Even Delhiites don't want a girl child

The provisional figures of Census 2011 have revealed a disturbing trend of low child sex ratio. Mallica Joshi reports.

The provisional figures of Census 2011 have revealed a disturbing trend of low child sex ratio.

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The South-West district of the Capital is the worst-offender when it comes to the missing girl child.

The district has 836 girls for every 1,000 boys.

It is much lower than Delhi's average of 866 and the national average of 914.

Even in the census of 2001, the district had done poorly with a sex ratio of 846.

"Though it is unfortunate, I am not surprised. The situation in this district has always been bad. The rural belt in the area has always been hostile to girl children. There are way too many sex determination clinics in the area. Ultrasound is very common and unregistered clinics are unchecked," said Sabu George, an activist who has worked extensively on the issue of female foeticide and infanticide. "There has to be a check on the growth of these and the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act and Rules has to be followed more rigidly."

The child sex ratio has seen a downward trend in the entire nation. The city's average has gone down from 868 in 2001 to 866 in the current census.

While one may attribute the skewed sex ratio to the presence of a prominent rural population in the area, the figures deny the existence of this link.

Three districts of the Capital, however, have shown an increase in the ratio.

The East, West and North-West districts are the ones that are better off.

"The sex ratio in the North-West district has risen, despite it having a big rural population. It is hard to pin the blame on particular strata. We have not been able to find a clear reason for the trend," said Varsh Joshi, director of Census operations, Delhi.