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.

Related news

• 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)

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