WATERING THE NEIGHBOUR'S GARDEN: THE GROWING - CICRED

58
P. AROKIASAMY
Table 1 Sex ratio at birth for recent two births in the last three years, NFHS-2
(1998-99)
Standard of living index Mother’s educational status
States Low Medium High Illiterate
< than
middle
school
Middle
school
com-
pleted
High
school
completed
Delhi 101 131 150 132 125 166 145
Haryana 83 106 181 118 121 141 158
Himachal P. 95 127 131 109 144 120 125
Punjab 57 111 116 95 105 136 118
Bihar 116 116 90 109 111 140 103
Madhya P. 114 106 113 109 101 167 96
Rajasthan 118 93 148 105 119 119 133
Uttar P. 122 113 131 114 103 142 131
Assam 113 115 130 98 126 151 115
Orissa 104 135 110 109 126 121 122
West Bengal 122 107 114 122 114 104 105
Gujarat 100 105 125 101 102 132 122
Maharashtra 104 111 119 118 87 92 153
Andhra P. 96 100 88 91 102 101 109
Karnataka 120 103 95 100 99 96 130
Kerala 102 100 110 105 83 120 106
Tamil Nadu 99 103 147 110 101 103 113
India 109 107 120 108 104 116 121
Source: Computed from NFHS-2data.
4.1. Sex ratio at last birth and use of ultrasound/amniocentesis
The link between the rise in the sex ratio at birth and sex-selective
abortion is further assessed by comparing state-wise sex ratio at birth
and the extent of use sonogram/ultrasound or amniocentesis. These
technologies have been widely misused as they often serve for detecting
the sex of the foetuses–leading to termination of female foetuses
when parents have strong desire for sons.
Between the two NFHS survey periods, the sex ratio at last birth
(SRLB) shows a steep increase in northern and western states and
moderate to marginal increase in the remaining states (Table 2).
The sex ratio at last birth which was in the range of 104-115 in
NFHS-1 shows a record huge increase in NFHS-2, to more than 150
boys per 100 girls in Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab and to
the range of 140-150 boys per 100 girls in Maharashtra, Gujarat, and
Delhi. In six other states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, Uttar
Pradesh, Orissa, Assam and Karnataka, SRLB rose to the range of 120-