Sex tests hit rural India

New Delhi: Jul 16, 2011

Fears on the rampant use of pre-natal sex determination technology in rural areas have been confirmed with census data indicating that child sex ratio (CSR) fell far more sharply in villages than in urban areas in the last decade. According to provision data on population, though the urban CSR is far worse than that in rural areas, the fall in CSR in rural areas is around four times than that in urban areas. Rural India still has a better CSR (ratio of girls to boys under the age of six years) of 919 than urban India’s 902. However, between 2001 and 2011, rural India’s CSR fell by 15 points as opposed to urban India’s fourpoint decline, and the gap between the two has narrowed.