Lok Sabha Question No. 3250 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-08-05
Subject: Sex Ratio
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: NEELAM SONKER

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED  QUESTION NO. 3250 TO BE ANSWERED ON 5 TH AUGUST, 2016

## SEX RATIO

## 3250. SHRIMATI NEELAM SONKER:

Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government is aware of a huge gap in the sex ratio in the country resu declining girl population;
- (b) if so, the details thereof, State/ UT - wise;
- (c)  whether  incidences  of  female foeticide  is  continuing  unabated  in  the  country  despite enactment of PreConception and Pre - Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PC&PNDT) Act forbidding pre - natal sex determination tests;
- (d) if so, the details thereof along with the number of cases of female foe ticide reported during the last three years, State/ UT - wise; and
- (e) the steps taken by the Government to increase the sex ratio and curb female foetic strictly enforce PC&PNDT Act?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE ( SMT. ANUPRIYA PATEL )

- (a) & (b):      As per Census, 2011 there are 943 females per 1000 males and  the State/U -wise details of sex ratio enumerated in Census, 2011 is at Annexure -I.
- (c) & (d):    Government is aware of the incidences of female foeticide in the country. However, the PC&PNDT Act, 1994, is one of the measures intended to improve the Child Sex Ratio. T Act and Rules made thereunder, need to be supplemented with socio - economic support systems for correction in the existi ng social prejudices against girl child/women.

Contd……..

As  per  information  received  from  National  Crime  Record  Bureau  (NCRB),  data  on female foeticide has been collected from States/UTs from 2014 onwards. As on date, dat female foeticide is available only for the year 2014 as per which 50 cases of female foet have been registered in the country. State/UT - wise details are at Annexure -II.

(e) : Besides  the  enactment  of  the  Pre - conception  and  Pre - natal  Diagnostic  Techniques (Prohibi tion of Sex Selection) Act, 1994, the Government has adopted a multi - pronged strategy entailing  schemes  and  programmes  and  awareness  generation/advocacy  measures  have  been adopted  to  build  a  positive  environment  for  the  girl  child  through  gender  sensitive policies, provisions and legislation. The details of important measures are enclosed in Annexure -III.

Annexure-I Sex Ratio in India (as per census 2001-2011)

| S. No.   | State/UTs            |   Sex Ratio |   Sex Ratio |
|----------|----------------------|-------------|-------------|
|          |                      |        2001 |        2011 |
|          | INDIA                |         933 |         943 |
| 1        | JAMMU & KASHMIR      |         892 |         889 |
| 2        | HIMACHAL PRADESH     |         968 |         972 |
| 3        | PUNJAB               |         876 |         895 |
| 4        | CHANDIGARH           |         777 |         818 |
| 5        | UTTARAKHAND          |         962 |         963 |
| 6        | HARYANA              |         861 |         879 |
| 7        | DELHI                |         821 |         868 |
| 8        | RAJASTHAN            |         921 |         928 |
| 9        | UTTAR PRADESH        |         898 |         912 |
| 10       | BIHAR                |         919 |         918 |
| 11       | SIKKIM               |         875 |         890 |
| 12       | ARUNACHAL PRADESH    |         893 |         938 |
| 13       | NAGALAND             |         900 |         931 |
| 14       | MANIPUR              |         978 |         992 |
| 15       | MIZORAM              |         935 |         976 |
| 16       | TRIPURA              |         948 |         960 |
| 17       | MEGHALAYA            |         972 |         989 |
| 18       | ASSAM                |         935 |         958 |
| 19       | WEST BENGAL          |         934 |         950 |
| 20       | JHARKHAND            |         941 |         949 |
| 21       | ODISHA               |         972 |         979 |
| 22       | CHHATTISGARH         |         989 |         991 |
| 23       | MADHYA PRADESH       |         919 |         931 |
| 24       | GUJARAT              |         920 |         919 |
| 25       | DAMAN & DIU          |         710 |         618 |
| 26       | DADRA & NAGAR HAVELI |         812 |         774 |
| 27       | MAHARASHTRA          |         922 |         929 |
| 28       | ANDHRA PRADESH       |         978 |         993 |
| 29       | KARNATAKA            |         965 |         973 |
| 30       | GOA                  |         961 |         973 |
| 31       | LAKSHADWEEP          |         948 |         947 |
| 32       | KERALA               |        1059 |        1084 |
| 33       | TAMIL NADU           |         987 |         996 |
| 34       | PUDUCHERRY           |        1001 |        1037 |
| 35       | A & N ISLANDS        |         846 |         876 |

Source: Registrar General of India, Ministry of Home Affairs.

## Annexure-II

## Cases Registered under Female Foeticide during 2014

| S. No.   | States/UTs        |   Cases Registered under Female 2014 |
|----------|-------------------|--------------------------------------|
| 1        | ANDHRA PRADESH    |                                    0 |
| 2        | ARUNACHAL PRADESH |                                    0 |
| 3        | ASSAM             |                                    0 |
| 4        | BIHAR             |                                    0 |
| 5        | CHHATTISGARH      |                                    2 |
| 6        | GOA               |                                    0 |
| 7        | GUJARAT           |                                    0 |
| 8        | HARYANA           |                                    4 |
| 9        | HIMACHAL PRADESH  |                                    3 |
| 10       | JAMMU & KASHMIR   |                                    0 |
| 11       | JHARKHAND         |                                    0 |
| 12       | KARNATAKA         |                                    0 |
| 13       | KERALA            |                                    0 |
| 14       | MADHYA PRADESH    |                                   15 |
| 15       | MAHARASHTRA       |                                    1 |
| 16       | MANIPUR           |                                    0 |
| 17       | MEGHALAYA         |                                    0 |
| 18       | MIZORAM           |                                    0 |
| 19       | NAGALAND          |                                    0 |
| 20       | ODISHA            |                                    0 |
| 21       | PUNJAB            |                                    7 |
| 22       | RAJASTHAN         |                                   11 |
| 23       | SIKKIM            |                                    0 |
| 24       | TAMIL NADU        |                                    0 |
| 25       | TELANGANA         |                                    2 |
| 26       | TRIPURA           |                                    0 |
| 27       | UTTAR PRADESH     |                                    4 |
| 28       | UTTARAKHAND       |                                    1 |
| 29       | WEST BENGAL       |                                    0 |
|          | TOTAL (STATES)    |                                   50 |
| 30       | A&N ISLANDS       |                                    0 |
| 31       | CHANDIGARH        |                                    0 |
| 32       | D&N HAVELI        |                                    0 |
| 33       | DAMAN & DIU       |                                    0 |
| 34       | DELHI             |                                    0 |
| 35       | LAKSHADWEEP       |                                    0 |
| 36       | PUDUCHERRY        |                                    0 |
|          | TOTAL (UTs)       |                                    0 |
|          | TOTAL (ALL-INDIA) |                                   50 |

Source: Monthly Crime Statistics, National Crime Records Bureau

*data started collection since 2014;

- The Government has intensified effective implementation of he Pre - conception and Pre - natal Diagnostic  Techniques  (Prohibition  of  Sex  Selection)  Act,  1994  and  amended  various provisions of the Rules.
- The Government is rendering financial support to the States and UTs for operationalizati PNDT  Cells,  Capacity Building,  Orientation  &  Sensitisation  Workshop,  Information, Education and Communication campaigns and for strengthening structures for the implementation of the PC & PNDT Act under the National Health Mission (NHM).
- A  National  review  under  the  chairmans hip  of  Additional  Secretary  and  Mission  Director, MoHFW was held on 21 st September, 2015 through video conference.
- A National Capacity Building Programme for State Appropriate Authorities and State Noda Officers was organized on 12 th & 13 th April, 2016 at Manesar in collaboration with United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
- A comprehensive Standard Operating Guidelines (SOGs) for District Appropriate Authority has  been  prepared  by  Ministry  of  Health  &  Family  Welfare  for  better  clarity  f implementation of the PC&PNDT Act.
- Program review at the state level has been intensified.  Five regional review workshop North,  West,  Central,  North  East  and  Southern  regions  were  organized  during  2014 - 15. During 2015 - 16 five regional review workshops have been organized for Northern Eastern, Northern, Eastern, Western and Southern States in Imphal, Chandigarh, Bhubaneswar and Hyderabad (two) respectively.
- National campaign 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' was launched in 161 gender critical districts by  Ministry  of  Women  and  Child  Develop ment  in  partnership  with  Ministry  of  Human Resource Development and Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.
- Directions given by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the matter of WP(C) 349/2006 (Voluntary Health Association of Punjab vs. UOI & others), were communicated to the States/ UTs time to time for ensuring compliance.
- Inspections by the National Inspection and Monitoring Committee (NIMC) have been scaled up. In year 2014 - 15, 19 inspection visits have been undertaken in different State s.  During 2015- 16, 22 NIMC inspections have been undertaken in the States of Punjab, Puducherry Tripura,  Sikkim,  Uttar  Pradesh,  Odisha,  Bihar,  Mizoram,  Andhra  Pradesh,  Haryana, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Assam, U ttarakhand, Karnataka,  Tamilnadu,  Madhya  Pradesh  and  West  Bengal.  During  2016 - 17,  2  NIMC inspections have been undertaken in the States of Arunachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir till date.
- States have been advised to focus on Districts/Blocks/Villages with low Child Sex Ratio to ascertain  the  causes,  plan  appropriate  behaviour  change  communication  campaigns  and effectively implement provisions of the PC & PNDT Act.