NHRC calls for report from Centre, states over reported decline of sex ratio at birth

Expressing concern over the reported decline of the sex ratio at birth across the country, the NHRC has sought a report from the WCD Ministry and chief secretaries of all the states and UTs on the status of implementation of the various welfare schemes on the issue.

According to an official statement, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has also invited comments from the state governments and UT's along with their suggestions to improve the sex ratio at birth besides sharing of best practices for proper reporting and registration of births.

The commission has taken a serious note of media reports that have raised the issue of abysmal sex ratio across the country, especially in the southern states.

The statement said as per a news report, the data collated by the Office of the Registrar General of India from the Civil Registration System (CRS) reveals that in 2016 Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan had the worst sex ratio at birth (SRB) of 806. Tamil Nadu, which had sex ratio of 935 in 2007, came down to 840 compared to the all India figure of 877.

Karnataka, as mentioned in the news report, has fallen from 1,004 to 896 and Telengana stands at 881.

The commission has further observed that it is aware that the central as well as state governments have announced and implemented various schemes to create awareness among the general public to save the girl child and improve the gender equation but the data reflected in the instant news report gives a different picture.

"If the data reflected in the news report is correct, it seriously affects gender equality besides the fact that the Constitution of India prohibits discrimination in any form, including sex, which ultimately violates human rights of the weaker sections of the society i.e. girl and women and, therefore, there is a need for immediate attention and action by the Union as well as state governments," the statement said.

According to the media report, published on January 20, most of the states have achieved near 100 per cent registration of births, hence, it cannot be said that all the cases of birth of girl children are not being reported.

The data with regard to Tamil Nadu is more alarming because it has been lower than the all India figure, the statement said.

In Karnataka, as per the news report, ever since 2011 it achieved 901 birth registrations and has an SRB of 983 which has declined by 108 marks in comparison with the survey conducted in 2007 when it was 1,004, it said.

The inadequate sex ratios have generally been associated with the states like Haryana and Punjab but the present data indicates that the scenario is worse in south India, the statement said.

Only Kerala could manage to have the highest SRB and in 2016 it reached 954, it added.