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It took Haryana twenty long years to bring up the child sex ratio (in the age group of 0 to 6 years) to 900 as per the Civil Registration System, January 2016 though it still remains lower than the generally accepted national norm of 950 girls to 1000 boys. Nevertheless, it is a significant improvement from the 2011 Census, where the child sex ratio was 834 girls to 1000 boys, far worse than the national average.
At the same time in some parts of Haryana, there exists a growing population of young parents who are keen to keep their girls and educate them. Data from the civil registration system revealed that for the very first time 12 of the 21 districts in Haryana have reached the child sex ratio of 900 girls per 1,000 boys. The report was backed by Haryana health minister and senior BJP leader Anil Vij, who claimed that intensive inspection campaigns being run under the Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao programme was the reason for the improvement.
Haryana girls including Sakshi Malik, Geeta and Babita Phogat, and Deepa Malik winning laurels for the country in sports has been seen as foregrounding women empowerment and indirectly having an impact in terms of valuation of girl child. After the 2010 commonwealth games, Mahavir Singh Phogat, the father, claimed that more than 150 wrestling arenas for girls were built in the village.
But is sports a good enough reason to turn Haryana – notorious for female foeticide and honour killing into a state where a household without a girl child is eyed with suspicion?
Haryana is even today struggling towards creating a better atmosphere for women despite many laudable programmes launched by the State. The social challenge of preference for the male child remains deeply ingrained in the minds of the populace.
A 2014 G’nY survey of Village Miya Khandani, in Fatehbad, Haryana, published in the Vol 14, Issue 82, titled ‘Women in Panchayat’, revealed several downsides that women leaders face in Haryana, like not being able to organise any women group meetings because Haryana does not yet have any statutory provision mandating it. But that did not stop Sushma, sarpanch of Miya Khadani village in Fatehbad, from breaking social taboos while some village elders even today deride her for not covering her face whist conversing with senior men.
Sushma found herself cocooned in her veil as people spoke to her asking her to see this, read that or sign there. As a sarpanch, however, she felt the need to unveil herself when she found the veil debilitating in her interaction with government officials. It was then that she consulted her family and involved them in her decision.
Similarly, inspired by the film ‘Dangal’, the village Panchayat sarpanch of Charkhi Dadri in Kamod village of Haryana, installed his nameplate along with his daughters, in a first move ever (ToI, 20.1.2017). The villagers, both caught by surprise and delighted have emulated his example and installed new nameplates adorning their daughter’s names outside their homes. The cost is being borne by the village panchayat.
But, misuse of sex selection technology in the outskirts of the villages if not in the interiors and giving in to societal pressures of seeking out the sex of the child continues. Often, these sex determination tests are conducted by quacks adding to adverse consequences for women’s health.
The state health authorities in Haryana claimed to have registered over 380 FIRs under Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Test (PCPNDT) Act and Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act from April to December 2016.
The latest challenge before the Haryana Government officials is mushrooming of illegal ultrasound centres in Delhi, Rajasthan, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, in areas adjoining Haryana. Last year alone, over 74 inter-state raids were conducted with 37 in Uttar Pradesh alone.
In an attempt to change perceptions at the grass root level, schemes like ‘Aapki Beti-Hamari Beti’ which ensures life insurance policy for girl children, ‘Beti Bachao Asha Protsahan’ and ‘Sukanya Samridhi Khata Yojana’ have been encouraging people to invest in their daughter’s education Haryana Government also set up a ‘Haryana Kanya Kosh’ where individuals and organizations can donate for the cause.
Though some villages in Haryana are still far behind in improving their child sex ratio and have an alarming surplus of boys and young men, yet attitudes and behaviour are changing. Haryana thus presents a mixed bag of hopes and despair for girls. On one hand there are sparks supporting and encouraging girls and on the other despite improvement in child sex ratios, the picture remains grim.
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- In the Large States category (overall), Chhattisgarh ranks 1st, followed by Odisha and Telangana, whereas, towards the bottom are Maharashtra at 16th, Assam at 17th and Gujarat at 18th. Gujarat is one State that has seen startling performance ranking 5th in the PAI 2021 Index outperforming traditionally good performing States like Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, but ranks last in terms of Delta
- In the Small States category (overall), Nagaland tops, followed by Mizoram and Tripura. Towards the tail end of the overall Delta ranking is Uttarakhand (9th), Arunachal Pradesh (10th) and Meghalaya (11th). Nagaland despite being a poor performer in the PAI 2021 Index has come out to be the top performer in Delta, similarly, Mizoram’s performance in Delta is also reflected in it’s ranking in the PAI 2021 Index
- In terms of Equity, in the Large States category, Chhattisgarh has the best Delta rate on Equity indicators, this is also reflected in the performance of Chhattisgarh in the Equity Pillar where it ranks 4th. Following Chhattisgarh is Odisha ranking 2nd in Delta-Equity ranking, but ranks 17th in the Equity Pillar of PAI 2021. Telangana ranks 3rd in Delta-Equity ranking even though it is not a top performer in this Pillar in the overall PAI 2021 Index. Jharkhand (16th), Uttar Pradesh (17th) and Assam (18th) rank at the bottom with Uttar Pradesh’s performance in line with the PAI 2021 Index
- Odisha and Nagaland have shown the best year-on-year improvement under 12 Key Development indicators.
- In the 60:40 division States, the top three performers are Kerala, Goa and Tamil Nadu and, the bottom three performers are Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Bihar.
- In the 90:10 division States, the top three performers were Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Mizoram; and, the bottom three performers are Manipur, Assam and Meghalaya.
- Among the 60:40 division States, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh are the top three performers and Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Delhi appear as the bottom three performers.
- Among the 90:10 division States, the top three performers are Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland; and, the bottom three performers are Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh
- Among the 60:40 division States, Goa, West Bengal and Delhi appear as the top three performers and Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Bihar appear as the bottom three performers.
- Among the 90:10 division States, Mizoram, Himachal Pradesh and Tripura were the top three performers and Jammu & Kashmir, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh were the bottom three performers
- West Bengal, Bihar and Tamil Nadu were the top three States amongst the 60:40 division States; while Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan appeared as the bottom three performers
- In the case of 90:10 division States, Mizoram, Assam and Tripura were the top three performers and Nagaland, Jammu & Kashmir and Uttarakhand featured as the bottom three
- Among the 60:40 division States, the top three performers are Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa and the bottom three performers are Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Goa
- In the 90:10 division States, the top three performers are Mizoram, Sikkim and Nagaland and the bottom three performers are Manipur and Assam
In a diverse country like India, where each State is socially, culturally, economically, and politically distinct, measuring Governance becomes increasingly tricky. The Public Affairs Index (PAI 2021) is a scientifically rigorous, data-based framework that measures the quality of governance at the Sub-national level and ranks the States and Union Territories (UTs) of India on a Composite Index (CI).
States are classified into two categories – Large and Small – using population as the criteria.
In PAI 2021, PAC defined three significant pillars that embody Governance – Growth, Equity, and Sustainability. Each of the three Pillars is circumscribed by five governance praxis Themes.
The themes include – Voice and Accountability, Government Effectiveness, Rule of Law, Regulatory Quality and Control of Corruption.
At the bottom of the pyramid, 43 component indicators are mapped to 14 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that are relevant to the States and UTs.
This forms the foundation of the conceptual framework of PAI 2021. The choice of the 43 indicators that go into the calculation of the CI were dictated by the objective of uncovering the complexity and multidimensional character of development governance
The Equity Principle
The Equity Pillar of the PAI 2021 Index analyses the inclusiveness impact at the Sub-national level in the country; inclusiveness in terms of the welfare of a society that depends primarily on establishing that all people feel that they have a say in the governance and are not excluded from the mainstream policy framework.
This requires all individuals and communities, but particularly the most vulnerable, to have an opportunity to improve or maintain their wellbeing. This chapter of PAI 2021 reflects the performance of States and UTs during the pandemic and questions the governance infrastructure in the country, analysing the effectiveness of schemes and the general livelihood of the people in terms of Equity.
Growth and its Discontents
Growth in its multidimensional form encompasses the essence of access to and the availability and optimal utilisation of resources. By resources, PAI 2021 refer to human resources, infrastructure and the budgetary allocations. Capacity building of an economy cannot take place if all the key players of growth do not drive development. The multiplier effects of better health care, improved educational outcomes, increased capital accumulation and lower unemployment levels contribute magnificently in the growth and development of the States.
The Pursuit Of Sustainability
The Sustainability Pillar analyses the access to and usage of resources that has an impact on environment, economy and humankind. The Pillar subsumes two themes and uses seven indicators to measure the effectiveness of government efforts with regards to Sustainability.
The Curious Case Of The Delta
The Delta Analysis presents the results on the State performance on year-on-year improvement. The rankings are measured as the Delta value over the last five to 10 years of data available for 12 Key Development Indicators (KDI). In PAI 2021, 12 indicators across the three Pillars of Equity (five indicators), Growth (five indicators) and Sustainability (two indicators). These KDIs are the outcome indicators crucial to assess Human Development. The Performance in the Delta Analysis is then compared to the Overall PAI 2021 Index.
Key Findings:-
In the Scheme of Things
The Scheme Analysis adds an additional dimension to ranking of the States on their governance. It attempts to complement the Governance Model by trying to understand the developmental activities undertaken by State Governments in the form of schemes. It also tries to understand whether better performance of States in schemes reflect in better governance.
The Centrally Sponsored schemes that were analysed are National Health Mission (NHM), Umbrella Integrated Child Development Services scheme (ICDS), Mahatma Gandh National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SmSA) and MidDay Meal Scheme (MDMS).
National Health Mission (NHM)
INTEGRATED CHILD DEVELOPMENT SERVICES (ICDS)
MID- DAY MEAL SCHEME (MDMS)
SAMAGRA SHIKSHA ABHIYAN (SMSA)
MAHATMA GANDHI NATIONAL RURAL EMPLOYMENT GUARANTEE SCHEME (MGNREGS)