he report estimated that India’s Total Fertility Rate (TFR) was around 2.2 in the year 2018, which is close to the replacement rate of 2.1. This clearly marks the success of government measures to bring population control.
However, on flip side the SRS report highlights the declining sex ratio at birth in India that has further got reduced from 906 in 2011 to 899 in 2018. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) State of World Population 2020 held that sex ratio at birth in India is lower than all the countries in the world except China.
Therefore, along with stabling of population , government and society needs to address the declining sex ratio and subsequenlty gender discrimination.
Reasons For Skewed Sex Ratio
- Gender Bias: According to information from the UNPFA, reasons for female infanticide include anti-female bias, as women are often seen as subservient to men, who often employ positions of power.
- Son-Preference: In addition, parents believe they will be better taken care of in their old age by men, as men are perceived as the principal wage earners of the family.
- Social Practices: Parents of girls are usually expected to pay a dowry, which could be a massive expense, avoided by raising males.
- Counter Effect of Rise in Income: Contrary to popular perception, in India’s sex ratio at birth declined even as per capita income increased nearly 10 times over the last 65 years, according to an IndiaSpend analysis of government data.
- This could be because rising income, which results in increased literacy, makes it easier for families to access sex-selective procedures.