New Delhi: The data on Sex Ratio at Birth for southern states, barring Kerala, doesn't bode well with Andhra Pradesh tying with Rajasthan for the worst Sex Ratio at Birth (SRB) of 806.
This is, as per the Vital Statistics of India report, based on the Civil Registration System 2016 published by the Office of the Register General of India. The SRB in India has seen a decline of 4 points from 881 in 2015 to 877.
The lowest SRB was 806 reported from Rajasthan & Andhra Pradesh, followed by Uttarakhand (825), Bihar (837) and Tamil Nadu (840), the report noted. Tamil Nadu, with its ratio falling from 935 in 2007 to 840 in 2016 was the sixth from the bottom, while in Karnataka, the ratio fell from 1,004 to 896. In Telangana, the ratio has dipped from 954 in 2013, at the time of state’s formation, to 881.
The report adds that almost all of the southern states have achieved near 100 percent registration of birth and deaths. An official explained, “This is especially worrying since this can’t be explained away as a quirk of data collection. The number of girl children born is decreasing at a rapid rate and state governments must investigate. In Tamil Nadu, for instance, the dip is over 10 percent in less than a decade.”
To put the numbers in context, Haryana - a state traditionally associated with bad sex ratio - improved its numbers from an all-time low in 2012 (832) to 865 in 2016 - faring better than Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. In fact, states like Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Maharashtra, that had reported poor sex rations have all improved. Delhi and Assam have witnessed a spike from 848 to 902 and from 834 to 888, respectively.
Meanwhile, Chhattisgarh was the only big state with the highest SRB at 980, with Sikkim (999) and Anadaman and Nicobar Islands (987) ahead of it. The report noted that, “The sex wise birth registration data for Gujarat, Meghalaya, and Manipur is not available.”
The report also notes that the ratio in West Bengal, Odisha, Jammu and Kashmir and Goa are slipping downwards. In Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, the SRB fell from 924 to 837 and from 930 to 885, respectively. An official added, “With the registration at around 60 percent in these states, the data might not accurately present a true portrait of the situation. It could be worse, or better.”
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