Female foeticide is assuming alarming proportions in Punjab ... with a pronounced feudal culture. Census figures for nearly a century showed Punjab's overall sex ratio as always less than 900 females per 1,000 males, due to female infanticide and female mortality ... The 1991 census shows 888 women per 1,000 men. In comparison, the overall sex ratio of the country is 929 women per 1,000 men. According to the 1991 census, 3 of the 4 Indian districts with the lowest female child ratio are from Punjab. The female sex ratio is 861 in Amritsar ... 863 in Faridkot and 865 in Bathinda ...

Gender bias is not determined by the prevalent economic status of a region. In a state like Kerala the sex ratio is favourable to women (1032) while in Punjab, one of the country's most affluent states, it is even below the Regulation Bill was introduced in Parliament in 1991 and passed in 1994 ...

The Central Act was enforced in Punjab with effect from January 1, 1996, making the Punjab Act of 1994 redundant. According to the Central Act the appropriate authority was to be appointed by the state for effective implementation of the Central Act. But this was done only in December, 1997 when the Director Health Services and Family Welfare, Punjab was appointed the authority

Yet hoardings proclaiming the X-Y separation stare at you on the highways and in the cities. Advertisements of clinics continue to scream from the newspapers ...