Bhubaneswar: Odisha is inching towards achieving the natural sex ratio at birth (SRB), which is 952 females to every 1,000 males according to the World Health Organisation’s estimates.
The state registered a significant improvement in SRB between 2018 and 2019. The number of girls born for every 1,000 boys born went up to 947 in 2019 from 928 in 2018, data recently released by the Census Department of India revealed.
Only six states, including three from the northeast, have an SRB of higher than 952. These include Arunachal Pradesh (1,024), Nagaland (1,001), Mizoram (975), A & N Islands (965) and Kerala (960).
The biggest improvement was seen in Telangana, Uttarakhand and Punjab, where the SRB rose to 953 from 915; 960 from 929; and 914 from 896 respectively.
The SRB, however, is steadily worsening in Himachal (918 from 930 in 2018 and 934 in 2018), Chhattishgarh (931 from 934 in 2018 and 968 in 2018), and Assam (903 from 904 in 2018 and 921 in 2017).
Karnataka, Rajasthan and Jammu and Kashmir saw a setback after an improvement in SRB. Gujarat recorded a slight improvement of 901 from 897 in 2018.
Data are not available for Delhi, Bihar, Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh.
