BHUBANESWAR: A newborn baby girl was found alive on Saturday morning after being buried in a manure heap at Shyamsundarpur village in Jajpur district. This incident stunned the people of the state. Child rights activists said the state needs to do more campaigns to save the girl children Campaign Against Child Labour state convener Sudhir Kumar Sabat said the state government claims that it has sealed nursing homes and clinics which are indulged in sex selected abortion, but it couldn't stop the practice. "Now people choose small towns for the abortion instead of going for cities. They even don't do this in their areas fearing public shame. They travel far to other districts to abort the female fetuses," he added.He said the Childline, Berhampur, has rescued nine newborn girl children from small towns within a year. "Village quacks also help the parents, who want to abort their female girl child, to take them to abortion clinics. They have a nexus with the clinics in small towns," he alleged.He expressed concern over children born out of wedlock. Some unwed mothers also throw their newborns or fetuses after abortion fearing public shame. "Though the state has no formal data about unwed mothers, such incident is happening silently and secretly," he added.Child rights activist Anuradha Mohanty said the state government should track all the pregnant women and their children through ASHA workers by enrolling them. So that a woman can't throw her girl child, she added."The state government should implement the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, 1994, in letter and spirit. Proper enrollment of pregnant women and monitoring her health till her baby turns one-year-old can stop the declining child sex ratio," she said.Another child rights activist Lalita Missal said mindset of people towards girl children needs to be changed. "People still believe that only the son who can perform the last rites and sons will look after parents in old age as they are the bread winners. But girls are now shining in every field. How can they kill a girl child? Strong action should be taken against the parents of the baby girl," she added.Census 2011 showed a considerable fall in child sex ratio (0-6 years) from 953 in 2001 to 941 in 2011. In rural areas, the ratio hovers between 955 and 946 and in urban areas the decline has been to an extent of 20 points (933 to 913) in a decade.Highest child sex ratio is recorded in Nabarangpur district. Ratio of the district's rural area is 999 and urban is 971 whereas, lowest child sex ratio has been recorded in Nayagarh district both in rural (857) and urban (835) areas.Recovery of seven female foetuses at a village near Nayagarh town on July 14, 2007, had rocked the state. Later the police had found a pit near a private nursing home, where body parts of several newborns were recovered. The incident had opened the eyes of the state government to take on the issue very seriously.Almost 10 years passed to the incident, but still fetuses of girl child is found from roadside or forested areas in Nayagarh district and other parts of the state. On Thursday, some locals found a fetus of girl child lying on roadside at Belabani under Sadar block in Nayagarh district. A month ago, a newborn girl child was rescued behind Ranpur Community Hospital in the district. She was admitted to Nayagarh district headquarters hospital, but she died.

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