SRINAGAR After sharpest decline in the child sex ratio across all the states in India with 862 females to every 1000 male children as per the last census report , Jammu and Kashmir has reported more female foeticide cases than nineteen other states in India.
While responding to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of Health and Family Welfare DR. Harsh Vardhan said two cases of female foeticide were reported in 2016 in Jammu and Kashmir as per information of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). The total reported cases of foeticide across India are 144 in 2016. Seventeen states have recorded zero foeticides and two othersAndhra Pradesh and Assam are behind J&K with one reported case of foeticide. Utter Pradesh has witnessed highest with 52 reported cases followed by Rajasthan (21), Madhya Pradesh (19), Chhattisgarh (18), Maharashtra (7), Haryana, Punjab and Uttarakhand with 4 each while Karnataka reported as many as J&K (2).
Regarding Child Sex Ratio (number of girls per 1000 boys in the age group of 0-6 years), he said it is collected on decadal basis by Registrar General of India as a part of Census. The latest data available is of 2011.
He said that Jammu and Kashmir recorded lowest child sex ratio, registering a decline of 862 in 2011 from 941 in 2001. In 2011, the national average was 919 against 927 in 2011. In rural area of Jammu and Kashmir, the ratio was 865 in 2011 against 957 in 2011 while in Urban areas it stood 850 in 2011 and 873 in 2001.
The minister said that sex ratio at birth for children born in the last five years (females per 1000 males) was recorded
He said Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is regularly monitoring Sex Ratio at Birth (SRB) through National Family Health Survey that has shown an improvement of 5 points, from 914 in 2005-06 to 919 in 2015-16 at the national level.
As per the Survey during 2005-06, he said, the ratio was 902 and during 2015-16, it was 922, showing an improvement of 20 points.
Sex ratio is an important indicator of the social conditions particularly with respect to womens status in the society. An important concern in the present status of Jammu and Kashmirs demographic transition relates to adverse sex ratio, reads states Economic Survey report. Low sex ratio shows indulgence of artificial interventions, distorting the biological trend and natural balance in terms of number of females per thousand males.
under Indias Pre-Conception & Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act 1994 (PCPNDT Act) , determining the gender of an unborn child is banned to stop sex-selective abortions which have led to an alarming fall in the number of girls born as compared to boys in India. Sex ratio at birth the number of girls born per 1,000 boys in India fell from 945 in 1991, to 927 in 2001, to 914 in 2011, according to census data.
This is reflecting in adult sex ratio too, with India being home to 940 women per 1,000 men. Globally, there are 984 women to 1,000 men, with Russia boasting of 1,165 women per 1,000 men. Since women live longer than men, all developed countries including US, UK, Japan, Germany, France and Australia have a higher female population than men.
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