Headlines
SelfieWithDaughter: Can India save 23 million girls?
By
Prachi SalveNew Delhi, July 1
India’s child sex-ratio (below six
years) is now the worst in 70 years, possibly the worst ever. The latest
decline was from 927 (girls per 1,000 boys) in 2001 to 918 in 2011.
The child sex-ratio, if it does not improve, will lead to a deficit of 23 million women in the 20-49 age group by 2040.
Urbanisation is worsening the child sex-ratio: it is 905 in towns and cities, 923 in rural areas.
Three
of five states with the worst child sex-ratio have higher per capita
income than the national average, but the link with prosperity is less
clear.
Taking inspiration from a sarpanch (headman) in Haryana,
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his radio show, Maan Ki Baat (On My
Mind) on June 28, launched the hashtag #SelfieWithDaughter, to draw
attention to IndiaÂ’s plummeting sex ratio.
But the scenario for
the future is grim because IndiaÂ’s declining child sex-ratio indicates
that girls are increasingly being aborted, killed or otherwise dying.
The
overall sex ratio in 1921 was 955 women per 1,000 men, declining to 946
in 1951 and to 943 today. The child sex-ratio was 983 girls per 1,000
boys in 1951, declining to 918 in 2011, the lowest in the seven decades
since it was counted.
The rate of decline has worsened in the
years during which the overall sex ratio began to improve. This
corresponds to the decades following 1981, offering evidence of
sex-determination tests, selective abortion and female infanticide.
Only China, Pakistan Are Worse
How does India compare to its partners in BRIC and its neighbours?
IndiaÂ’s
overall sex ratio is below all BRIC nations and its South Asian
neighbours, save for China, Bhutan and Pakistan, which has a sex ratio
of 942, or one behind IndiaÂ’s 943.
Russia has the highest sex ratio with 1,165 women per 1,000 men, while Bhutan has the lowest with 897.
The urban sex ratio for 2011 is 905, while rural IndiaÂ’s is 923.
The
reasons for the lower sex ratio in urban areas, as IndiaSpend reported
earlier, are easy accessibility to sonography centres for sex
determination and other procedures.
Haryana has the worst child
sex-ratio in the country with 834 girls per 1,000 boys. Most states
among the top five have improved over the last decade, but they still
remain among the states with the lowest sex ratios.
Rajasthan and J&K are the only two states in this list where the child sex-ratio has fallen further.
Prosperity Not Always A Cause For Low Sex Ratios
The
link between low child sex-ratio and per capita income is tenuous.
Three of five states with a low child sex-ratio have a higher per capita
income than the national average.
Only two states, Rajasthan and
J&K, have a lower per capita income. In both states, as we noted,
the child sex-ratio has fallen.
23 Million Fewer Girls Predicted By 2040
The
declining child sex-ratio will lead to a deficit of 23 million females
in the 20-49 age group by 2040, according to a study by the United
Nations Population Fund.
With fewer women of marriageable age, a significant proportion of men will have to delay their marriage.
It
will also affect younger generations of men: they will face a backlog
of older, unmarried men, who will still be in the “marriage marketÂâ€.
“Scarcity
of women would not enhance their position in society due to the
simultaneous increase in pressure to marry, higher risk of gender-based
violence, rising demand for sex work and the development of trafficking
networks,†said the UN study.
(In arrangement with
IndiaSpend.org, a data-driven, non-profit, public interest journalism
platform. Prachi Salve can be contacted at [email protected]. The
views expressed are personal)