BHUBANESWAR: It’s unfair for the fair sex as the girl child is unwelcome in urban as well as rural Orissa. The latest report of Census 2011, which reveals that child sex ratio has dropped in the State, points at a faster pace of decline in towns and cities. In the age group of zero to six years, the sex ratio in the State stands at 934 in 2011 registering a 19-point fall from 953 in 2001. In the rural areas, the child sex ratio declined by 16 points - from 955 (in 2001) to 939 (in 2011). However, it is in the urban areas where the drop was higher - by 24 points. From 933 girls per 1,000 boys in 2001, it dropped to 909 in 2011 which indicated that couples in urban Orissa did not want a female child. Among the urban areas, it was at Boudh that child sex ratio was the highest at 973 against the lowest of 832 in Nayagarh. Similarly, among rural areas, the highest child sex ratio of 989 was recorded in Nabarangpur while Nayagarh was at the bottom with 852. Not surprisingly Nayagarh earned the dubious distinction a few years back with large-scale female foeticide. Interestingly, Khurda, most urbanised among the districts, recorded a low child sex ratio ranking among the last 10. Its figures of 902 and 917 for urban and rural areas respectively showed that the girls are shunned even in the towns where education, awareness and affluence are on the rise. Overall, the child population showed a decline in the State. The Census Report, 2011, revealed that there was a decline of 3,23,160 children during the decade 2001-11 over the previous decade. Of the total child population of 50,35,650 in the age group of zero to six years, 43,35,012 children were in rural areas whereas in the urban areas, their number was 7,00,638. Most of the decline was marked in the rural areas during the decade. Statistically, the child population registered a decline of 6.03 per cent during the decade 2001-11 during which the rural areas of the State recorded 7.69 per cent drop whereas urban pockets showed a 5.67 per cent growth.
Comments
0 comment