Delhi sex ratio up to 933 females per 1,000 males: Manish Sisodia

Sex ratio is usually used as a yardstick to assess gender-based sex selection in a certain region.

Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Thursday said that the sex ratio has improved in Delhi -- from 920 females per 1,000 males in 2019 to 933 females per 1,000 males in 2020.

Manish Sisodia said there has been a positive change in sex ratio in Delhi due to the “Kejriwal government’s efforts”. (ANI)

“There has been a positive change in sex ratio in Delhi due to the (Arvind) Kejriwal government’s efforts. According to the annual report of the Directorate of Economics and Statistics of the Delhi government , sex ratio in Delhi increased to 933 females per 1,000 males in 2020, as against 920 per 1,000 males in 2019. Increase in sex ratio is the result of social awareness. It is a matter of great pride that our society is more educated now and they understand the importance of girl child even better,” said Sisodia in a press statement.

Sex ratio is usually used as a yardstick to assess gender-based sex selection in a certain region.

In Delhi’s case, sex-ratio witnessed consistent fall between 2014 and 2017. Government data showed, it was recorded at 876 (females per 1,000 males) in 2014, 869 in 2015, 857 in 2016 and 850 in 2017, before rising to 899 in 2018 and 920 in 2019.

While the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) came to power in 2015 and started cracking down on facilities and individuals enabling sex selection, its effects became visible only in 2019 in terms of sharp improvement in the sex ratio numbers, said senior officials in health department.

On Thursday, Sisodia also highlighted trends such as decrease in infant mortality rate, maternal mortality rate, birth rate and death rate which, he said, indicates improvement in Delhi’s health infrastructure.

“There has also been a reduction in infant mortality rate in Delhi from 24.19 (per 1,000 live births) in 2019 to 20.37 in 2020. The reduction in infant mortality is the result of great changes in health infrastructure and better access to health facilities to all citizens. The maternal mortality rate in Delhi has also decreased. The maternal mortality rate was 0.55 (per 1,000 births) in 2019; it fell to 0.54 in 2020,” said Sisodia.

“In Delhi, public awareness efforts have also yielded benefits. In Delhi, the birth rate fell from 18.35 (per 1,000 population) in 2019 to 14.85 in 2020. In 2020, a number of 301,645 births were registered, compared to 365,868 in 2019... According to the data, the death rate has decreased from 7.29 (per 1,000 population) in 2019 to 7.03 in 2020.”