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Gunjan Sharma
Gunjan Sharma

ALARMING

Child sex ratio in Uttarakhand may touch an all-time low

girls (File) Representational image

As per the latest Annual Health Survey (AHS) conducted by the Registrar General & Census Commissioner of India, child sex ratio (number of girls per 1,000 boys), is all set to fall drastically to a little over 800 by 2021 census in Uttarakhand.

In fact, figures from the last few years show that sex ratio in the state has always been a cause of worry. The ratio at birth in 2011-2012 was 861 and it was 867 during 2012-2013. And if under-five mortality rate of 48 deaths per 1,000 births in India is taken into account, it was further reduced to 813 in 2011-2012 and 819 in 2012-2013.

According to the 2011 census, Uttarakhand had the seventh lowest child sex ratio in the age group of 0-6 years with 890 girls per 1,000 boys. Ironically, implementation of the Nanda Devi Kanya Yojana (NDKY), which was launched in 2009 and renamed as Hamari Beti Hamara Abhiman (HBHA) in 2014, didn’t help the state in improving the sex ratio.

In fact, people believe that there is a major flaw with the scheme. The NDKY is extended only to Below Poverty Line (BPL) families while it is the Above Poverty Line (APL) families who are more into sex selective abortion as they can afford sex selection and selective abortion.

According to the report, the NDKY covered only 4.97 per cent of the BPL families. During 2011-2012, the survey conducted by the government found 6,19,718 BPL families. While as per Uttarakhand government, in five years from 01.01.2009 to 31.12.2015, only 30,830 girls or 4.97 per cent BPL families were given benefits under the NDKY.

On an average, 83,601 girls are born annually in Uttarakhand. If only 30,830 beneficiaries were extended benefits between 01.01.2009 to 31.12.2015, it implies that only 6,166 girls received benefits annually.

ACHR has filed a complaint with the National Human Rights Commission of India and asked them to address the findings of the report.

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Topics : #Uttarakhand

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