T’malai on a mission to check poor sex ratio

Collector KS Kandasamy, with the help of judicial officials including district Judge K Maghizhendhi, organised a short letter writing exercise involving as many as 1.94 lakh girl students from 2,508 government, government-aided and private schools.

The venture was undertaken simultaneously throughout the district and included 6,000 girls in Tiruvannamalai town itself. “The participants were given post cards and were told to write on the topic ‘My dream’,” the Collector told DT Next. “The writers of the 25 best letters would get to spend a day with the district head to get first-hand knowledge of how a Collector functions,” Kandasamy said.

“Similarly, those among top five will get to spend a day with the district judge to experience how the courts and the judiciary functions,” he said, adding, the winners will be announced after Christmas.

The move was necessary due to the district’s poor sex ratio with only 965 females per 1,000 males. The female birth rate was 882 per 1,000.

“There is a demand for sex determination tests in the district. Therefore, we feel awareness has to be created among women how they can protect the girl child,” the Collector said.

The recent arrest of a quack, Anandi, who undertook nearly 19,000 abortions in 15 years and was known for sex determination tests, was also cited to be a reason why the venture was necessary.

The district administration also used religious fervour ofrural womenfolk towards the cause.

Thus, villages, where Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) functioned, were approached by the district child welfare committee staff who coaxed women into taking a vow in the present of the local deity to safeguard the female child and prevent child marriages.

Hence, a total of 100 women at Thurinjapuram village took the vow with camphor in their hands and many other villages followed the suit.