Punjabis quickly transformed to jantarmantar, and so on – offering home pregnancy kits for a dollar price translating to around Rs.15,000 or less. Facilities to pack a blood sample to a lab in the US to know the baby’s gender in a few days.
Protagonists of sex selection attempt to justify the practice claiming gender selection has been a quest of couples for as far back as recorded history allows. That drawings from prehistoric times suggest our earliest ancestors were investigating sex selection efforts. Of evidence in later history too of intense interest in sex selection by early Asian (Chinese), Egyptian and Greek cultures, followed by documented scientific efforts beginning in the 1600's to sway chances of achieving a pregnancy by a variety of methods. Finally, about research and work carried out in the 1980's and 90's providing possible methods for obtaining a desired pregnancy gender outcome ranging from excellent to the virtually guaranteed.
But they are criminally remiss though of ignoring the impact of the declining sex ratio. That it reflects gross discrimination against one sex within society, confirming that in India girls are less wanted. That the practice demeans women by looking on daughters as a burden because of the dowry to be paid for them and because any investment in them – for their nutrition, education, health, general well-being etc will not help the natal family’s future security.
The increasing deficit of girls is also creating a social imbalance within society, with pockets in the country where very few girls are born. Resulting in no brides for the burgeoning son population, with the prospect of having to import girls from other regions of the country. Resulting in social problems of purchasing young girls from poor regions, women treated as commodities, contributing to further fall in their status in society. This can only lead to further exploitation and abuse of women, violence against them, increased trafficking and sex trade, and re-emergence of practices like polyandry. Letting the cycle of discrimination and gender inequities to continue, fuelled now by newer and more accurate technologies for sex selection.
Alarmed over this latest threat, the Union Health Ministry has addressed the Ministry of Information Technology through the Home Ministry to initiate measures to ban or block these websites. The exact implications and the dimensions of the impact on Indian society of this new menace need study. Especially when the battle is on against the nation-wide plague of illegal sex selection through the ultrasound facility – that throws up gory cases of the Patran type with scores of aborted foetuses in doctors’ backyard wells!
While the new threats would need the attention of the expert medical fraternity to suggest an appropriate course of action, the aspect of effecting dollar payment over internet, or through relatives abroad, would also need to be looked into. There is need for the Ministries of Science & Technology, of Communications and Information Technology, of Finance and Revenue (Income Tax) to be sensitive to the issue and be involved.
16.07.2006: Copyright © Maxwell Pereira:
Website: http://www. maxwellpereira.com ; email: mfjpkamath@gmail.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)