As many as 118 ultrasound centres have been sealed and further action initiated against 172 others for violations under the Pre-conception and Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques ( of Sex Selection) [PC&PNDT] Act, 1994, in six districts in Bihar.
Bihars declining sex ratio at birth, down from 934 per 1,000 males in National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-4 (data period 2015-16) to 908 in NFHS-5 (2019-20), pointing to an unholy practice of female foeticide even as the national Average improved from 919 to 929 during the same period has led the State Government to act tough against diagnostic centres indulging in pre-birth sex determination.
Some districts like Muzaffarpur showed an alarming decline in the sex ratio at birth from 930 females per 1,000 males in NFHS-4 to 685 in NFHS-5, a whopping difference of 245.
Sarans was second worst with 779 female children in NFHS-5 as compared to 976 in NFHS-4, a difference of -197. Darbhanga had 812 female children (NFHS-5) as compared to 982 (NFHS-4), Samastipur 890 as compared to 1,049, and Madhubani 954 as compared to 805 during the same period, as per government data.
Interestingly, Haryana, infamous for female foeticide, had shown an improvement in sex ratio from 836 to 893 during NFHS-4 and NFHS-5, respectively.
State capital Patna was better even as it registered a drop in female childbirth from 1,017 in NFHS-4 to 1,002 in NFHS-5, as per data.