1 week Ago By Ipsita Pati
Gurgaon: Thirteen of Haryana's 22 districts saw a fall in sex ratio at birth (SRB) — the number of girls born per 1,000 boys — in 2024, taking the state's overall SRB for the year to 910, its lowest level since 2016. The state, which launched Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao (save and educate the girl child) in 2015 as a campaign against female infanticide, has seen a downward trend in its SRB since 2019, when it had touched 923. The six-point fall this year is the second-worst since 2021 when it had fallen 8 points to 914.
South Haryana districts, where illegal gender determination rackets operating across the border, especially in western UP districts, have been a constant worry for the health department, saw steep falls in SRB in 2024, emerging as a clear problem area. TOI reported last year that several raids have been carried out just in Ghaziabad – and within Ghaziabad, Loni – by Haryana and UP govt teams against clinics using portable ultrasound machines to determine the gender of foetuses for clients who come from Haryana. Test results are conveyed through code words like ‘negative' – which means the gender is female.
Palwal, the top performer in 2023, saw the sharpest fall in the state in SRB 2024 – a 37-point drop to 909 from 946 in 2023 – followed by Gurgaon. The city registered a 29-point dive from 928 in 2023 to 899 in 2024, going below 900 for the first time since 2016. The drop was relatively milder in Faridabad, but it also fell below 900 for the second time since 2016 (899 in 2024 from 906 in 2023).
Rewari, already a concern in 2023 as among the five districts that had SRB below 900 (897), saw a steep fall too, to a range that would have alarm bells ringing. The district abutting Gurgaon on the Rajasthan border registered an SRB of 873 in 2024, to finish the year second from the bottom. The worst performer was Charkhi Dadri with an SRB of 869 in 2024, a 28-point fall from its 2023 score.
Panchkula mirrored Palwal, its SRB falling to 915 from 942 in 2023, when it had the second-best score in the state. Like Panchkula, other districts that scored above the state average in 2024 saw their SRB scores drop compared to 2023 – like Nuh (928 in 2024, 932 in 2023), Fatehabad (925/934), Panipat (900/920),Ambala (913/919) and Kaithal (907/920). Yamunanagar and Karnal were the two bright spots, both registering an 18-point increase from 2023.
Other districts that improved SRB scores were Sirsa, Sonepat, Hisar, Rohtak and Mahendergarh. In the last Census (2011), Haryana's SRB of 834 was the lowest in the country, which led to the stringent crackdowns on illegal gender determination rackets, and eventually the Beti Bachao campaign that was launched with support from the Centre. So, what went wrong in 2024? Asked about it, Manish Bansal, director-general of health services in the state, told TOI, "We are getting the data checked.
We believe that there is an issue with the data." In Gurgaon, chief medical officer Virender Yadav said the city "faced issues in uploading data for two and a half months between June and August". "The website was modified in 2024, which caused technical issues.
On an average, in a month, Gurgaon records 4,000 deliveries, which means if we are unable to record the data on the website, it can cause a huge discrepancy. Like Gurgaon, other districts also may have suffered the same issue," said Yadav. "We have also been conducting regular raids on clinics illegally carrying out sex determination tests.
Last year, a total of 17 cases were filed under the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act. Our teams have raided clinics in Delhi, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. Doctors and health officials are spreading awareness among people too," he added.
According to govt data, 1,208 raids were conducted on clinics carrying out sex determination tests in 2024 across the state. Of these, 243 raids were in other states. A total of 376 FIRs were registered for sex determination and use of medical termination of pregnancy kits in Haryana in 2024.
Health officials said the department held a meeting of nodal officers from all districts last month and sought updates on SRB. "A downward trend has been observed in a few districts, which is a cause for concern. We will conduct a detailed survey in the coming months to understand why SRB in some areas is still below 900," a senior officer said.
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