Despite laws to prevent discrimination on the basis of gender, the girl child continues to be under threat inGujarat.
The state registered the third most skewed sex ratio at birth in the country with 909 girls per 1,000 boys, according to the Centre’s report, ‘Vital statistics of India based on the Civil Registration System 2020.’
Sex ratio is defined as the number of females per 1,000 males. According to the report, Gujarat only fared better than Manipur at 880 and and Daman and Diu at 898. The neighbouring states of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh fared better than Gujarat with sex ratios of 952 and 921 respectively.
In the 2019 report, Gujarat registered the lowest sex ratio at birth (901), followed by Assam (903), Madhya Pradesh (905) and Jammu and Kashmir (909). In 2018, the state recorded the fifth most skewed SRB at 897.
The data reveals that the SRB in rural areas of Gujarat was 929 while the same in the urban areas was 901. The data further reveals that in the state’s rural areas, the SRB was the lowest in Botad at 870, followed by Devbhumi Dwarka at 889, and Mehsana and Gir Somnath at 898 each.
In the urban areas, Mehsana registered the most skewed SRB at 858, followed by Surat at 865 and Botad at 867. The officials said that the sex ratio at birth was most skewed in Mehsana and areas of Saurashtra.
Gujarat had shot to national infamy with a skewed child sex ratio (0-6 years) of 886 girls per 1,000 boys in Census 2001 while it was 890 in Census 2011.