Rupnagar, March 24 The Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice Vijender Jain has urged the people of the state to wage a joint struggle to eradicate female foeticide in Punjab. While addressing a seminar on female foeticide organised by the Health Department, Justice Jain said: "The people of Punjab played an important role in the freedom struggle and were pioneers of green revolution in the country, but it is shameful that now Punjab has the highest number of female foeticide cases in the country.' The Chief Justice said that he has taken it upon himself to fight against female foeticide in the state and create awareness among people against this social evil. He said that although the PNDT Act had been framed to check the female foeticide, laws alone were not sufficient to eradicate this practice and concerted efforts were required from one and all to fight it. Addressing the seminar, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal's wife Surinder Kaur Badal stressed on the need to empower the women of the state and make them economically independent. She also proposed to set up a separate department for the welfare of women in the state that can help poor women to get interest-free loans to start their own businesses. Punjab Minister for Health and Family Welfare Laxmi Kanta Chawla, MP Avinash Rai Khanna Punjab Advocate-General HS Mattewal, Rupnagar Deputy Commissioner B Purushartha, Assistant Director PNDT DrV.K.Goyal, Dr Ajay Bagga also spoke on the occasion. About 36 policewomen and judicial officers of the state were honoured on the occasion. The Chief Justice also administered an oath to ultrasonologists of Rupnagar against sex determination tests.