Gender ratio at birth falls below 400 in 20 Kurukshetra villages

Nitish Sharma

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Kurukshetra, March 27

The gender ratio at birth in 20 villages of Kurukshetra in Haryana was recorded below 400 in 2022 while the district’s ratio dropped by 28 points from 921 in 2021 to 893 last year.

Alarmed at the decline given Haryana’s gender ratio of 917 girls born per 1,000 boys, the district authorities have zeroed in on 80 of the 419 villages that have seen a decline in the ratio. A decision has been taken to hold monthly review meetings with auxiliary nurse midwives (ANMs), accredited social health activists (ASHAs) and other health officials concerned.

Of the 20 villages on the district administration’s radar, Barachpur recorded an alarming gender ratio of 77 last year. Inhabited mostly by Scheduled Cates and Backward Classes, the village has a population of around 1,000. As per the Health Department’s data, 14 children were born in the village in 2022, of whom 13 were boys. The situation was different in 2021 when a gender ratio of 909 was recorded with the birth of 11 boys and 10 girls.

While a majority of the men in the village were out for work, women avoided speaking on the issue.

Some other “red zone” areas are Hinga Kheri (143), Prem Sonti (190), Alampur (222), Bapdi Colony (231), Throuli (267), Shri Nagar (286), Sultanpur (308), Kalal Mazra (333) and Kheri Saidan (375), according to official data. After recording a continuous rise in gender ratio for four years from 2017, Kurukshetra saw a decline from 938 in 2020 to 921 in 2021 and then to 893 in 2022.

Civil Surgeon Dr Sukhbir Singh said, “We have been conducting raids to check gender determination tests. Eight raids were conducted in 2022, of which four were in UP. Our efforts have started bearing fruit as the district’s gender ratio improved to 968 in February this year. The first quarter ratio is expected to be around 960.”

Dr Ramesh Sabharwal, Deputy Civil Surgeon, said, “A close watch is being kept on scan centres. We have got some leads and strict action will be initiated soon.”

Shantanu Sharma, DC, said they were focusing on the villages recording a dip in gender ratio for two consecutive years. “We will ascertain the reasons for the steep fall in gender ratio in Barachpur,” he said.

A Health Department spokesperson said the gender ratio in villages with a small number of births was “insignificant to be computed”. “Only villages with more than 5,000 population should be considered. There are villages where gender ratio exceeds 1,000 — Dyangla (7,000), Kalan (2,286), Malikpur (1,625), Jalbera (1,600), Jaladi Majra (1,364) and Sanghor (1,333),” he said.