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Data from the National Family Health Survey have been released for some states and Union territories. As Table 1 shows, there is bad news when it comes to the sex ratio - India's "missing girls" problem has got worse in many states since the last Survey 10 years ago.
However, as Table 2 shows, literacy among women has notably improved in most places, including in Bihar and Madhya Pradesh. Similar improvements can be observed in fertility rates, in Table 3, though they are still high in Bihar. Big improvements are visible in institutional deliveries - births in hospitals - especially in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana, as Table 4 shows. And, as Table 5 shows, almost 60 per cent of women in Bihar own their house.
Some other features are of interest. As Table 6 shows, health insurance penetration is still very low, ahead of the government's promised Universal Health Care system. But a startlingly large number reports improved source of drinking water, as Table 7 shows.
