You’ve Got Male? Sex Ratio At Birth Goes South, In South India, Barring Kerala; A Serious Cause For Concern

Data from 2007 to 2016 has indicated that the sex ratio at birth (SRB), an indication of which way the sex ratio will move in coming years, of the southern states barring Kerala has seen a steep drop, reports Times of India.

Data gathered by the Registrar General of India from the civil registration system (CRS) showed that in 2016, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan had the worst SRB at 806. Tamil Nadu was sixth from the last with its ratio at 840, while Karnataka and Telangana had their SRB at 896 and 881 respectively.

The drop in Andhra Pradesh, from 971 in 2015 to 806 in 2016, is attributed by LN Prema Kumari, Joint Director of Census Operations in Andhra, to the confusion due to bifurcation of population between Andhra and Telangana. However, data from 2013-2015, when the bifurcation happened, doesn’t show any major differences in the figures for both states.

Tamil Nadu dropped steadily from an SRB of 939 in 2006 to an all-time low of 818 in 2015. Since Karnataka achieved about 98 per cent birth registration and an SRB of 983 in 2011, its ratio has steadily declined. On the other hand, Kerala continued to improve and touched an SRB of 954 in 2016.