Conversations start with great ideas and storytelling. Not arm chair critiquing and sitting back and observing. The attempt here is to get people participating in conversations and into action. To create tidal waves of social impact that changes the basic fabric of our life in India. You can participate in these social conversations if you are an Ngo, A corporate, a communication professional or just an ordinary person.
I have often sat around a dinner table with friends and complained about the state of the Nation! The corruption, the politicians, the insane traffic, the superbly incompetent BMC, the increasing female feoticide, Teenagers who drink & drive etc etc………..
The problems are all out there. The causes are also out there. It is reassuring to talk about how we are not part of the problem! There is an object or person or group of people worthy of our finger pointing!
If only the laws were enforced! If only corrupt politicians were caught & prosecuted If only (this one’s my favourite) Vilasrao Deshmukh spent a week in a Dharavi slum If only Johnny Joseph was made to drive a BEST bus up & down the western express highway…………..the wish list goes on & on
A few weeks ago I had an epiphany! It struck me that I am not a part of the problem but that does not stop me from being part of the solution! Think about it. Each & every one of us who feels strongly about the mess that we live in can do their bit to set the wrong right by being part of the solution.
I am not a part of the problem but I am definitely part of the solution. That is what helps me look positively on each day. Each one of us has to make a choice. We are either on one side or the other! This is one debate where you cannot be a fence sitter.
So! Which side of the fence are you on? What’s your view?
Many have asked does Advocacy work? Are signature campaigns for real? Do they work? Does Activism get you anywhere? I am not sure I am equipped to answer that in a simple 'yes' or 'no'
For background lets consider some facts:
a) Govt officials in Punjab discovered dozens of decomposed remains of placentas and fetuses in an unused well. A quack and his wife, were running an illegal maternity clinic 'helping' expectant parents determine the sex of their fetuses and aborted the female ones if the parents so desired.
b) On13th July 2008, in Lucknow the officials sealed 46 sex determination centers that were arranging for aborting female fetuses during early pregnancy.
c) India witnessing its worst ever gender crisis in history because of merciless killing of female feoticide which is rampant. Today the girls :boys ratio is badly skwed - we have less than 800 girls for every 1000 boys.
d) Over 27 lac crimes have been witnessed last year, and an appaling 9L female foeticide killings cross the country (Bombay or Punjab, Delhi or Rajasthan- all are part of this crime). Police authorities have been lenient, as the number of convictions by authorities are so negligible and shameful in comparison, only50 over the last 14years!!
e) Despite the PCPNDT Act (an act solely passed to stop sex determination before birth) People bribe the authorities and get away. Malpractices and misuse in terms of number of sonographies reported is abysmally low in our country. There is no mechanism in place to determine the number of sonography tests which takes place which also means no records in place.
WHAT DOES ONE DO? HOW DOES ONE STOP THIS CRIME IN SOCIETY? DOES EVERYONE BELIEVE THIS IS WRONG?
Can a PLEDGE Campaign help?
The widespread abuse of modern technology that was meant to protect the health of mother and baby has instead, become a death sentence for unwanted girls – a gross violation of basic human rights. Despite the existing law - PCPNDT Act (an act solely passed to stop sex determination before birth) - this criminal practice goes on unchallenged in absence of strict enforcement. The numbers of convictions by authorities are so negligible and shameful in comparison to the crime - only 50 over the last 14 years!!
Urgent action is needed to spread awareness of this issue and force stricter enforcement of the law to punish the guilty. We can not just be silent participants of this heinouscrime anymore.Some one needs to take the lead.
The Govt needs to be compelled and pressurized to implement the Act and punish the guilty. The PLEDGE campaign, will mobilize and convert one million signature, it will also bring sensitivity amongst people in our society and make it an immediacy issue that people discuss, ask questions, opine on, think about and act , is -my faith
“Many things can wait, but the very right of a LIFE's existence cannot. To them we cannot say TOMORROW because their name is TODAY – reason for mankind’s progressive existence”
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