Here is some heart-warming news that will bring more cheer at Christmas: the Christian community has again emerged with the best population sex ratio in India. There are 1023 females for every 1000 males among Christians, way ahead of all other communities and the national average of 943.Hindus and Sikhs have the worst sex ratios at 939 and 903 respectively. This has been linked to widespread sex selection practices which range from female feticide to infanticide. At 951, Muslims have a better sex ratio than Hindus and Sikhs but lagging behind Buddhists (965) and Jains (951).This information emerges from the religious community-wise population data released by Census 2011 earlier this year.Unfortunately, the Census office has not yet released other religion-wise details like populations in the 0-6 years age group, educational levels, fertility etc. This prevents any deeper analysis of social characteristics among different religious communities.But it can safely be assumed that child sex ratios too are parallel to population sex ratios. Otherwise, the consistent trend over last two decades could not have been possible.As data from 1991 and 2001 Censuses shows, Christians have had healthy sex ratios for decades. Since 1991, their sex ratio has been the best among all religious communities. The community makes up only about three per cent of India’s population. Over 40 per cent of Christians live in urban areas compared to just 29 per cent of Hindus.In fact, all minority religious communities barring Sikhs have a substantially larger urban presence, with 80 per cent of Jains living in cities. It was believed by some experts that this urban character goes hand in hand with better education and less poverty, and this could lead to less sex selection.However, as Census and other data has repeatedly shown, child sex ratios are particularly bad in urban areas, among educated sections and even among relatively better income earners. So the better sex ratios among Christians do not appear to be determined by economic status.What is more plausible – and Census data appears to indicate this – is socio-cultural convergence. In the North Indian states where sex ratios are particularly bad, Christian sex ratios too are lower than elsewhere. The ‘get rid of the daughters by hook or crook’ attitude seems to seep into this community too.So, in Haryana, where the state population sex ratio dips down to 879, Christian sex ratio too is down to 924. Similarly, in Punjab, the state ratio is 895 and Christian sex ratio is down to 912. Same for Rajasthan (928 and 973), UP (912 and 950), Bihar (917 and 955).But this correlation breaks down after that, with Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra all having low sex ratios overall but far better sex ratios among Christians. This may be because of an intersection with another powerful socio-cultural reality – tribal culture. Large populations of tribals have embraced Christianity and tribals in general are averse to sex selection. This could be why Christian populations in these states with substantial tribal populations do not follow the declining sex ratio trend.