In last 8 months, sex ratio at birth in Hry steady at 906

Haryana has recorded a sex ratio at birth (SRB) of 906 girls per 1,000 boys up to May 2025, according to Civil Registration System (CRS) data, revealing a worrying trend in gender imbalance despite campaigns like Beti Bachao Beti Padhao and crackdowns on gender determination tests and misuse of medical termination of pregnancy (MTP) kits.

- Pawan Sharma

CHANDIGARH:

The cumulative sex ratio at birth in Haryana up to May 2024 was 912. It declined to 905 in September, while the state's annual SRB in 2024 stood at 910 female births per 1,000 male births. Last year's SRB was the lowest after 2016 that had prompted the authorities to set up a special task force (STF), leading to seizures of massive quantities of the MTP kits and cancellation of MTP licence of a doctor in Kurukshetra and Karnal.

As per provisional figures that excludes delayed registrations, some districts--particularly urban and industrial hubs-- continue to lag significantly. From January to May 2025, 1,90,721 births (1,00,070 male and 90,651 female) were registered across the state.

A handful of districts reported encouraging trends. Panchkula emerged as the best performer with SRB of 975---2,240 girls born against 2,298 boys---between January and May. It was followed by Fatehabad (970), Yamunanagar (940), and Kurukshetra (933).

Nuh recorded the highest number of births (10,048 girls to 10,779 boys) in the state with an SRB of 932.

Some of Haryana's most developed and urbanised districts posted alarmingly low SRBs. For instance, Gurugram recorded an SRB of 855--among the worst in the state--with 8,694 girls born against 10,168 boys.

Faridabad's SRB stood at 898, Palwal at 874, Rohtak (883), Charkhi Dadri (859), Kaithal (870), and Sonepat (899).