The sex ratio at birth inTamil Naduhas dropped to 878 in 2020-21 from 954 in 2016-17, according to theNational Family Health Surveyreleased by theInternational Institute of Population Sciences. State officials contest this figure, which is lower than the country’s Average.
India’s average has risen to 929 from 919.
While public health experts raised concerns about possible increase in sex determination and selective abortions, senior state health officials said the survey drastically underestimates sex ratio as the sample size is relatively small. Scientists from theSchool of Public Health, SRM University, gathered information for the survey from 27,929 households, 25,650 Women and 3,372 men in two phases – from January 6 to March 21, 2020, and from December 21, 2020, to March 31, 2021.
The civil registration system is a unified process of continuous, permanent, compulsory and universal recording of events such as births, deaths and stillbirths.