INDIA PLANS INSURANCE SCHEME TO COMPENSATE FOR GIRL CHILDREN

The Indian government is reportedly finalising a scheme that will attempt to counteract female foeticide and infanticide by offering parents compensation of up to Rp100,000 if the mother gives birth to a girl The scheme of conditional cash transfer, which will be means-tested, will provide sums of money throughout the girl’s upbringing, with the final sum being paid at the age of 18 if the girl remains unmarried. The sex ratio in India has altered consistently in favour of boys since the beginning of the 20th century, with the effects most pronounced in the states of Punjab, Haryana and Delhi, the first states where private foetal sex determination clinics were established in the 1970s. In 1991 there were 945 female children aged 0 to 6 for every 1,000 male children. By 2001 this ratio had fallen to 927 per 1,000.