Earlier known for its skewed sex ratio, Haryana for the first time, has witnessed highest ever sex ratio with the state logging ratio of 914 girls against 1,000 boys in 2017 as earlier in 2016 it was 900 while in 2015 the sex ratio was 876 girls against 1,000 boys.

An official spokesperson said that 17 districts achieved sex ratio at birth (SRB) of 900 or more, no district was below 880 in 2017. He said that this marked improvement in the sex ratio recorded by the CRS system of registration of birth in the state since the launch of the ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ (BBBP) campaign by  Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Panipat in 2015 was an outcome of the concerted and consistent efforts made by the state government led by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.

He said: “Soon after the launch of the campaign, the present government in the state, embarked upon a multi-pronged drive to erase the black dot of skewed sex ratio state from the map of the state by conducting raids on illegitimate ultrasound centres, decoy-trapping of ultrasound, scanning institutes, registration of FIRs against the offenders, unearthing of the unholy nexus of culprits engaged in sex selection and female foeticide and a regular follow-up of the registered FIRs until judgment was handed.”

About 550 FIRs were registered under the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PC-PNDT) Act and Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act against the offenders after successful raids deploying decoy operations, including 126 cross-border raids in adjoining five states while more than 200 FIRs under the MTP Act were registered during the last more than two years in the state involving illegal

abortion services, including cases of illegal use of MTP kits for abortion found sold without prescriptions and rampantly used by many BAMS and other unauthorised practitioners for illegal abortions across the state, he added.

The spokesperson further stated that it was a matter of pride and a major jump from 2011 for Haryana, having worst gender ratio among all states with 834 girls against 1,000 boys (as per census 2011). The state witnessed a remarkable increase of 82 points in its sex ratio at birth during the last five years with nine districts improving SRB by 100 or more than 100 points.

Out of the 5,09,290 children born in the state during the year (January 2017 to December 2017), there were 2,66,064 boys and 2,43,226 girls witnessing a marked improvement of the sex ratio at birth, which jumped from 871 to 914, a marvellous increase of 43 points since the launch of BBBP, he added.

As per the official information, Panipat district with SRB of 945 tops the list, followed by Yamunanagar with 943, close to 950 considered ideal from the perspective of public health. Mohindergarh, Rewari, Sonipat and Jhajjar districts having child sex ratio below 800 mark (as per 2011 census) have shown marked improvement of 136,91,88,96 points respectively, in their SRBs.