Census tells a horror story

Bangalore, June 28, 2011.



Census figures for Karnataka show that 16 out of the 30 districts have seen a decline in the child sex ratio, with Chamarajnagar at the bottom, down to 942 from 964.



The Bhagyalakshmi insurance scheme for girl children, introduced in 2006, was seen as the panacea for female foeticide and declining sex ratio in Karnataka. Five years down the line, the provisional figures of the 2011 Census don\'t reflect the promise held out by the scheme.



While the overall sex ratio has risen from 965 to 968 in Karnataka, the child sex ratio (between 0 to 6 years) has declined from 946 in the 2001 census to 943 in the recent one. Greater presence of women in the overall population is attributed to improved life expectancy. However, decreasing child sex ratio points to the continued preference for male children and termination of female foetuses, which has, in the recent years, been greatly aided by advanced scanning technology.



Karnataka figures show that 16 out of the 30 districts have seen a decline in the child sex ratio, with Chamarajnagar at the bottom, down to 942 from 964. Udupi, Dakshina Kannada, Chikmagalur, Hassan and Kodagu have overall female sex ratio crossing 1,000, but none have reached this mark in child sex ratio. Even Udupi, which has the best overall sex ratio at 1,093, has seen a dip in its child sex ratio from 958 to 955 in a decade. Only 10 districts have a ratio above 950, with Kodagu at the top at 977. Ramanagaram has seen a dramatic increase in child sex ratio, up by 15 points from the last census figure of 945.



In Bangalore

The situation is the State capital too gives no cause to cheer, with its child sex ratio down to 941 from 943 in 2001. Bangalore presents a curious case, with the presence of women in the overall population figures being the lowest at 908, attributed to migration of working male population to the city in large numbers. The metropolis, at 904, is at the bottom of the table in the above 7 age category as well.



C. Chandramauli, Registrar General of India and Census Commissioner, said while releasing the provisional results of the census that this trend is "a matter of grave concern". The decline is the sharpest in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Mizoram and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Haryana has 830 female children per every 1,000 children born and Punjab 846. The highest ratio is in Mizoram, at 971, followed by Meghalaya at 970. Karnataka is clearly nowhere near the top, though it is above the average national ratio.


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