JOIN USThe massive campaigns and ambitious schemes of the Rajasthan government to check female foeticide have failed to bear any fruit, with the sex ratio among children between zero and four becoming even more unfavourable.
The recent Sample Registration System (SRS) survey by the Government of India shows an eight point decline—the sharpest in two years countrywide—in the number of girl children per 1000 boys in the age group of 0-4.
While this figure was 882 between 2010 and 2012 in Rajasthan, the number decreased to 874 during 2011-2013. The state is followed by Bihar and Chhattisgarh, where sex ratios decreased by seven points.
Currently, Haryana has the most skewed sex ratio with 835, followed by Punjab (866), Uttar Pradesh (868) and then Rajasthan. Meanwhile, Karnataka, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu witnessed a fall of 4 points each. Despite the stringent Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act and other such rigid laws, the situation in rural areas of Rajasthan is appalling. According to the SRS survey, rural areas witnessed a decline of 10 points while sex ratio increased by 2 points in urban Rajasthan.
“In rural areas, girls are still treated secondary to boys. This mentality leads to female foeticide. The survey clearly indicates that despite action by the state, nothing has happened,” said Kamal Sharma, activist.