The ‘cradle baby' scheme, a brainchild of Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, will be extended to Cuddalore, Ariyalur, Perambalur, Villupuram and Tiruvannamalai districts as the 2011 census has revealed a fall in the child sex ratio in these districts.

“The figures are causing concern,” Ms Jayalalithaa said in an official statement on Sunday. She added that female infanticide and foeticide could be the reason for this trend in these districts.

Cradle baby centres will be set up at a cost of Rs. 47.45 lakh and each centre will have a superintendent, an assistant nurse, an assistant and other workers.

The centres will have adequate stock of milk powder, medicine and clothes. Besides, cradles will be placed at hospitals, primary health centres and children homes to receive girl children.

She said the cradle baby scheme, launched in Salem district in 1992 with a view to eradicating female infanticide, was later extended to Madurai, Theni, Dindigul, Dharmapuri, Erode and Namakkal districts in 2001 when she became Chief Minister of the State for the second time.

As many as 188 centres in these districts were equipped with incubators, life-saving drugs, refrigerators, gas connections, bed sheets and clothes for children. The government also organised camps, seminars and conferences to create awareness of female infanticide.

“The scheme was appreciated not just in India, but across the world. Many girls were saved from the clutches of death and were later given in adoption; they grew up in families and received good education and are leading a prosperous life,” he said.

Ms. Jayalalithaa said that so far 3,200 girls and 582 boys had been rescued. Subsequently, 2,088 girls and 372 boys were given in adoption in the country and another 170 girls and 27 boys were in foreign countries. Non-resident Indians adopted 13 girls and 5 boys. A total of 160 children were handed over to their parents.

She said the scheme and the awareness created by the government had had the desired effect in these districts. The child sex ratio in the State was 1000:942 as per the 2001 census and the figure became 1000: 946 in 2011 census. But Cuddalore, Perambalur, Ariyalur, Villupuram and Tiruvannamalai witnessed a negative trend.