Several initiatives and incentives from the for female children notwithstanding, their number has declined in Bihar from 934 per 1,000 males in National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 4 to 908 in NFHS-5 though the national Average has improved from 919 (NFHS-4) to 929 (NFHS-5).
In fact, districts like Muzaffarpur showed an alarming figure of only 685 female children per 1,000 males in NFHS-5 compared to 930 in NFHS-4. Second worst was Saran with 779 female children in NFHS-5 compared to 976 in NFHS-4. Darbhanga, Madhubani, East Champaran and Samastipur also have a big drop in thesex ratio. Darbhanga figures dropped from 982 to 812, Madhubani from 954 to 805 while East Champaran and Samastipur witnessed a decline of -159 each. Interestingly, Haryana, infamous for female foeticide, showed an improvement from 836 to 893.