Gender crisis continues to haunt conservative Haryana

Rohtak/Karnal: March 07, 2011

Rampant sex-selective abortions has led to Haryana having the most distorted sex ratio in the country: it has 861 girls per 1,000 boys under the age of six, against a national average of 927 girls. And in the year the girls kept India’s flag flying in the CW Games and Guangzhou Asian Games, the sex ratio dipped to 834 girls for 1,000 boys. In the conservative Haryana, where culture norms frown upon inter-caste and same-gotra marriages, young men travel to Bihar, Assam, Chattisgarh. Orissa, West Bengal and Kerala to find brides. In such cases, caste, culture and affluence is not considered. Banning sex-determination and offering cash incentives for a girl’s birth have made no difference to this state obsessed with sons.

Read more