Culture, Gender Bias and Beliefs Surrounding the 'Nakusa' Girls of Maharashtra

In rural Maharashtra, many parents have named their daughters "Nakusa/Nakoshi." In Marathi that means "unwanted." The parents hope the next child will be a boy. Most of these girls are the third or fourth daughters of their parents and their names have caused them socio-psychological problems. A study of such families in the villages of Satara District forms the basis of this article

Guidelines for Planning and Implementation of Watershed Development Program in India: A Review.Global Theme on Agroecosystems Report no. 48

Various impact assessment studies of the watershed development program have indicated that guidelines for planning and implementation of watershed development programs in India are evolving and updated over the years for enhancing the program’s impact. During the Comprehensive Assessment of Watershed Programs in India undertaken by the ICRISAT-led consortium, guidelines for planning and implementation covering village selection, community participation, planning process, disbursement of funds, sustainability and equity issues, implementation process, institutions, capacity building, and monitoring and evaluation options were studied and the way forward is reported. Watershed development is identified as an excellent approach for developing all rain-fed regions (arid, semi-arid and sub-humid tropics). It is recommended that watersheds be developed in clusters so that those micro-watersheds larger than 1200 ha could be developed. For prioritization of watersheds, emphasis should be on high proportion of rain-fed areas, low GDP (more poverty), prime constraint of water scarcity (drinking and agriculture), low crop yields and proneness to severe land degradation. For enchaining community participation, a knowledge-based entry point activity (EPA) is proposed in place of cash-based EPA with cooperation and collegiate mode of community participation rather than contractual mode of participation. Participatory planning involving farmers, landless people and women is recommended in place of ad-hoc planning process. Increased allocation of Rs. 20,000 per ha for holistic watershed development encompassing productivity enhancement and livelihood activities in addition to soil and water conservation activities with an implementation period of 7-8 years are recommended. Timely release of funds could be achieved by direct release of the funds to the district watershed coordination committee from the national level. Capacity building is identified as the weakest link for scaling-up the benefits of watershed programs in the country. Capacity building through quality service providers by adopting the consortium approach is recommended. Similarly, monitoring and evaluation should be undertaken by qualified and trained staff only using simple and limited indicators in all the watersheds. Detailed monitoring, which needs technical inputs could be done only at benchmark watersheds in target-ecoregions/district by qualified technical institutes. Appropriate strengthening of community-based institutions with proper training and hand-holding through quality capacity building efforts would go a long way to enhanc the impact and sustainability of watershed programs to address the issues of equity, construction of low-cost rainwater harvesting structures throughout the toposequence along with in-situ conservation measures including productivity enhancement, to benefit small-scale land holders

Unwanted daughters : Gender Discrimination in Modern India

During the past two decades, considerable debate has taken place, particularly in India, on the imbalance in gender ratio and the question of 'missing women.' However, the recent discourses in India have changed the focus from 'missing women' to 'missing girls,' highlighting the precarious situation of female children before birth, at birth, and during childhood. Fetuses have been aborted on a massive scale in recent decades simply because of gender. This raises many questions: Why are female children still at risk despite the progress in female literacy and the growing participation of women in economic and political activities? Is there a significant shift from perceived 'son preference' to deliberate 'daughter discrimination' at the household level? Are the advances in reproductive technologies helping couples to achieve the preferred family size and the desired gender of children? Is there a growing realization that daughters are rarely able to 'substitute' for sons, resulting in an intensification of gender bias even among the better-off sections of the Indian society? In order to answer these questions, it is necessary to understand the nexus of economic, social, and cultural factors that underlie daughter discrimination. Based on extensive research, the essays in this book - by sociologists, demographers, economists, and gender specialists - provide a multidisciplinary perspective to the varied facets of increasing gender bias in contemporary India. The contributing scholars emphasize the need for a change in the attitudes of society towards girls as a lasting solution to this social epidemic

Discrimination of Female Children in Modern India: from Conception through Childhood, p

In a seminal article in 1990, Amartya Sen suggested that worldwide, particularly in Asia, millions of women were missing from the population totals of many countries. He also noted the alarming fact that the sex ratio for female children in China, India and South Korea is actuall

Youth in India ready for sex education? Emerging evidence from national surveys.

CONTEXT: Sex education/family life education (FLE) has been one of the highly controversial issues in Indian society. Due to increasing incidences of HIV/AIDS, RTIs/STIs and teenage pregnancies, there is a rising need to impart sex education. However, introducing sex education at school level always received mixed response from various segments of Indian society. DATA AND METHODS: We attempt to understand the expectations and experiences of youth regarding family life education in India by analysing the data from District Level Household and Facility Survey (DLHS-3: 2007-08) and Youth Study in India (2006-07). We used descriptive methods to analyse the extent of access to FLE and socio demographic patterning among Indian youth. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS: We found substantial gap between the proportion of youth who perceived sex education to be important and those who actually received it, revealing considerable unmet need for FLE. Youth who received FLE were relatively more aware about reproductive health issues than their counterparts. Majority among Indian youth, irrespective of their age and sex, favoured introduction of FLE at school level, preferably from standard 8(th) onwards. The challenge now is to develop a culturally-sensitive FLE curriculum acceptable to all sections of society

From ‘fertility control ’ to ‘gender control’: Evidences of increasing gender bias in rural South India

“Having a daughter is like watering a flower in the neighbour’s garden.

Knowledge and Awareness on Reproductive Health Issues among Unmarried Women, with and without FLE (percentages).

<p>Note: ^φKnowledge about how to reduce HIV/AIDS transmission includes the awareness of the respondents on any of the ways to reduce the chances of getting HIV/AIDS such as abstain from sex, using condoms correctly, limit sex with one partner/stay faithful to one partner, limit number of sexual partners, avoid sex with sex workers, avoid sex with persons who have many partners, avoid sex with homosexuals, avoid sex with persons who inject drugs, use tested blood, use only new/sterilized needles, avoid IV drip, avoid sharing razors/blades, avoid pregnancy when having HIV/AIDS.</p>#<p>Any modern method of contraception includes female sterilization, pill, condom/nirodh, male sterilization, IUD, injectables and emergency contraceptive pills.</p>Ψ<p>Any traditional method of contraception includes rhythm, withdrawal and other traditional methods.</p><p>Source: IIPS, 2010.</p