-The Hindu The local community, especially men, have been roped into a project in 22 Maharashtra villages to stop female foeticide and discrimination against the girl child In India, the irony never ceases. While the country venerates several female deities of wealth, learning and valour, it also practises blatant discrimination against the girl child. Going by statistics revealed by the census and various government as well as independent studies, it has been...

-The Hindu In the State that leads in incidents of rape, the shame-inducing statistics are pushing the administration into action Time was when Payal (name changed to protect her identity), a standard VII student from Madhya Pradesh’s tribal dominated Betul district, had only school, friends and family on her mind. But her little world changed dramatically in March this year. The 15-year-old, a resident of Betul’s Majhinagar slum, was abducted in public by...

-The Indian Express  If the latest report on status of children by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation is any indication, then the fate of children in India is grim. While child sex-ratios have dipped and child labour continues to be a problem, the report states that crime against children have scaled up with no end in sight to the plight of girl child. The report, Children in India 2012 -...

-Outlook In an alarming trend, girl child numbers in India have shown a sharper decline than the male children in the decade beginning 2001, leading to a skewed child sex ratio. Ahead of the International Day of the Girl Child on Thursday, government today said that while the decade saw an overall drop in share of children to total population, nearly three million girls, one million more than boys, are "missing" in...

-The Hindu Calling the suggestion by Haryana’s Khap panchayats to lower the marriageable age of girls to 16 years to prevent rapes in the State as “illegal and ridiculous”, Union Minister for Women & Child Development Krishna Tirath on Monday said that education and awareness about the rights of women are the need of the hour. “We are in touch with the State Government and have asked them to assess the situation...