Such campaigns and public initiatives have adopted the tactic of "naming, blaming, and shaming." Those indulging in sex-selective abortions are made to feel guilty and thus encouraged (or at times forced) to give up this practice. For example, the much- acclaimed 'Nawanshehar model' to eradicate sex-selection in Punjab. Nawanshehar local authorities claimed that their efforts raised the sex ratio above 900 girls to 1000 boys in 77 villages. The Nawanshehar approach included public awareness campaigns by NGOs, students, and volunteers. NGOs were allotted vehicles to drive through villages, playing popular songs on loudspeakers and disseminating information about the value and worth of the female child. They denounced sex selection and warned people that engaging in sex-selective abortions has dire implications for women. Press releases and advertisements were used to encourage cooperation among doctors, journalists, politicians, and common citizens. Also, pictures of Indian female role models, such as the young tennis player Sania Mirza, were posted in some villages in this district to serve as inspiration. So far, so good. But the 'model' also involved vigorous shaming tactics. The District Commissioner, galvanized a team of informants that included his staff, NGO workers, village officials, health care workers, and various volunteers, including students. This group tracked pregnancies to ensure that no female feticide occurred in the district. Kumar's staff maintained a database of pregnant women which they used to call families and 'alert' them that the DC was aware of the impending pregnancy. A 'hotline' telephone number was set up so that villagers could call when they believed a woman was considering an ultrasound or an abortion. Citizens were paid Rs. 5000 for providing such information. The DC's office also employed college students to provide information in return for monetary rewards. Upon receiving information from any of the aforementioned sources, the DC's staff paid a visit to the woman to verify the information received. In one reported case, officials arranged a "mock funeral" outside the home of a woman who had had a sex-selective abortion, and volunteers chanted prayers for the fetus and shouted "girl-killers."
Although the strategy employed in Nawanshehar reportedly produced statistically favorable results, it must be critically evaluated. The Nawanshehar model does not threaten women's general right to abortion and seems within the legal bounds of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act (1971), under which, abortions are legal up to the twentieth week of pregnancy. Ultrasounds, which were policed in Nawanshehar, do not determine the sex of the child before at least the 26th week. This means sex-selective abortions of female children based on ultrasound results would otherwise be illegal because of the timing of the abortion. Despite its legality, the Nawanshehar strategy is potentially harmful to women. Women who undergo sex-selective abortions do so under familial and societal pressures. The shaming techniques used in Nawanshehar penalize the woman, who might be simply acting on her family's behest. They ostracize the woman, adding to her emotional turmoil. The system also involves the invasion of a pregnant woman's privacy for at least a few months. Villagers, including young children, are provided monetary incentives to "report" pregnant women. Further, monetary incentives raise the concern about false reporting and undue harassment. These programs realize success at the expense of women's rights and autonomy. Further, besides its negative consequences for women's privacy, the model is also likely unsustainable. Preventing sex-selective abortions through policing and shaming women and families may be a short-term solution, but it hardly changes the social and political forces in which women are devalued—the very forces that caused sex selection in the first place.
As women and families begin to feel the pressure of external campaigns, they may begin to resort to unlicensed providers and resist medical care, endangering the health of the women and their babies. Worse yet, in some areas women are returning to the age-old practice of infanticide. Thus, awareness campaigns focusing on the skewed sex ratios do not solve the problem, and in some cases they promote reactions that might hurt the women involved. The Nawanshehar efforts exemplify why the effective enforcement of the PNDT Acts may not be the best route for sustainable change.