11 districts of Haryana record sex ratio at birth below state average
Ravinder Saini
Rohtak, January 2
Eleven of the total 22 districts in the state recorded sex ratio at birth (SRB) below the state average of 916 during 2023. Five of these districts recorded SRB below 900. Overall, the state also witnessed a drop of one point in SRB in 2023, as compared to 2022 when it was recorded at 917.
The 11 districts that recorded SRB below the state average were Rohtak (883), Mahendragarh (887), Sonepat (894), Charkhi Dadri (897), Rewari (897), Jhajjar (905), Faridabad (906), Kurukshetra (906), Bhiwani (907), Karnal (908) and Hisar (914).
“Rohtak suffered a major setback as it slipped to the last position from the 6th slot last year. It recorded SRB of 883 this year, against last year’s figure of 934, registering a drop of 51 points in 2023. It was followed by Charkhi Dadri and Mahendragarh with a decline of 36 and 20 points, respectively,” sources said.
Though Rewari and Jhajjar have registered the SRB below the state average, these have witnessed an improvement of 14 and 12 points, respectively. Palwal (946) topped the SRB tally across the state by registering an improvement of 24 points. It was at the 12th position in 2022 with an SRB of 922. Palwal is followed by Panchkula (942), Fatehabad (934) and Nuh (932). Sourced said 5,50,465 children were born across the state in 2023. Of them, 2,87,336 were male while 2,63,126 female.
Dr Anil Birla, Civil Surgeon, Rohtak, told The Tribune that three successful raids were conducted under the PC-PNDT Act in 2023 to check pre-natal sex determination tests, besides surprise inspection of various ultrasound centres.
“Two raids were conducted in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan to unearth the inter-state sex-determination racket. Special campaigns were also run, especially in villages having poor sex ratio. Result of these efforts is likely to be seen this year,” claimed Birla.
Setback for Rohtak
Rohtak suffered a major setback as it slipped to the last position from the 6th slot last year. It recorded SRB of 883 this year, against last year’s figure of 934, registering a drop of 51 points in 2023. It was followed by Charkhi Dadri and Mahendragarh with a decline of 36 and 20 points, respectively.
