Raj govt to send greetings for parents on birth of girl child

With an aim to curb female foeticide in Rajasthan, the state government has decided to send greeting messages to parents of girls born in government hospitals.
The move is one of the measures taken by the government to improve gender ratio in the state under the 'Beti Bachaao Abhayan' (save daughter) campaign.
Director, Reproductive Child Health (RCH), Jaipur, dispatched a letter to district PCPNDT coordinators, directing them to send greeting messages by post to parents on the birth of girl child from October 2, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
District PCPNDT coordinator Rajiv Lochan, who also holds the charge of district programme manager, NRHM, said they have received a letter from the state Director (RCH) in which they have been told to send the greeting messages.

"We have prepared a format of the greeting messages and are sending it to the state government for approval," said Lochan, adding that the parents will be wished bright future, good health and good education for the girl child.
Besides, the director has also instructed to organise several awareness activities in colleges and schools of the state, he said.

Gender ratio, which is currently at 888 girls for 1,000 boys in the state, is a matter of concern for the health officials, Lochan said.
Chief Medical and Health Officer (CMHO) Kota R N Yadav also confirmed the direction regarding sending messages to parents of girl child.

Besides, the state government has also increased the amount of award for person giving information about female foeticide, he said, adding that the identity of the person will be kept secret, he said.
"Now the amount of award under 'Mukhbir Yojana' has been increased to Rs 1 lakh and will be given to the person who informs about female foeticide," Yadav said.