RIGHTS OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN recommendation, to . all State Governments and other concerned authorities that, instead of the use of expressions like 'Widow', 'Vidvah', 'Bevah' and the like, which are normally used to address the wives of persons who have died, expressions such as 'Wife of the Late', 'Zauja Marhoom' or 'Dharmpatni Swargiya' or 'Wife of Shaheedvir' (for. those whose husbands had sacrificed their lives for the cause of the nation/country) should be used by the Governments for all official purposes, specially in the official records. The States/UTs were asked to send their Action Taken Reports to the Commission. Letters were also written in this connection, to the Ministry of Law, Justice and Company Affairs, the National Commission for Women, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and the Department of Women and Child Development (DWCD), Government of India. 7.23 The DWCD has informed the Commission that it has circulated the Commission's directions to the Governments of all States/UTs for compliance. It has also requested the Depai^nent of Personnel and Itaining, Government of India to take the necessary action for the implementation of Commission's direction in all Central Government offices. 7.24 The responses received from the State Governments have all been positive thus far. There has been one notable exception, however, which has displayed an extraordinary lack of sensitivity and an abundance of the kind of pedantry that can sometimes characterise official reactions. F] Sale of Female Children of Lambada Tribals in Telengana Region, Andhra Pradesh 7.25 The Commission took suo motu cognisance of a news item published in the Hindu of 22 January 2000 which highlighted the suffering of women of the Lambada Tribe of Telangana Region in Andhra Pradesh. It was reported that, in a number of instances, they were being compelled by their circumstances either to sell or to kill their infant girls soon after birth. A detailed report, obtained by the Commission from Andhra Pradesh Government confirmed that there were numerous cases where the girl child was being given away, either for adoption, or sold. In many cases, neither the names nor the addresses of the persons supposedly adopting the children were known. The Commission took a serious view of this matter and observed that the ANNUAL REPORT 2001-2002 j 73