Odisha Prefers Sons over Daughters? Sex Ratio At Birth Drops In Last Decade

Bhubaneswar: Odisha recorded a slight decline in sex ratio at birth for children born in the last decade.

The Sex Ratio at Birth (SRB) in the costal state dropped to 926 in 2023-24 from 948 in 2014-15 while figure improved from 918 to 930 during the same period at national level, according to Health Management Information System (HMIS) of Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.

The SRB is the number of girls born for every 1,000 boys.

Union Minister of State, Women and Child Development, Savitri Thakur informed about this disturbing trend, indicative of would-be parents’ preference for sons over daughters, in Rajya Sabha.

The brighter spot, however, was improvement in female education with the increase of enrollment ratio of girls in the schools at secondary level.

“As per the data of Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE +) of Department of School Education and Literacy, Gross Enrollment ratio of girls in the schools at secondary level has increased in the state of Odisha from 75.03 percent in 2014-15 to 80.60 percent in 2021-22”, she said while responding to a question from MP Debashish Samantaray.

Thakur further stated that Beti Padhao (BBBP) scheme under Mission Shakti has been expanded to cover all districts across the country, including Odisha, for multi sectoral activities while focussing on preventing gender-biased sex-selective practices, ensuring survival and protection of the girl child, and promoting their education.

The West Bengal government, however, is not implementing this centrally sponsored scheme with 100% funding by the central government, she said.

The Centre has released Rs 806.25 under Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme, of which Rs 544.67 has been utilized, she added.