A Winter in India

These photos were taken on our way to the Dental school. We commute by autorickshaw, about a ten-minute ride, and then walk across the medical school grounds. Haven’t found out the name of these flowering trees yet, but they are huge and just solid with these flowers that are each about five inches across. All kinds of birds, and thousands of bees are buzzing in the trees (how poetic), and this particular day there were a group of parrots lecturing loudly. Actually here they are called Alexandrine parakeets, but they are 50 cm (20 inches) long!

Last Friday we heard a very good lecture from an excellent teacher at Maulana Azad, Dr. Pankaj Goel, professor of Community Dentistry. He gave an overview of public health legislation in India. Some laws parallel similar legislation in the U.S. and Europe, such as the 1975 Cigarette Act that required package labeling, or the 1998 Biomedical Waste Management Act that spells out how medical and dental offices must collect and dispose of things like syringes, infectious materials, and mercury. Other laws seem to go well beyond ours. The 1995 Persons with Disabilities Act actually sets aside 10% of all government jobs, including even parliamentary seats, for people with disabilities. The 1986 Consumer Protection Act covers services provided by doctors and dentists, so a patient with a grievance can take it to a consumer protection court. The Transplantation of Human Organs Act of 1994 made organ donation legal, although it is still a difficult concept for many Hindus to accept. My favorite name for legislation, however, is the 1954 Drugs and Magic Remedies Act! Actually it requires truth in advertising of products and procedures.

Of the laws he told us about, the one that seems most germane to today’s celebration of Children’s Day is the 1994 Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques Act that makes it illegal for a doctor to tell parents-to-be the sex of a child prior to its birth. The 1971 Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act had made abortion available to women without requiring the permission of their husband or family, a major step for women’s rights. But in the intervening years, it had become very apparent that far more abortions were being performed on female fetuses than male. An article in today’s paper, says that the sex ratio declined from 945 girls per 1000 boys in the 1991 census, to 927 girls per 1000 boys in the 2001 census. In Delhi, its 869 girls per 1000 boys. Between 1961 and 1991, they calculate that 13,700,000 girls have “gone missing” (the phrase the newspaper used). By the next census they estimate that 23 million males will not be able to find marriage partners. In Dr. Goel’s lecture, he and the students identified the reason for this as having to do with the still existent Dowry system. To get a suitable husband for a daughter a family has to pay a large dowry to the future husband’s family, diluting the assets of the girl’s family. Dr. Goel said, for example, if a girl’s family want her to marry a doctor, they might be expected to pay for the medical education of the future groom. Today’s newspaper editorial was calling for the 1994 law to actually be enforced. A group of religious leaders met last week to condemn female foeticide (not to condemn abortion over all, but only female-selective abortion). Although the law is on the books, no one has been convicted, or even brought to trial, for contravening it. So, as the editorial was titled, today on Children’s day, “Spare a Thought for the Girl Child”.

Still in all, children are so central here. We were at a dinner for the Delhi State section of the Indian Dental Association last night. Very fancy hotel and big ballroom, and many people had brought their pre-school aged children with them. So even during the speeches, little children were walking across the stage and none of the speakers seemed bothered by that at all.