DIMAPUR, MARCH 8 (MExN): The Asian Centre for Human Rights while releasing its report, ‘Female foeticide in Tribal India: India’s last vestige falls’ today stated that the Scheduled Tribes (STs), who are assumed not to indulge in sex selection because of their egalitarian practices and absence of dowry, are increasingly indulging in sex selection for son preference.
The report stated that the STs “consistently had much higher Child Sex Ratio (CSR).” “Dibang Valley of Arunachal Pradesh with CSR of 889, Longleng district of Nagaland with CSR of 885 and Senapati district of Manipur with CSR of 893 which are fully tribal inhabited districts had the worst CSR among the STs as per 2011 census,” it informed. The report stated that the Government of India had not implemented any specific schemes for retention of girl child and enforcement of the Pre-conception and Prenatal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act, 1994 (PC&PNDT) in tribal dominated districts.
The Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP), it noted, is not being properly implemented in tribal dominated districts. The tribal dominated districts such as Longleng district of Nagaland and Senapati district of Manipur had failed to utilise any of the funds released to them under the BBBP during 2015-2016, the ACHR informed.
It therefore called upon the Government of India to launch a separate scheme to address fall of the CSR among the Scheduled Tribes and further to extend the Beti Bachao Beti Padao scheme in the tribal areas under the 5th and 6th Schedules to the Constitution of India.
