As against the normal female-male sex ratio of 950:1,000, some states in northwest India have a female-male sex ratio of less than 800, says a new ActionAid report

India's declining female-male ratio continues to cause concern, with a new report saying that the number of girls born and surviving in India has hit an all-time low compared to boys.

The charity ActionAid teamed up with Canada's International Development Research Centre (IDRC) to produce the ‘Disappearing Daughters' report. 

More than 6,000 households in sites across five states in northwestern India -- Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh -- were interviewed and statistical comparisons made with national census data.

Under “normal” circumstances, there should be about 950 girls for every 1,000 boys, but in three of the five sites, that number was below 800. In four of the five sites surveyed, the proportion of girls to boys had declined since the 2001 census. In one site in Punjab state, there are just 300 girls to every 1,000 boys among higher caste families, the report says.

The 2001 census had revealed the worst ever ratio of females to males in the 0-6 age-group. The overall female-male ratio for all ages rose slightly from the 1991 figures of 927/1,000 to 933/1,000 in 2001, but the juvenile sex ratio in the 0-6 range fell from

945/1,000 in 1991 to 927/1,000 in 2001 -- a decline of 18 points. 

The ActionAid research also found that ratios of girls to boys were declining fastest in comparatively prosperous urban areas despite their relative prosperity. For example, the ratio in urban areas in Himachal Pradesh fell from 841 in 2001 to 743 in 2003. This compared to figures of 974 to 835 in rural areas. In Punjab, urban ratios fell from 803 in 2001 to 706 in 2005, while they increased from 735 to 762 in rural areas. In Haryana, in 2005, ratios in urban areas were 751 compared to 798 in rural areas.

This report, like many others, blames the use of ultrasound technology to determine the sex of the unborn child, for the declining female sex ratio. Though sex selection and selective abortion have been outlawed in India since 1994, poor enforcement ensures that the practice continues.

The report says that “doctors, nurses and medical practitioners are profiteering from the discrimination against daughters. Many of the 6,000 families interviewed for this research said clinics that carry out sex detection scans and sex selective abortions for a few thousand rupees are widespread.

“Some medical professionals interviewed for this research justified sex selective abortions as being a ‘social duty' which prevented the ill-treatment of unwanted daughters or helped with population control.”

The report quotes a doctor as saying that every day families come to her for ultrasound scans “and the first question they ask is not about whether their baby is healthy but whether it is a boy or a girl”.

In poorer areas, with less access to technology, it is neglect that ensures there are fewer surviving daughters, says the report. Child mortality rates in two of the poorer sites researched showed figures significantly skewed against girls.

Detailed findings of the report:

• In Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, there has been a decline from 900 to 789.
• In Fatehgarh Saheb, Punjab, there has been a decline from 765 to 734.
• In Rohtak, Haryana, there has been a decline from 785 to 776.
• In Morena, Madhya Pradesh, there has been a decline from 851 to 842.
• In Dhaulpur, Rajasthan, there has been an increase from 819 to 871.

Given the cultural preference for boys, Indian women are put under intense pressure to produce sons. “In the long term, cultural attitudes need to change. India must address economic and social barriers including property rights, marriage, dowries and gender roles that condemn girls before they are even born,” said Laura Turquet, a women's rights policy official at ActionAid.

The charity also blames other illegal practices, such as allowing the umbilical cord to become infected, for the growing gender imbalance.

While acknowledging that the Indian government has introduced schemes and legislation to address the problem, the report says what must be addressed is the low premium placed on girls. This, it says, is because of the “high premium placed on marriage in India, with dowry a major source of pressure for families with daughters. Such practices must be challenged if daughters are to be seen as anything other than an economic burden”.

Improving the quality of and access to public health systems and government schools must also be a priority, so that poor families do not need to choose which child receives these basic services, the report adds.

Source: http://www.actionaid.org.uk /doc_lib/
            disappearing_daughters _0608.pdf , June 2008