ICYO – Youth Information Update
December 2006/I
(E-Newsletter from network of youth organizations in India)
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Sex ratio just keeps getting worse
Number Of Girls Has Declined In 80% Of Districts Since 1991
New Delhi: It has been India's worst kept secret, and things are getting worse. Despite booming growth rates and rising literacy, more girl children are being muffled into the silence of death at or before birth. Fresh statistics reveal that 80% of India's districts have recorded a decline in sex ratios of children since 1991.
Among states with a bad record the worst offender is Punjab, where the ratio of girls has dropped from 875 in 1991 to 798 girls for every 1,000 boys in 2001. This chilling data has been accessed by The Times of India and is part of the latest report on "State of the World's Children'', which is due to be released by UNICEF soon.
The only silver lining is Kerala where the sex ratio has increased marginally from 958 girls in 1991 to 960. Pondicherry and Lakshwadeep too find place in the group.
The report is a sweeping indictment of the efforts of governments to enforce laws against foeticide as well as killing of new-born girls. The all-India average is 927 girls for 1,000 boys which puts the country right at the bottom of the chart internationally, even below countries like strife-torn Nigeria (965) and Pakistan (958). According to the report, only China, with 832 girls, ranks below India on this dubious list.
According to sources, the dismal state of affairs is largely due to the misuse of pre-natal diagnostic techniques and the consequent increase in cases of female foeticide. "In prosperous states like Punjab and Haryana, people have both access and money to misuse technology,'' a source said.
Incidentally, the report notes that incidence of female foeticide seem more prevalent in urban areas than rural regions. In Punjab, the number of girls in rural areas is 799 per 1,000 boys as against the urban record of 796.
Activists agree with the report. Ranjana Kumari of the Centre for Social Research said,
"The drop in child sex ratio is both alarming and difficult to understand. The action taken by the government is dismal. It's not just the concern of the health ministry but that of every department in the government. Tackling this requires a sensitisation campaign along the lines of HIV/AIDS.''
(Himanshi Dhawan | TNN /Times of Indian/10/12/2007)
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Indian Committee of Youth Organizations (ICYO) is a registered non-profit, non-governmental network organization, committed in developing areas of mutual cooperation and understanding among different youth voluntary agencies, youth groups, clubs and individuals working in the field of youth welfare in India.
ICYO functions as an umbrella organization of youth NGOs in India. It's family consists of
over 356 organizations spread in 122 districts of 22 states from different corners of India.
Our goal:
To improve and extend the youth work and services through Youth Organizations;
To enhance and demonstrate youth work in the society;
To promote effective youth programmmes;
To organize network of civil society organizations working towards the development of youth work;
To organize seminars, conferences, workshops, trainings;
To maintain international relation with organizations promoting young people in their programmes and activities
Affiliation: Consultative (Roster) Status with ECOSOC, United Nations;
Consultative Status with Commission on Sustainable Development;
Full Member of World Assembly of Youth (WAY); Asian Youth Council (AYC);
Youth for Habitat International Network (YFHIN); CRIN, South Asia Youth
Environment Network (SAYEN), Affiliate group of ECPAT International, Thailand;
ATSECE-DELHI, Indian Partner of AIDS Care Watch Campaign;
Steering Committee member of World Bank's YDP Network;
Working relation with Indian Association of Parliamentarians (IAPPD);
International Medical Parliamentarians Organizations (IMPO);
Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (AFPPD);
World Youth Foundation, Malaysia.
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