Check female foeticide to improve declining Sikh population: Phoolka

With Akal Takht jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh calling upon the Sikh couples to give birth to more children to improve the declining Sikh population, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader HS Phoolka in a communiqué to the jathedar has cited "skewed sex-ratio in the community as the root cause of the problem", while urging him to check female foeticide at the ground level.

With Akal Takht jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh calling upon the Sikh couples to give birth to more children to improve the declining Sikh population, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader HS Phoolka in a communiqué to the jathedar has cited "skewed sex-ratio in the community as the root cause of the problem", while urging him to check female foeticide at the ground level.

AAP leader HS Phoolka. HT Photo

Phoolka pointed to the skewed male-female ratio in the community, which stands at 1000:903. Comparing the figure with other communities, he stated: in Christians, the ratio is 1000:1023, while in Muslims, 1000:951, and Hindus 1000:939.

The AAP leader also urged the jathedar to check the menace of female foeticide at the ground level as "advertisements on television channels and newspapers were not enough".

He cited an example of a programme initiated in 2005-06 by the then Nawanshahr deputy commissioner Krishan Kumar, who had formed a coordination society of the district administration and NGOs - 'Upkar' - that became elemental in checking female foeticide in the district. "The DC was conferred with several national and international awards for the initiative. Unfortunately, instead of implementing the scheme in all districts of Punjab, the scheme was discontinued soon after Krishan Kumar's transfer," said Phoolka.