Peace in every home, every street, every village, every country ~ this is my dream. Education for every boy and every girl in the world.
~ Malala Yousafzai

In her autobiographical memoir, I am Malala, Malala Yousafzai initiates her journey on a rather perturbing note. In the chapter ‘A Daughter is Born’, she doesn’t forget to mention: ‘When I was born, people in our village commiserated with my mother and nobody congratulated my father.’ She goes on to add: ‘I was a girl in a land where rifles are fired in celebration of a son, while daughters are hidden away behind a curtain, their role in life simply to prepare food and give birth to children.’

Malala’s observation is not only an issue of concern in the circumstance of Pakistan, but it also rings true in the context of the entire Indian subcontinent as well. Sadly though, even today, in most parts of the country, the birth of the girl child is not welcome. Malala’s candid observation is symptomatic of a greater socio-cultural malady in the subcontinent that needs to be redressed with utmost urgency.

The exigency is a desperate one, more so, as there seems to be an inherent social resistance that thwarts the successful implementation of various social welfare schemes specifically directed towards women’s welfare and empowerment of the girl child. In stray cases of success of certain schemes, the overall bleak scenario seems to drown and obscure the silver lining. Yet one has to be an incorrigible optimist and strive for the turn of the tide.

As Malala laments in her autobiography, right from her birth, she had been perceived as a liability, being subject to inequity, prejudice and subjugation at each and every stage of her early life. The instance of Malala underlines the enormity of the problem both in the rural and the urban sector of the Indian subcontinent.

Inevitably, it cannot be denied that gender prejudice lies at the root of neglect of the girl child, especially as regards crucial issues like education, health care and financial empowerment. Reversal of this deep rooted social bias is of strategic significance in the state’s fight for empowerment of the girl child.  Her overall security and upbringing is precious; not only for today but for the future as well. To take care of the future of women’s empowerment it is imperative to ensure the security and upbringing of the girl child of today. Against the onslaught of the predominantly all male set-up, there is very little choice for the hapless victim except to haplessly surrender to its whims and fancies of the patriarchal society. Along with the scourge of abject neglect and apathy, comes the looming spectre of abuse and exploitation of the girl child in her growing-up period.

Discrimination against the girl child, an integral part of Indian society, operates in a vicious manner in multiple ways. Be it urban or rural, the birth of a girl child is not only unwelcome, but unfortunately seen as a burden. As a consequence of such a flawed perception, cases of female infanticide continue to be reported from different parts of the country on a regular basis, even today. This has a direct bearing on the sex ratio. The shocking condition of the sex ratio can be easily perceived from observations made on the census of India website: ‘Like the sex composition of the total population, the sex composition by age groups is vital for studying the demographic trends of the young population, its future patterns and particularly the status of the girl child.’

The report further states that ‘at the census 2001, sex ratio of the population in the age group 0-6 years has been registered as 927 in India, declining from 945 in 1991 and 962 in 1981’. ‘The decreasing sex ratio in this age group’ as the report adds, ‘has a cascading effect on population over a period of time leading to diminishing sex ratio in the country.’ The website warns in its report that ‘one thing is clear ~ the imbalance that has set in

at this early age group is difficult to be removed and would remain to haunt the population for a long time to come.’ An alarming ratio reflects a host of other social maladies which further exacerbates the plight of the Indian girl child in the short term and frustrates the much cherished distant dream of women’s empowerment in the long run.

With due candour, it must be admitted that the central and the state governments are leaving no stone unturned to improve and recover the situation. Besides the resounding recent success of the West Bengal government’s Kanyashree Prakalpo, the nation has witnessed a spate of several other social welfare schemes to alleviate the position of the girl child. Most notable among these include but are not necessarily limited to Beti Padho, Beti Bachao or the BPBB scheme, the Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya project, the Ladli Laxmi Yojana of the Madhya Pradesh government, the Sabla, Dhanalakshmi, Kishori Shakti Yojana, and the Sukanaya Samriddhi Yojana among several others.

For a definite change for the better, the society requires a paradigm shift in its attitude that underlines the needs of the girl child. In this context, the key to success lies in systematically breaking the myths and typecasts that revolve around gender issues. Education in itself has a key role to play. One should understand that the importance of educating the girl child is not only confined to long-term financial empowerment and autonomy, but that it paves the way for better empowered homemakers, sisters, mothers and grandmothers.

Education, irrespective of age, would aid women in increasing their self-esteem, carving out an affirmative, positive self-worth that would definitely go a long way in augmenting their confidence levels in life, making them conscious that they are entitled to equal participation and share in all issues of life.

In her memoir, Malala Yousafzai describes her conversation with Barack Obama in the White House: ‘It was quite a serious meeting. We talked about the importance of education…I told him that instead of focusing on eradicating terrorism through war, he should focus on eradicating it through education.’

(The writer is currently the Dean of Arts, St Xavier‘s College (Autonomous), Kolkata)