Though certain reports have suggested India’s population would overcome that of China by 2027 to be the highest in the world, various reports published by India media outlets have suggested that India’s sex ratio at birth (SRB), i.e. the number of female children born to every 1,000 male children declined to an all-time low of 896 female children to 1,000 male children during 2015-2017.
Although various campaigns including ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s “Beti Bachao Beti Padhao” (Save Girls, Educate Girls) have been carried out across the country in the last few years to protect girls’ lives, the statistics suggest these campaigns perhaps need a boost and have a lot more to achieve.
A section of netizens has shown concern over the latest reports and stated their displeasure over the lack of effectiveness of the measures being taken to further boost the sex ratio.
The reports effectively report that approximately 11.7 million girls have gone missing in the country in a span of three years. Interestingly, five of India’s largest states — Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, Maharashtra, and Gujarat account for almost two thirds of these missing girls.
The problem of a poor female sex ratio is not new to India as the country has an infamous history of female foeticide, which is reportedly most prevalent in the Indian states of Haryana, Rajasthan, and Punjab.