1,600 girls missing at birth every day, in India: UNPF
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COMMENTS 
Nearly 1,600 girls a day and 6 lakh a year are missing at birth in the country owing to pre-natal sex-selection, according to the United Nations Population Fund
United Nations Population Fund State Project Coordinator Anuja Gulati has said that the practice of pre-natal sex-selection has resulted in approximately 6 lakh girls going “missing at birth” annually in the country during 2001-2007.
In Pune to release a booklet on trends in sex ratio at birth and estimates of girls missing at birth in India, on the occasion of World Population Day on July 11, 2010, Gulati said: “This is roughly 1,600 girls a day.”
Gulati added that the data on sex ratio at birth was periodically collected at the national level by the civil registration system and the sample registration system (SRS). The civil registration system data was not reliable owing to gross under-registration of births in some states. Hence, sample registration system estimates were frequently used and quoted as a source for data on sex ratios at birth.
“As per the SRS, the sex ratio at birth at the national level increased from 892 in 2000-2002 to 904 in 2006-2008. The trends and levels of sex ratio at birth in different states of the country vary. Quite a few states have a very low sex ratio at birth despite greater attention given to the issue following the 2001 census.”
The extent of variation among states is substantially large with a low sex ratio at birth of 836 girls per 1,000 boys in Punjab, 847 girls per 1,000 boys in Haryana, 862 girls per 1,000 boys in Jammu and Kashmir, and 870 girls per 1,000 boys in Rajasthan at one end. At the other end there is Kerala with 964 girls per 1,000 boys and Chhattisgarh with 975 girls per 1,000 boys.
Gulati said, on average, nearly 5% of female births in the country did not occur because of pre-natal sex-selection during 2001-2007.
Speaking in New Delhi at a function to mark World Population Day, Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said the craving for a male child was a problem, but felt the spread of education, especially among girls, would help.
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit too called for the empowerment of girls and women.
Source: The Indian Express, July 12, 2010
The Hindu, July 12, 2010