economy
Why sex ratio at birth is seeing improvement
Jan 28, 12:01

Indian families prefer a male child and the Sex Ratio at Birth (SRB) data has long been skewed as a result. But there are winds of change. SRB has improved by 16 points from 918 in 2014-15 to 934 in 2019-20, per data by the Ministry of Women and Child Development. Of 640 districts covered under BBBP, a total of 422 districts have shown improvement in sex ratio at birth.​ Even perennially awful performers like Mau in Uttar Pradesh, which merely had 694 girls per 1,000 boys in 2014-15, has improved to 951 in 2019-20. What gives? The Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Scheme seems to be working. It was launched in 2015 to bring behavioural changes towards birth and rights of a girl child.

Sex ratio at birth