What is the Worth of a Woman?
Posted on Nov 19th, 2007
by
Barbara Raisbeck
In India, apparently, not much. According to a recent article in the Times of India, her worth is a tenth of the price of a buffalo in the northern state of Punjab where women are growing scarce due to rampant female foeticide.
FATEHGARH SAHIB: It is the matter of great shame that in Punjab a woman can be ‘purchased’ merely for Rs 3,000 while a buffalo is sold for Rs 30,000, said Punjab health minister Laxmi Kanta Chawala. She was addressing a seminar ‘Doctors for Daughters’ organized here on Sunday by the Punjab Chapter of Indian Medical Council. She said after 1947, the Punjabis had killed more daughters than the number of people killed during the partition.
Punjab health secretary Tilak Raj Sarangal said the situation was so grim that it was like social emergency which had started showing grim effects on the society. He said this situation had given rise to the concept of ‘Modern Daropadi’, where brothers were sharing one wife in a given household.
full story:
‘Buying’ woman is easier than buffalo:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Chandigarh/Buying_woman_is_easier_than_buffalo/articleshow/2551117.cms
History of Bias from Hindustan Times November 19, 2007 edition
FATEHGARH SAHIB: It is the matter of great shame that in Punjab a woman can be ‘purchased’ merely for Rs 3,000 while a buffalo is sold for Rs 30,000, said Punjab health minister Laxmi Kanta Chawala. She was addressing a seminar ‘Doctors for Daughters’ organized here on Sunday by the Punjab Chapter of Indian Medical Council. She said after 1947, the Punjabis had killed more daughters than the number of people killed during the partition.
Punjab health secretary Tilak Raj Sarangal said the situation was so grim that it was like social emergency which had started showing grim effects on the society. He said this situation had given rise to the concept of ‘Modern Daropadi’, where brothers were sharing one wife in a given household.
full story:
‘Buying’ woman is easier than buffalo:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Chandigarh/Buying_woman_is_easier_than_buffalo/articleshow/2551117.cms
History of Bias from Hindustan Times November 19, 2007 edition
punjab

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Why is the Punjab so high in its adverse sex ratio? Very shocking!
J
Punjab is a wealthy state. Female foeticide is happening in all parts of India, but the problem seems to be especially prevalent in the families with status and wealth. Daughters represent financial liability; they are not considered an asset to a family because they will one day require a dowry for marraige. Once married they will go and live with their husband and his family, who reap the rewards. There is a saying in India that 'having a daughter is like watering someone else's garden'.