Drop in Bihar sex ratio, says SRS report

Bihar has slid to being the sixth worst state in terms of sex ratio at birth (SRB), which is the number of females per 1,000 males, showing a decline by two points from 900 in 2019-21 to 898 in 2020-22, as per the Sample Registration System (SRS) data for the reference year 2022, released on June 12, this year, said officials on Tuesday.

- Ruchir Kumar

Ruchir Kumar [e-mail] PATNA:

The drop in sex ratio in the state, when the national average has improved to 914, up by one point as compared to the 2021, is a reflection of Bihar's faltering Beti Bachao (save the girl child) campaign, said experts.

"The social welfare and the health departments both are to be blamed for their lack of effort in spreading awareness about the girl child, and failure to strictly implement the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, aimed at preventing female foeticide and arresting the declining sex ratio in Bihar," said Dr Nigam Prakash Narain, a former professor and head of paediatrics, Patna Medical College.