LUCKNOW: If you are in your 20s, 30s or 40s and have a wife, consider yourself to be very lucky. That's because you are not among the 4.12 crore out of 6.50 crore men of marriageable age who have no choice as there are no brides in the country.The finding may shock many on Akshay Tritiya, considered as the best mahurat to get married. It comes from the recently released Census Data on Marital Status of Indian Population. Consider this. Against 5.63 crore men in the 20s, there are 2.07 crore females present -- indicating towards a gap of 3.55 crore brides.Similarly, for men in the 30s, 70.1 lakh men in the 30s, only 22.1 lakh girls present. In this way, there are no brides for a whooping 47.91 lakh men.The gap exists in case of men in the 40s as well. While the population of men is 16.92 lakh men, the number of women in the 40s is barely 8.67 lakh which means a gap of 8.25 lakh women.Put together, there are only 2.38 crore brides for 6.50 crore grooms. In other words, three out of five men of marriageable age will eventually not be find to find a bride. Therefore, a forced brahmacharya is the only option most men have.The gap exists because millions of girls were killed in the womb during the 1970s, 80s and 90s. This skewed countrys sex ratio resulting in the unnatural disparity.The conclusion has been derived from census data on marital status of Indian population released recently. For 79.56 lakh men in their 20s, there are just 29.26 lakh women living. Similarly, there are 9.13 lakh men in the 30s but only 1.95 lakh girls while 3.03 lakh men in their 40s have 59,399 women to choose from.The gap explains why Amit Dwivedi, a 39 year old cardiac surgeon, from city's Gomtinagar area, serving in the Indian Army Medical services has not been able to find a suitable match. "Like most profiles on a matrimony website, caste-minded Dwivedi wants the bride to a perfect person but is unaware that he doesn't have a choice," quips Shrisha Singh, who works against sex-selective abortions in UP.The girls are missing because of India's skewed sex ratio (or number of women per 1,000 men) which is 908 as on date. It is much less than the standard of 954 (natural biological sex ratio). "This had to happen as girls were mercilessly eliminated in those decades," said Dr Neelam Singh, member, National Inspection and Monitoring Committee on PCPNDT (pre conception, pre natal diagnostic techniques) Act."That was the time when sex-determination rose its head in India," she added informing that the evil was spreading to rural parts of the country. "The scenario is set to worsen by 2021," she said.Match-maker GS Kapoor shared that he comes across unmarried eligible young men born in the early 1970s. "Some of them have in fact compromised over the years on caste and community as well but to no avail. The subtle rise in number of anti-dowry families is more due to 'unavailability of brides' than any consciousness," he said adding, "young men have been forced to live a loner's life because the previous generation was extremely biased towards daughters."Fewer girls and more boys is associated with the common myth that girls would be valued more than before. The trend is no good news for the fairer sex too as skewed sex ratio is at the root of many social problems girls face in every day life."Crimes against women especially gang rapes and acid attacks are closely linked to this besides being associated to slowly improving status of women," said Madhu Garg, social activist.Prof Harinder Kaur, IIT Delhi's department of social sciences, who's documented the gender gap has attributed ills of 'bride buying' and forced polyandry (one woman married to many men) to the trend of missing brides. She has also noted that the trend affects poor women more than the ones in the affluent or upper middle class.India's sex ratio has been gone down over the decades. In 1901, India's sex ratio was 972 which was above the natural sex ratio of 954. It continued to decline over the decades but saw its lowest in the 1990s (930), 1980s (934) and 1990s (927). "Had it not been for the PC PNDT act in the 1990s, many more girls would have died," believes Rohit Kant, a lawyer.The scenario is worse in most states which have a very low sex-ratio. In UP for instance, there are 59 lakh men of marriageable age who would not get a bride. Then in Gujarat, 6.29 lakh men are single not by choice.