16-pt dip in gender ratio in Haryana

Ravinder Saini

Tribune News Service

Rohtak, October 19

Haryana witnessed a 16-point dip in the sex ratio at birth during the first nine months of this year as compared with last year’s figure.

It was 922 in 2020, which declined to 906 by September 30 this year. Thirteen of the total 22 districts have recorded sex ratio below the state average (906) this year. Putting up the best show, Rohtak recorded sex ratio of 955, an improvement of 43 points over the last year’s figure. It was followed by Charkhi Dadri (937), Panipat (930), Nuh (922), Jind (919) and Sirsa (919).

Sonepat and Jhajjar districts were the worst performers with lowest sex ratio of 880. Among other districts, Fatehabad recorded sex ratio of 882, Ambala (891), Rewari (892), Karnal and Faridabad (both 896), Bhiwani and Kaithal (both 897), Palwal (899), Gurugram (901), Yamunanagar (902) and Mahendragarh (905).

In all, 3,65,393 children were born in Haryana between January 1 and September 30 this year. Among them, 1,91,662 were male and 1,73,731 female.

Dr Veena Singh, Director General (Health Services), could not be contacted for comments despite repeated attempts. Another officer maintained that the reasons behind the decline in sex ratio at birth would be ascertained after getting reports from the districts.