Representative image

NEW DELHI: The all-India sex ratio at birth (SRB) went up by eight points since 2015-16 to 931 girls per 1,000 boys till March this year with Kerala and Chhattisgarh at the top of the heap with 959, followed closely by Mizoram (958) and Goa (954). At the bottom of the list are Daman & Diu (889), Lakshadweep (891) and Punjab (900). Sex ratio is expressed as the number of girls per 1,000 boys.

The all-India SRB was 923 in 2015-16, 926 girls in 2016-17 and 929 girls in 2017-18, according to data presented by the ministry of women and child development in Parliament in reply to a question in the Lok Sabha on the government’s flagship “Beti Bachao Beti Padhao” scheme.

Of the 21 states and UTs where SRB increased from 2017-18, the highest increase of 51 points was in Andaman & Nicobar Island from 897 girls to 948 girls, followed by Sikkim (from 928 to 948) and Telangana (925 to 943). There are 12 states which registered a decline as compared to 2017-18. The steepest fall, of 42 points, was seen in Arunachal Pradesh (from 956 girls to 914).

Arunachal was followed by Jammu & Kashmir (958 girls to 943 girls), Tamil Nadu (from 947 girls to 936 girls) and Maharashtra (from 940 girls to 930). Chhattisgarh, which has the highest sex ratio at birth (SRB) in 2018-19 along with Kerala, actually registered a decline of SRB from 961 in 2017-18. Kerala too has shown a decline this year as compared to 964 in 2017-18.

A comparison between SRB for 2015-16 and 2018-19 shows 25 states showing a rise and 11 registering a decline. Sikkim and Arunachal have shown the maximum decline. Among the 25 states where the SRB rise was highest between 2015-16 and 2018-19 includes Lakshadweep (832 to 891 — 59 points), Andaman & Nicobar Islands (890 to 948 — 58 points), Goa (918 to 954 — 36 points), Nagaland (904 to 936 —32 points) and Uttarakhand (906 to 938 — 32 points). Haryana, where the BJP government’s BBBP scheme was launched in January 2015, showed an improvement from 887 girls per 1,000 boys in 2016 to 914 in 2017-18 and 2018-19.

