Haryana’s gender ratio drops to 914

Deepender Deswal & Ravinder Saini
Tribune News Service
Hisar/ Rohtak, August 11

Having witnessed a considerable improvement in the sex ratio at birth (SRB) over the past five years, Haryana has suffered a setback with a decline in the SRB in the first seven months of this year (up to July 31). Against the SRB of 923 in 2019, the ratio has dropped to 914 so far this year.

Among districts, Fatehabad recorded the best SRB of 948, followed by Kaithal (942), Sonepat (940), Panipat (934), Nuh and Kurukshetra (both 933). Fatehabad and Kaithal were at the ninth and 13th positions, respectively, in 2019 with the SRB of 921 and 919, respectively, while Nuh was placed 10th, recording birth of 921 girls against 1,000 boys.

As many as 11 districts recorded SRB below the state’s average of 914. The worst performing districts were Jhajjar (883) and Karnal (884). In 2019, their ratios stood at 914 and 908, respectively.

Panchkula, which sat at the top in 2019 with 963 SRB, saw a drop of 40 points to the 8th position with the SRB of 923. Similarly, second position-holder Ambala (918) dropped to the 12th spot. Besides, Sirsa recorded the SRB of 931, Panipat 934, Hisar 918, Faridabad 915 and Yamunanagar 921.