The other Udta Punjab: Missing girls

While Udta Punjab, along with all the hype and controversy surrounding it, have brought into focus the threat caused by narcotics to the extent of an entire generation being wiped out in the state, that is hardly the state’s only demographic challenge. Punjab’s girl child is going missing too.

As per the Census of India, 2011, the child sex ratio is 846 in Punjab. The child sex ratio (CSR), defined as the number of girls per 1,000 boys between the ages of 0-6, thus indicates that there are 154 girls missing for every 1,000 boys, since ideally the ratio should be 50-50 if not higher given that females have higher longevity than males.

The CSR for Punjab is the lowest among all states and union territories, save Haryana, which has an even worse number at 834. Punjab, though is hardly the only state with a CSR problem. India as such has seen a steadily declining CSR since 1951, which was the first post-independence census that was conducted. There is no denying the fact that Punjab is among the worst placed, however.

Further, girls’ chances of survival are tied to their order of birth. The first born girl child has the highest chance of staying alive, with the CSR falling to less than 500 for every 1,000 third-born boy children. According to a study by international NGO, ActionAid, a field study in the deeply impacted district of Fategarh Saheb in Punjab revealed that there was a 21 percentage point difference in the proportion of first born girls and third born girls.

A rampant culture of male dominance, patriarchy and consequential son preference and biases against women form the core of the CSR problem. Loss of the girl child can have an influence on the progress and social development of the state in the coming years, which makes it a worrisome number.

So what is the solution to the dismal problem?

There are a number of policy and civil society initiatives underway to create greater awareness about the problem, sex determination tests are banned even though they continue under wraps, and there is some sign of turn around in a few states.

Even though Punjab continues to retain one of the lowest spots in the CSR, it has actually witnessed improvement from the 2001 census, when the number was at 796 i.e. there were more than 200 girls missing for every 1,000 boys then. A 6% improvement is a good place to start for Punjab, for now, provided that the improvement continues.