SC/STs have healthiest sex ratio in Goa

Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) in Goa lead the way as far as sex ratio is concerned, according to the Economic Survey 2014-15 tabled in the legislative assembly.

At a time when successive state governments have been working overtime to reduce the gender imbalance, the survey -- tabled in the ongoing budget session by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led coalition government -- said the sex ratio was also very healthy amongst the state's Gowda and Kunbi tribes.

"It is interesting to observe that there exists a healthy ratio among the SCs in the state. The sex ratio in the state stood at 973 females per 1,000 males, while the sex ratio among the SCs is as high as 1,015 females per 1,000 males," says the report, which documents the socio-financial health of the state.

Goa also takes prides in its high literacy percentage of 87.4.

Among the SCs, the Mangs and Mahars have a higher sex ratio of 1,046 and 1,042 females, respectively, for every 1,000 males.

The STs have a sex ratio of 1,046 per 1,000, among which Gowda and Kunbi tribes lead the charts at 1,083 and 1,049 females, respectively, per 1,000 males.

Goa's sex ratio is above the national average of 940 females per 1,000 males, as per the 2011 census.

The coastal state, however, ranks 11th vis-a-vis sex ratio comparisons, with Kerala topping the list at 1,084 females per 1,000 males, and Daman and Diu languishing at the bottom with a ratio of 618 females per 1,000 males.

In a bid to incentivise birth of female offspring, successive governments in Goa, in the recent past, also started several cash-oriented schemes.