Decreasing number of daughters: Their breaths are being snatched away in the womb itself.
The sex ratio in Haryana has reached an eight-year low in 2024. The sex ratio at birth in Haryana has fallen to 910 in 2024, the lowest since 2016, when the ratio was 900. The state has never achieved the ideal sex ratio of 950 recommended by the WHO. The preference for boys has led to a decrease in the desire for girls in the state as their families fear that they may cause disgrace in the future due to running away and getting married. According to them, girls cannot help their families by earning money and property. On the contrary, families will have to give a dowry in their marriage. Due to such thinking, boys in Haryana are not getting girls for marriage. Most of the villages in Haryana usually have such a problem. Unless there is a change in the preference of boys in Haryana, the situation of the sex ratio cannot improve.
The sex ratio (SRB) of Haryana, notorious for female foeticide, has reached its lowest level in eight years, according to data released recently by the state government. The sex ratio was recorded at 905 in the first 10 months of 2024, i.e., till October. This is 11 points less than last year. A lower sex ratio was recorded in the year 2016. After reaching a high of 923 in the year 2019, the sex ratio at birth in Haryana in the year 2024 fell to 910, the lowest in eight years. These figures have worried activists and civil society members of Haryana, although officials have termed the latest figures as “minor fluctuations.” According to the National Health and Family Survey-5 (NFHS-5) published in the year 2021, the overall sex ratio at birth in India was 929.
Haryana is far away from the ideal sex ratio of 950 recommended by the World Health Organization. The state has not been able to achieve this figure to date. The decline in the sex ratio means that girls in the state are being killed in the womb itself. Despite economic progress, a large number of people in Haryana still prefer sons. Unless this thinking changes, the situation regarding the sex ratio will not improve. Due to the preference given to boys by the people of the state, the business of ultrasound operators and abortion centers is flourishing in the neighboring states of Haryana. There is not much strictness in these states. People from Haryana reach here through brokers and get tests done and abortions done. Ultrasound operators also give wrong information about the fetus growing in the womb for money. Many such cases have come to light when abortions were done by declaring boys as girls.
Those who perform ultrasounds and those who perform abortions are linked. This is a setback for a state that has made remarkable improvements on this scale in the last decade. In 2014, the sex ratio in Haryana was just 871. This led to a huge outrage across the country, and civil society organizations, the state government, and the Centre made concerted efforts to improve the situation. Given the falling sex ratio in Haryana, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao campaign in 2015. After the campaign, the sex ratio of the state improved to 923 in 2019. But in 2020, it started declining again, which continues till now. Although the sex ratio has once again seen a decline since then, this setback comes at a time when women of the state are excelling in sports as well as academics, including at international forums.
The gains between 2014 and 2019 were due to strict enforcement of the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act, 1994 (PNDT Act), as well as intensive awareness drives. This was aimed at curbing rampant prenatal sex selection and female foeticide in Haryana, as well as changing social attitudes that preferred boys and saw a girl child as a burden. Despite Haryana providing a lump sum of Rs 21,000 on the birth of a girl child and opening bank accounts for girls through the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana, why are girl children seen as a burden? Activists say more work is needed to change attitudes and that enforcement of laws aimed at curbing female foeticide has become lax in recent years.
Due to the preference for boys, the desire for girls has decreased in the state as their families fear that they may cause disgrace in the future due to elopement and marriage. According to them, girls cannot help their families by earning money and property. On the contrary, families will have to give a dowry in their marriage. Due to such thinking, boys in Haryana are not getting girls for marriage. Such a problem is common in most of the villages of Haryana. In many families, if girls are not brought up properly, they become victims of malnutrition, and after some time they also die. Despite the economic progress of Haryana, the mindset of a large population here has still not changed. Unless this mindset of discrimination between boys and girls changes, the situation will not improve.
