SEX RATION AT BIRTH

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A study conducted by the Pew Research Center has shown that In India “son bias” is on the decline.
The study also suggested that the annual average number of baby girls “missing” declined from 4.8 lakh in 2010 to 4.1 lakh in 2019.
- The “missing” baby girl refers to the number of female births that have occurred if there were no female-selective abortions.
The biggest drop in sex selection was seen among Sikhs.
- In the census of 2001, Sikhs had a sex ratio at birth of 130 males per 100 females, by the census of 2011; the Sikh ratio had narrowed to 121 boys per 100 girls.
Both Christians (105 boys to 100 girls) and Muslims (106 boys to 100 girls) have sex ratios close to the natural benchmark.

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Recently The Union Ministry of Women and Child Development presented a report to the Parliamentary Committee on progress made under the ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ scheme.
The Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao Programme aims to promote women’s empowerment, by focusing on the girls' education and improving the sex ratio.

Background

The Census of 2011 reflects a declining trend in the Child Sex Ratio (CSR) between 0-6 years with an all-time low at 918.
A decline in CSR reflects:
- Pre-birth discrimination through gender-biased sex selection.
- Post-birth discrimination against girls (in form of their health, nutrition, and educational needs).

Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) programme

In 2015, the Union Government has launched the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) programme.
It is a tri-ministerial effort of;
- Ministry of Women and Child Development.
- Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.
- Ministry of Education (Earlier Ministry of Human Resource Development).
Since 2021 the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and Ministry of Minority Affairs have also been added as partners.
The programme only focuses on awareness campaigns and no provision of individual cash transfers by the Government.
The scheme is now subsumed into Mission Shakti.
Objectives of the Scheme;
- Prevent gender-biased sex selective elimination.
- Ensure the survival and protection of the girl child.
- Ensure education and participation of the girl child.
- Increase girls' participation in the fields of sports.
The scheme aims to achieve:
- Improvement in the Sex Ratio at Birth (SRB) by 2 points every year,
- Improvement in the percentage of institutional deliveries or sustained at the rate of 95% or above.
- 1% increase in enrolment at secondary education level and skilling of girls/women per year.
- To check the dropout rate among girls at secondary and higher secondary levels.
- Raising awareness about safe menstrual hygiene management (MHM)