Sex ratio at birth improved from 918 to 931 in five years: Smriti Irani

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Union Minister for Women and Child Development, Smriti Irani said on Friday that Sex Ratio at Birth (SRB) has improved by 13 points from 918 to 931 at the national level in last five years.

"Since the launch of Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao, the Central and the state governments with janbhagidari have consistently strived towards ensuring the potential of our daughters is celebrated. Under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narender Modi, the country has made a remarkable jump in the national sex ratio of 13 points from 918 to 931 in last five years," she said.

The Minister was speaking at a function after presenting awards to states and districts for improved sex ratio and awareness generation under the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign.

Haryana, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh received honours for improving sex ratio at birth.

Nine districts were also awarded for better sex ratio at birth which includes East Kameng of Arunachal Pradesh), Mahendragarh and Bhiwani (Haryana), Udham Singh Nagar (Uttrakhand), Namakkal (Tamilnadu), Jalgaon (Maharashtra), Etawah (UP), Raigarh (Chattisgarh), Jodhpur (Rajasthan).

During the event, 10 districts were also awarded for good work in awareness generation and outreach activities under Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign.

The Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign was launched in 2015 and is, now, being implemented in 640 districts.

On the occasion, Irani made special mention of Kameng District of Arunachal Pradesh which has registered a sharp improvement in SRB from 807 in the last five years.

She said that this makes it clear that nothing is impossible if the Government and society collectively resolve to achieve a target.

The Minister also mentioned Mahendragarh district of Haryana where the SRB has risen to 916 from below 800 marks in 2001.

She also appreciated the work done by the district of Tiruvallur of Tamil Nadu for recording an impressive increase of 38 points in SRB from 925 to 963 in the last one year.

Acknowledging the contribution of each district in the improvement of sex ratio at birth, Irani said that with the collective efforts of the Prime Minister's Office and the Ministries of Human Resource Development and Health and Family Welfare the girl child is now protected from birth till the rest of her life.