Gender parity vs skewed child sex ratio

THE EROSION OF THE NATURAL BALANCE BETWEEN BOYS AND GIRLS SIGNALS A SILENT GENDER CRISIS

- Rahul Misha & Sujit Kumar Mishra

India struggles to achieve gender parity under Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)-5, which remains among the poorest performing goals, lowering India’s overall SDG rank. Odisha ranks the lowest in the SDG India Index 2023-24 with a score of 39, showing further decline from the 2020-21 assessment.

The Child Sex Ratio (CSR), girls per 1,000 boys (0-6 years), is the first of nine SDG-5 indicators, reflecting gender equity, demographic health, and women’s social status. Despite huge material and intellectual investment in Odisha, CSR imbalance persists, pushing the state below national and regional benchmarks.

Trends and determinants of CSR: A declining CSR reflects survival disadvantage for girls, entrenched son preference, and patriarchal norms. According to the Census of India 2011, Odisha reported a CSR of 941 girls per 1,000 boys, higher than the national average of 919. However, this advantage has diminished as National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5, 2019-21) shows Odisha’s CSR at 922, down from 934 in NFHS-4 (2015-16). This deterioration points to intensifying pre-birth discrimination despite the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act.