Sex ratio in 0-6 age group up in past 3 years

Manmeet Singh Gill

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, July 29

With the people becoming increasingly aware about gender issues, the sex ratio in the district has witnessed improvement over the past three years. It has gone up from 886 females per thousand males in 2012-13 to 905 females in 2013-14 and 916 in 2014-15 in the 0-6 years age bracket.

The Health Department conducts an annual door-to-door survey to record the sex ratio in the district.

The district family welfare officer, Dr Ranjit Singh Buttar, attributed the improvement to an increased level of awareness and stricter implementation of the PC-PNDT Act. “We have filed cases against at least five ultrasound centres involved in sex-determination tests during five years,” he said.

Buttar said there has been a change of mindset in educated families also as they are not averse to the birth of a female child.

“I have heard many people saying these days that if the newborn is a girl or boy, it does not matter so long as the child is born healthy,” he said, adding that apart from the Health Department, awareness campaigns by NGOs and other quarters have also helped in improving the situation.

Buttar added that there certainly is scope for improvement because the district has not reached the desired level of a balanced sex ratio as yet. “We hope that with the "Beti Bachao and Beti Padao" campaign successfully implemented in the district, there would be much more improvement,” he said.

The Civil Surgeon, Dr Jai Singh, said improvement in sex ratio is an achievement of all employees of the department who have been working at the grassroots level to create awareness. “The percentage at which the sex ratio is improving has given us hope that within the next three or four years, we would reach the desired balance in sex ratio,” he said.