BADAL SEEKS COOPERATION OF JUDICIARY,
LEGISLATURE, EXECUTIVE AND MEDIA INERADICATING FEMALE FOETICIDE
& DRUG ADDICTION
MOONAK (SANGRUR), Mar. 15, 2008
Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal today asked the
judiciary to play a pro-active role in the eradication of female
foeticide & drug dedication through launching a social campaign
in unison with legislature, executive and media through their
complete involvement and commitment.
These views were expressed by Mr. Badal during a seminar on ‘Eradication
of female foeticide & drug De-addiction’
organized by the Punjab Legal Services Authority here at the newly
inaugurated Court complex by the Chief Justice of Supreme Court
of India Mr. Justice K.G. Balakrishnan. Mr. Badal appreciated
the role of Chief Justice of Punjab & Haryana High Court Mr.
Justice Vijender Jain for launching a crusade against these two
social maladies which had brought bad name to the state of Punjab
which was considered to be the pious land of gurus, saints , seers
, rishis and munis.
The Chief Minister urged the Chief Justice of India to enact
laws to protect the right of the women because they were still
being denied equal status and equal rights. “
This is the result of the deep rooted social evil and feudal mind
set of our humanityâ€, observed Mr. Badal . He
informed the Chief Justice that with the persistent efforts of
the state government and judiciary under the stewardship of Mr.
Justice Vijender Jain the child sex ratio had considerably improved
to 818 from 798 as per Sample Registration System (SRS) of Government
of India.
While addressing the Chief Justice of Supreme Court Mr. Justice
K.G. Balakrishnan underscored the need to provide judicial services
with in a radius of 20 to 25 K.M. by setting up at least a court
of Civil Judge , Junior Division to enable the people to get speedy
and inexpensive justice. He said he had been pressing the Chief
Justices and Chief Ministers of all the states to initiate joint
efforts to setup such courts which would prove to be an effective
step to combat the problem of the mounting arrears of pending
cases. He also emphasized the need to recruit more judicial officers
to resolve the pendency of cases.
Chief Justice of India also urged the people to avoid direct
filing of their cases in the courts rather should seriously strive
hard to resolve them initially at the village level through the
involvement of elders and senior and respectable persons, he said
this would not only save common man’s time
money and energy but also save court’s precious
time wasted in unwarranted litigation. He appreciated Mr. Justice
Vijender Jain being a great crusader for the cause of female foeticide
and drug deduction in Punjab. Mr. Justice Balakrishnan bemoaned
that Punjab being the most advanced state in the country should
educate its people by launching a social campaign to bring awareness
among the masses on this count. He said the problem of female
foeticide was hardly an issue in Kerala State to which he belonged.
He said education was the prime factor which could help in resolving
these social evils because an educated person could decide his
or her destiny rationally which would ultimately vanish such evils
from the society.
In his presidential address Chief Justice Punjab & Haryana
High Court, Mr. Justice Vijender Jain said that society must be
sensitized towards the injustice meted out to the women. He said
law alone could not provide justice in this regard and urged the
NGO’s to play a constrictive role to curb these
unhealthy practices thereby motivating the youth to change their
mindset towards this dogmatic approach. He commended the Chief
Minister for all support and cooperation for the up gradation
of judicial infrastructure in the state.
Speaking on the occasion, Supreme Court Judge Mr. Justice Ashok
Bhan said that the problem of female foeticide was a slur on the
fair name of the prosperous and the most advanced state like Punjab
which tops in the adverse sex-ratio and emphasized the need to
protect the fast disappearing girl’s child
from the society. He also expressed grave concern over the menace
of drug addiction especially among the youth which was catching
up fast due to the affluence and frustration and this trend must
be reversed otherwise it would have serious implication in the
society. Mr. Justice Ashok Bhan, in all humility claimed that
though he was not in favor of racism but still the adverse sex
ratio was a pointer towards the fact that future generations could
face a sort of socio-cultural crisis when our Punjabi boys would
not be able to find compatible life partners within their own
community or clan.
Expressing his views on the gender bias, Supreme Court Judge
Mr. Justice A.K. Mathur said : “ This is also
time to examine all aspects of the gender bias to avoid distortions
in society. The most important reason appears to be the rationale
that only males can carry forward the lineage, these days there
is hardly any difference between a girl and boy child in the society
expect in our minds.†He stressed the need to
change our mind set and one should be thankful to be blessed with
a healthy and normal child to perpetuate the life through one’s
genes that continue in either case.
In his address, the Supreme Court Judge Mr. Justice H.S. Bedi
said that the social problems of drug addiction and female foeticide
were really alarming and the masses should be sensitized towards
these evils which were bent upon to tarnish the very social fabrics
of our society. He lauded the role of Punjab Legal Services Authority
for playing an active role to curb these unhealthy practices.
He also asked the state government to provide better infrastructure
in terms of judicial court complexes & lawyer chambers to
enable the judicial officer’s and lawyers to
discharge their duties efficiently.
Leader of the opposition, Mrs. Rajinder Kaur Bhattal appreciated
the efforts of Punjab Legal Services Authority for organizing
this seminar on the crucial issues that had affected our society
substantially. She hoped this seminar would prove to be a milestone
in bringing social awaking on female foeticide and drug addiction.
The seminar was attended by the judges of the Punjab & Haryana
High court, District & Sessions Judges , Senior officers of
Civil & Police administration Law officers, Members of the
judiciary and layers, eminent jurists besides Member of Parliament
from Sangrur Mr. Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, Senior Akali larder Prof.
Prem Singh Chandumajra and the senior leadership SAD-BJP.