Improvement in sex ratio, a matter of pride for the state

More often than not females are placed on the back burners, and more opportunities are provided for boys, even before birth. But now.

The sex ratio at birth (SRB) in Haryana rose to 914 girls for 1,000 boys last year.

An official spokesperson said that in 2015 the SRB was 871 girls for 1000 boys and in 2016, it was 900 girls for 1000 boys.

Officials said it was a matter of pride for Haryana as it had recorded a major jump from 2011 when the state had registered the worst sex ratio in the country at 834 girls per 1000 boys.

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They said the state witnessed a remarkable increase of 82 points in sex ratio at birth during the last five years, with nine districts improving the SRB by 100 or more points.

Out of the 5,09,290 children born during last year, there were 2,66,064 boys and 2,43,226 girls. The sex ratio rose to 914 girls per 1000 boys, officials said.

Seventeen districts recorded the SRB of 900 or more but no district was below 880 in 2017, the spokesperson said.

Panipat with the SRB of 945 topped the list, followed by Yamuna Nagar at 943 which is close to 950, considered ideal from the perspective of public health.

Mahendragarh, Rewari, Sonipat and Jhajjar districts, which recorded sex ratio below 800 as per 2011 census, have shown an improvement of 136, 91, 88, 96 points respectively in their SRBs. 

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The officials said after the launch of the ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padho’ campaign, the government had embarked upon a multi-pronged drive to rectify the skewed sex ratio in Haryana.

A massive drive was launched against sex-selective abortion/female foeticide and inter-state joint raids under the PNDT Act were also carried out, police said.

About 550 FIRs were registered under the PC-PNDT/MTP Act against the offenders after raids, they added.

It was accompanied by a campaign to promote, celebrate and institutionalize the holistic growth of the girl child and her monitoring, officials said.