PUNE Despite being called Oxford of the east and a metro city, Pune district’s sex ratio has been dwindling as per the data compiled under National Family Health Survey (NFHS).
As per the data, the sex ratio of the kids under age six in the past five years for Pune district has dropped from 924 in 2015-16 to 918 in 2019-20. Also, the sex ratio at birth has dropped from 927 (females per 1,000 males) in 2015-16 to 873 in 2019-20.
The state average sex ratio has gotten better and moved from 952 to 966 girls for every 1000 males, while the sex ratio at birth has gone down from 924 to 913 in last five years.
The NFHS report states that in urban areas the average sex ratio stands at 954 while for rural it is about 977 in 2019-20 and similarly in case of at birth sex ratio rural areas with 878 ratio fare much better than urban areas with 941.
Ashwini Kamble, women and child development officer, said, “There could be multiple reasons as to why the generation seems to be dwindling. It is not just happening in poor families but also influential families.”
{{/usCountry}}Ashwini Kamble, women and child development officer, said, “There could be multiple reasons as to why the generation seems to be dwindling. It is not just happening in poor families but also influential families.”
{{/usCountry}}“We do conduct multiple awareness programmes to spread the word that girls and boys are equal. We also undertake strict action in case anyone is found to violate the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act, 1994. We even conduct surprise raids whenever we get such information wherein an illegal abortion or illegal adoption process is in place,” she said.
The NFHS data and comparison is based on sample size for each district and state, in Pune, information was gathered from 786 households, 832 women, and 140 men.
The fieldwork for Maharashtra was conducted from June 19, 2019, to December 30, 2019, by the Indian Institute of Health Management Research (IIHMR).