News Desk: Even as India has witnessed unprecedented economic growth in the last decade the condition of millions of Indian women and girl children continue to be deplorable, with the government unable to properly implement the laws against female foeticide.

 

According to census 2011 which pegged population of India at 1.21 billion, up 17.4% from 2001, the over sex ratio has improved from 932.91 females per 1000 male in 2001 to 940.27 in 2011, the highest recorded sex ratio since the 1971 census.

 

This can be explained by the greater natural longevity of women and improvements in health care over the years. But the deeply disturbing part of the statistics is that 914.23 girls were born for every 1,000 boys in the age group 0-6, compared with 927.31 for every 1,000 boys in the 2001 census.

 

This is the worst child sex ratio in the history of the country since independence. This steep decrease in the child sex ratio has rung alarm bell across the country. This trend and scale of decline in rising India is shocking.

 

It can only be explained by the deadly application of the ‘son preference' on a growing scale — through the instrumentality of sex-selective abortion, or female foeticide. Female infanticide is also to blame for this decline.

 

In parts of India, sons are traditionally viewed as the main breadwinners who will take care of the family, continue the family name, and perform the last rites of the parents - an important ritual in many faiths.

 

But daughters are often seen as a burden - not just because of the worry of having to pay a substantial dowry to get them married off, but also due to the need to protect their virginity, which often brings disrepute to the family if lost before marriage.

 

Attempts to tackle female foeticide through bans on sex-determination tests imposed by the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act have been largely ineffective, with the number of cases registered nationwide reaching just 123 in 2009 according to the National Crime Records Bureau.

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