Gender Ratio Woes in India

Why in news?

Economic Survey 2017-18 has pointed out Meta preference and fertility stopping rule for skewed sex-ratio of the last child (SRLC).

What is the status of gender ratio in India?

• The sex-ratio of the last child (SRLC) born in Indian families is excessively slanted.
• At national level, it is around 9.5 per cent worse than it should be, compared to other countries at similar levels of development.
• In Gujarat, Punjab and Rajasthan, the SRLC is 2,100 boys for every 1,000 girls, In Haryana, it is even worse at 2,300 boys: 1,000 girls.
• The male child preference is highest in Punjab and Haryana and lowest in Meghalaya.
• While India has shown improvement in several parameters related to women's empowerment, the preference for a son has not diminished.

What are the reasons for this condition?

• An average Indian family prefers to have two children, there are instances where families have more than five children if the last child is not a male.
• Indian families carry on having kids until there is a boy and then, they stop having kids.
• The Survey calls this as “meta preference” and a “fertility stopping rule” by making an inference that there are 21 million unwanted girls of age group 0-25 were born because their parents wanted a boy.
• More than 2 million women go missing across age groups every year either due to sex-selective abortion, disease, neglect, or inadequate nutrition, according to the National Family and Health Survey (NFHS).
• Reasons behind preferring a male child are found to be compulsion of a woman to move to her husband's house post marriage, inheritance of property, rituals performed by sons, and dowry, among others.
• More women are educated, employed and earning than a decade ago they still do not have control over their earnings and childbirth.

What are the suggestions from the government in this regard?

• The government had introduced schemes Beti Bachao -Beti Padhao, Sukanya Samridhi Yojana, enhanced maternity leave and mandatory Crèches in workplaces for supporting female children and child births.
• Economic Survey recommended that the nation must confront the societal preference for male offspring.
• It has also called for a stronger commitment on the gender front similar to the government’s push for Ease of Doing Business.
• Equal participation by women in the labour force could push up the gross domestic product by 27 per cent.
• It’s axiomatic that women’s empowerment, education and agency in terms of deployment of their income, travel, etc. can lead to a big leap forward

Source: Business standard, the Hindu