#cscibm

To understand why a program like the “Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao”, we need to know a little more about the situation of women in India. The condition of women in India is in deep marked by gender discrimination anchored in traditions, religious and ethnic.

Even though today women are important positions in government and you see more and more student girls going to high school in the big cities, the problem is far from solved on ground in rural places.

The pride of having a son is rooted in India:  boys perpetuate the father's name, they inherit the family property, they support the parents until the end and perform the funeral rites that girls are not allowed to perform. Given a girl is therefore less useful and less honorable. The obligation for their parents to pay the costly dowry for their marriage which often oblige them to save their whole lives, does not help the matter.

All of this leads certain state of India to certain extreme acts - girls are left behind after birth and malnourished, or are killed - women are killed because their dowry are insufficient for a marriage etc ...

From 1970, a turning point occurred with the legalization of abortion and the arrival of prenatal screening techniques to detect the sex of the fetus. India then resorted to the abortion of feminine fetuses. The contribution of medical technique improvements has made it possible for the elimination of girls to change their nature from postnatal to prenatal. It has also changed in scale: most societies in the industrialized world have a have roughly the same number of girls and boys in the 0 – 6 age-group. In India however, the child sex ratio decrease strongly in several state.  There are areas within the country where the ratio has dropped to well below 900 girls for 1000 boys, mainly in rural place.

Selective abortion was prohibited in 1994 by the government, but this ban remains flouted in some clinics and/or when the doctors through helping women in avoiding them to be in trouble by having baby girl. Fewer women than men... leading women and girls to be abused, prostituted and married when young.

The new flagship program of the government then takes on its full meaning for us: save girls, educate girls ... give to the women and girls an access to knowledge to master their future and enable them to survive and grow in good conditions, to be more empowered and to be able to act by themselves and contribute to  change the life of the daughters in the village.

This week, after having met Gram Panchayat elected men to confirm the 10 indicators to be used in our BBBP pilot dashboard, we also  interviewed a woman elected in a village as Gram Panchayat Sarpanch. They are few but they are here, the elected women. We met one of them to better understand what means the program for her and understand how a Sarpanch woman can help to achieve the BBBP goals... finally a long way to go in order to restore the situation, a good lesson learn for all of us:

Our sarpanch explained that even if she is elected to the government, she always take guidance from her father in-law and her husband. She's so proud of them. Her father in law is recognized since a long time as taking the right decisions for the village. Sharing our experience on women  life and condition, she explained us that her village has no concern in term of education. There is no issue due to transport access or girl safety  during the travel to secondary school as there is in other villages. They have a new school under construction, her village isn’t poor. Children and women are doing also self-education using internet and TV. However when a women get married, she stop her education because her family life and the housework become the priority for her..

Then, with the help of her deputy, a man, she explain us,that women in her village are happy as they are and don't need a lot of education: the men of the village make a good living, women do not need to work and trust the men that always take the best decision for them.  Women and girls do nothing and are happy..they don't need more. The men always protect them. She gave us the example of the risk generated by the apps on the smartphone for non empowered women and told us  their husband take care of that by controlling, their access to applications available on their phone.

How to improve the girl life condition in the village then ? Her deputy told us they would like to have more  play ground in the village to not have the women and children staying at home most of the day. Play ground may push the women to go outside and exchange with her family and the others.

To the question of the maltreatment on the women, the Sarpanch delegates the answer to his male deputy far better able to answer this question as she is the Sarpanch since 6 months only and he have more experience in this matter. They do not have this type of concern in the village. But will they know ? will the women tell it to someone if they are abused in the family itself? the Sarpanch admit that she was no aware a women help line exist until recently and wondered if the women in the village know it and will use it ...

In principle, no issue for the indian women as they are protected by their husband and family, but what about a woman that lose her husband or who have an abusive family member? what is the solution for her?

In any case, for me who came from an over-developed country in which the education of children is a priority regardless of the sex of the child, in which the sex discrimination is a real subject/concern, this discussion will remain unforgettable and allows me to measure the way off achieving the program goals. the rural environment, the cultural difference have to be taken in account, making the task complexe for the person implementing this program.

A weekend  before starting our third week  ... some of us visited the temples of Palitana. We arrived on the place at sunrise (6am) and started a long ascension while the light was coming up. I never see a place like this one, very unique, not really touristy...just unforgettable.

The Palitana Temples are situated at the twin summits and the saddle linking them. Reaching the summit involves climbing over 3,750 stone steps...big stairs and we did it!

Adalaj Stepwell with our new Indian friends! we had a course on the Bollywood position by young ladies.