WATERING THE NEIGHBOUR'S GARDEN: THE GROWING - CICRED

SEX RATIO AT BIRTH AND EXCESS FEMALE CHILD MORTALITY IN INDIA…
140 boys per 100 girls. Even more remarkably, the sex ratio at last birth
increased steeply both in urban and rural areas, though more so in
urban areas.
Table 2 Sex ratio at birth and percentage of pregnancies for which sonogram
or amniocentesis was performed, NFHS-1 and NFHS-2
Sex ratio for the last birth
NFHS-2
Sex ratio for last
two births
(1996-98)
Percentage of pregnancies
(last two births, 1996-98)
for which S or A was
performed
States NFHS-1 Total Urban Rural All Tested* S A S or A
Delhi 115 142 169 140 129 147 41 2 42
Haryana 108 157 164 155 146 186 18 1 19
Himachal P. 111 153 157 152 139 142 15 0 15
Punjab 107 177 160 186 148 118 21 2 22
Bihar 111 120 120 120 116 89 6 1 6
Madhya P. 113 128 133 126 124 96 9 2 10
Rajasthan 115 134 133 133 127 130 13 1 14
Uttar P. 110 123 127 122 118 163 13 1 13
Orissa 109 125 121 126 119 165 3 1 3
Assam 108 120 125 119 114 61 4 2 5
W. Bengal 106 118 116 119 116 107 7 0 7
Gujarat 110 143 139 147 131 124 23 2 24
Maharashtra 104 146 134 155 132 116 29 6 31
Andhra P. 104 118 115 119 119 91 23 1 23
Karnataka 107 122 116 126 116 120 22 3 23
Kerala 103 108 105 109 108 96 44 3 45
Tamil Nadu 106 117 118 116 112 99 31 7 36
India 108 127 127 126 121 113 18 2 19
Note: * Pregnancies on which sonogram/ ultrasound or amniocentesis were performed;
S: sonogram; A: amniocentesis.
Source: computed from NFHS data.
As complementary evidence to the above trends, Table 2 also
shows sex ratio at birth of recent two births that occurred in the three
years prior to survey (NFHS-2). The pattern of extremely high sex
ratio for both the last live birth and last two live births during the last
three years, both in northern and western states, is consistent with the
higher levels of use of either sonogram/ultrasound or amniocentesis in
those states. However, the percentage of pregnancies covered by these
tests is also higher in South Indian states where the sex ratios at birth
have risen only marginally. Therefore, to establish a closer link of the
impact of sex-selective abortion on female deficit at birth, the corresponding
evidence is further explored on SRB of two births in the last
three years, on which ultrasound or amniocentesis was performed.
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