A Declining Child Sex Ratio in Haryana: a Spatio- Temporal Analysis

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1 A Declining Child Sex Ratio in Haryana: a Spatio- Temporal Analysis 1 Suman Chauhan, 2 Sunil Kumar, 3 Anju Gupta Assistant Professor 1,3, Research Scholor 2 Department of Geography,Kurukshetra University 1,2,3 Kurukshetra, Haryana ABSTRACT : Sex composition refers to the balance between males and females in any population. It not affects the demographic process, but also determines the socio economic relationship within a community. The balance between males and females in the total population as well as in various age groups have considerable impact on social and economic situation, both in the present as well as in the future context. Sex ratio of a population at any given point of time depends upon a sex ratio at birth, the sex differential in mortality and sex ratio among net migrants. If the misreporting of ages of male or female children is assumed to be equal, child sex ratio is the result of sex ratio at birth and sex differential in mortality. This study aims to understand the spatio- temporal variation in overall child sex ratio and also to analyze the rural urban child sex ratio. In terms of total sex ratio and child sex ratio, Haryana occupies one of the lowest position in the country, but has also witnessed a constant decline from 1991 to But by 2011, it has shown an increasing trend at some points. Keywords: : Child Sex Ratio,, Growth Rate, Mortality I. Introduction : Age and sex composition occupies very important positions in any discussion on characteristics of a population. Age represents a person s potential to work. On the basis of age structure, any population can be classified into young, adult, and child population. Sex is a biological characteristic that classifies human beings into males and females. Sex composition refers to the balance between males and females in the total population. Sex composition is expressed in terms of a ratio between the numerical strength of males and females in the total population. Sex composition has significant bearings on fertility levels, life expectancy, mortality, conditions, migration and marital status. In other words, sex composition of a population governs the various demographic features in a community. As the two sexes play partly contrasting and partly complementary roles in economy and society, the study of sex composition assumes added significance for a population geographers [1]. Sex Ratio is an important social indicator to measure the extent of the prevailing equity between males and females in a society at a given point of time. Changes in sex ratio largely reflect the underlying socio-economic and cultural patterns of a society in different ways. Determinants of changes in sex ratio vary from sex differentials in mortality, sex selective migration, sex ratio at birth, and at times sex differentials in population enumeration. However, Page 379

2 the high incidence of induced abortions and sharp decline in the child sex ratio in the last decade clearly proves the practice of female feticide. II. Objectives of the Study: Although there is a superfluity of research on gender biased sex selection and its determinants [2],[3],[4]. The present paper aims at providing an overview of declining sex ratio and also to identify some gap areas in the understanding of the issue. The main objective of the present study is to examine the spatio- temporal pattern of Child sex ratio in Haryana from 1991 to III.Database and Methodology: The Present research work is essentially based on secondary source of data which is mainly derived from census department of India and statistical abstract of Haryana. Few information and data have been derived from Govt. publication. For the spatial analysis of sex ratio, census years have been selected from Haryana state has been selected as a basic unit of study investigation. Many research papers focusing on sex ratio situation in India as well as in Haryana were also studied. These papers examined different aspects related to causes and consequences of sex selection. In this study, an attempt has also been made to look into the emerging issues concerning the child sex ratio of population in the state of Haryana. The district level data has been analyzed to identify the spatio-temporal changes during and also to study the rural urban child sex ratio pattern. In the present study, districts have been taken as the component areal units of the study areas for determining the variation in distribution of child sex ratio in Haryana. There were16 districts in Haryana in 1991 which had increased to 21 in The district-wise data of child sex ratio in Haryana for the year 1991 has been converted as per the areal units of 2011 to make it comparable. The collected data has been processed with the help of the statistical techniques. IV.Study Area: Haryana is situated in the North West part of India adjoining the capital of India, New Delhi. It extends from27 39 N to N latitude and E to E longitude. The state is surrounded by Punjab in the north, Himachal Pradesh in the North West, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi in the East and Rajasthan in South and West. The total area of the state is 44,212 sq. kilometers, which is just 1.34 percent of the total area of our country. The Eastern part of Haryana is bordered by low hills of Shiwalik system. The slope is generally inclined from the North-East to North-West and the most of the rivers flow in this direction. Some of the streams, like Ghaggar, the Markanda, the Chautang and the Sarswati are the important ones. The state is devoid of any perennial river except for the Yamuna which provides irrigation facilities and flows along the extreme eastern side of the state. Page 380

3 Fig. 1 Source: Based on Primary Survey V. Result and Discussion : Ever since the beginning of the census enumeration in the country, India s population has been characterized by a wide and growing deficit of females[5]. The sex ratio of the population has witnessed an almost uninterrupted decline throughout the last century. Haryana has a distinction of having one of the lowest sex ratio not only in our country, but perhaps in the entire world. Sex ratio of India has shown a constant decline from 976 in 1961 to 914 in Whereas in Haryana, there is a wide fluctuation in sex ratio. In Haryana, sex ratio has decreased from 868 in 1961 to 867in 1971 whereas it rose to 870 in 1981 and again decreased to 819 in 2001 but by 2011, it again increased to 834. (Table. 1) Table 1: SEX RATIO IN HARYANA ( ) Census Year Haryana India Page 381

4 Source: Census of India Fig. 2 Trends in deficit of females in Haryana population and Sex Ratio in Haryana: In terms of sex ratio, Haryana not only occupies one of the lowest positions in the country but has also witnessed a constant decline in the same during the last two decades. An abnormally low sex ratio in the state has usually been attributed to a relatively larger excess of males over females at birth, and a higher death rate among females than males in all the age groups [5]. Table 2 Trends in the deficit of females in Haryana s Population (absolute Number) Census Years Male Population Female Deficit of Female Average of Annual Rate of Growth Source: Census of India Page 382

5 Fig: 3 From the trends in sex ratio in Haryana, it is obvious that the post independent period has witnessed faster growth in the deficit of females. This is also evident from table 4, which shows the absolute number of males and females and the deficit of females therein, over a period of hundred years from 1901 to As could be seen, the gap in the numerical strength of male and female in Haryana s population that stood at 3.30 lakh in 1901 increased to 3.90 lakh in Thus, over a period of 50 years the deficit grew at an average annual rate of 0.36 per cent. The increase in the deficit has been particularly more conspicuous since The average annual rate of growth in the deficit has been of the order of 3.82 per cent. In other words, additional deficit of females that was recorded over a period of 50 years from 1951 to 2001 was more than 57 per cent that took place within a period of just 20 years from 1981 to The trends in the deficit of females can be seen in Fig.5 Table 3 : Sex Ratio of Haryana ( ) YEARS SEX RATIO OF HARYANA Total Rural Urban Source : Statistical Abstract Of Haryana Page 383

6 Fig. 4 Unlike a more or less uninterrupted downward trend at all India level, sex ratio in Haryana has undergone abrupt fluctuations over time, and the current level is just six points below what existed at the turn of the last century. This however, does not mean that the situation in the state is any less alarming. It may be noted that at a time when all India sex ratio was 872 in 1901 and which was a matter of great concern for all, Haryana reported only 867 females per 1000 males. In other words, even at the turn of the last century there was a deficit of as much as 133 females per 1000 males in the population of the state as compared to only 128 at the national level. With a steep decline between , sex ratio in Haryana remained below 850 females per 1000 males. Thereafter over two decades, there was an improvement in sex ratio, and in 1951 it reached an all time high of 871. Another distinguishing feature of sex composition of Haryana s population is its rural-urban differentials. In an underdeveloped economy there is a significant flow of people from rural to urban areas in the search of better job avenues and standard of living. Such migration is largely sex selective where males outnumber females in the migration streams. As a result, the urban areas in general report a larger number of males than the rural areas. However, Haryana observed a different pattern. A wide fluctuation was observed in the rural areas of Haryana. Sex ratio in 1901 was 861, which declined to 834 in But thereafter, there was a continuous increase in sex ratio in rural areas of Haryana from 1911 to 1941 i.e. from 834 to 879. But during the post independence period, there was a decline in the sex ratio from 877 in 1951 to 870 in Again by 1981, it rose to 876. In 1991, it again declined to 864, but due to certain policies and steps taken by the Government, the sex ratio rose to 864 in 1991 to 882 in 2011 in the rural areas of Haryana. Page 384

7 Fig: 5 The urban areas of Haryana, shows a continuous declining trend from 908 in 1901 to 806 in 1941, but after 1951, there was a continuous fluctuation in sex ratio in every decade. In 1951, in urban areas, sex ratio was 845, which decreased to 842 in 1961 and again rose to 853 in It again declined to 849 in 1981, increased to 868 in 1991, again decreased to 847 in 2001, which again rose to 873 in This trend shows that there is a wide variation of sex ratio in urban areas of Haryana in every decade. Fig: 7 Page 385

8 Fig: 8 Page 386

9 The growth rate of urban population is almost twice as compared to the growth rate in rural population. Migration has been an important component of urban growth in the state. The area in close vicinity of the National Capital Territory of Delhi and the state capital Chandigarh are marked with a decline in child sex ratio during 1991 to Majority of the district falls in the average range of females per 1000 males in the urban areas. There was not even a single district with FMR (0-6) 850 and above in On the other extreme the number of one district Mewat (890) in Between 2001 and 2011 six districts reported decline in urban child sex ratio while thirteen districts witnessed gain in sex ratio in urban population. The largest gainers are Jind (58 points), Kaithal (56points), Kurukshetra (54 points). The largest depletion in child sex ratio in urban population was witnessed in Gurgaon (-48 points), Rohtak (-37 points) and Rewari (-17 points). Findings: The present study is an attempt to examine the spatial-temporal changes in child sex ratio and over all sex ratio in Haryana including rural-urban population using district level data. The different time period have been selected for the study. For the overall sex ratio and to find out the growth rate, data have been collected from Whereas for child sex ratio two decades data from have been analyzed. A particular emphasis has been on the child sex ratio 0-6 years. An examination of the regional pattern of sex composition of population in India shows that the North-western states including Punjab and Haryana have one of the largest deficits of female in their population. Haryana reports yet another decline in sex ratio and child sex ratio 0-6 years in 2001 over But comparatively in Haryana has the increased overall sex ratio and child sex ratio. In 1991 to 2001 child sex ratio has been declined in 19 districts. It has strongly been argued that the recent decline in sex ratio particularly among children can be result of further deterioration of sex ratio at birth as a result of female feticide. In the present work, it was found that in 2011 Haryana state has a slight increase in child sex ratio as compared to In 2011 in Haryana, there has been increase in overall sex ratio in total, rural and urban population as well as in the child sex ratio. In 2001, Haryana stood on 819 points in total child sex ratio. But in 2011, there was an increase in 15 points in total child sex ratio in the state. If we see rural and urban female ratio of 2011in Haryana state as compared to 2001, we find that in rural population, child sex ratio has increased by 12 points and in urban population child sex ratio has increased by double that is 24 points. VII.Conclusion : The present study is an attempt to examine the spatial temporal changes in child sex ratio in Haryana using district level data.. The different time period have been selected for the study. For the overall sex ratio and to find out the growth rate, data have been collected from Page 387

10 Whereas for child sex ratio two decades data from have been analyzed. The status of female varies from one social group to another. Similarly, migration plays a very important role in affecting sex ratio at regional level. Migration is a sex selective phenomenon particularly when induced by economic reasons. Thus, the regional variation in sex ratio of the total population does not reveal the spatial variation in gender inequality. Sex ratio among children is not affected by population migration. In terms of sex ratio and child sex ratio, Haryana not only occupies one of the lowest positions in the country, but has also witnessed a constant decline from and some points increase in An abnormally low sex ratio in the state has usually been attributed to a relatively large excess of males over females at birth, and higher death rate among females than males in all age groups. Haryana has a deficit of nearly 1.63 million females in its population in Overall sex ratio has recorded a minimum decline during It has declined by 4 points in over all sex ratio. As contrary to this the present day low and declining overall sex ratio in the state owes much to a rapid depletion of sex ratio among children. Hence the most disturbing feature with respect to sex composition of Haryana s population that emerges is a rapid decline in sex ratio among children during the recent past. Trends in sex ratio in the age group 0-6 years during the last few decades have, therefore occupied the center stage of discussion. The pace of decline in child sex ratio in Haryana has been more conspicuous since Between child sex ratio in the state has gone down from 879 to 834, a decline by 45 points. Further the decline has been more rapid in the latter decade, and demographers have attributed this to increase in male-female ratio at birth. The spatial pattern in child sex ratio presents a wide range of regional variation in the magnitude of the deficit of female across districts. The districts in the central part of the state (adjacent to the national capital territory of Delhi in the east), in general, report a much more adverse child sex ratio than elsewhere in the state. As against this, the eastern part of the state is marked with relatively more favorable child sex ratio. The temporal change in child sex ratio during 1991 and 2011 indicates that out of total 19 districts as many as 21 districts recorded a decline in child sex ratio. While the ones with some of the largest decline are Jhajjar, Mahendergarh and Sonipat. The rural child sex ratio in Haryana has declined by 41 points. The southwestern parts of Haryana, mainly the districts of Mahendergarh, and Rewari reported much decline in child sex ratio. The lowest value of child sex ratio is observed in the districts adjacent to the National Capital Territory of Delhi and near the state capital Chandigarh. No one district has recorded gain in child sex ratio during The largest decline recorded is in Mahendergarh, Jhajjar and Rewari. Child sex ratio (0-6 years) is not affected by population redistribution. Thus, an analysis of the same provides a very good idea about prevailing gender inequality in our society. It is remarkable to note that sex ratio among children aged 0-6 years in Haryana has declined at an alarming pace during the recent past. The child sex ratio has gone down from 879 to 834 during 1991 to 2011, i.e. a decline of 45 points. Remarkably well over 70 percent of the decline Page 388

11 has been registered only between 1991 and In the wake of strong preference for sons and with increased availability of modern techniques for identification of the sex of the baby in mother s womb, parents are now able not only to choose ideal size of the family but also the sex of their children. All these could be seen as resulting in decline in the share of children in the population. The maximum declined is noticed in the district of Mahendergarh, Jhajjar, Rewari and Sonipat. It is noteworthy that child sex ratio has declined in all the districts during 1991 and It is remarkable to note that the southwestern part of the state that otherwise appear somewhat friendly to women have also experienced decline in child sex ratio during the period. Ever since the release of the 2011 census data, a low child sex ratio and overall sex ratio in Haryana has occupied the center stage of discussion among researchers, planners, policy makers and social workers. The state occupies one of the highest positions in terms of the level of development, and one would therefore, expect a very equal gender relation in the society. Strangely, however, this is not true. A decline by 45 points in child sex ratio during the period of 20 years from 1991 to 2011 is just manifestations of persisting gender discrimination in the state. The deteriorating child sex ratio in the state has remained one of the pressing challenges for the state. As a response to declining sex ratio and child sex ratio, the government has initiated several measures to arrest the menace. Female feticide has been a widespread practice in the state for quite some time now despite the presence of a law against it. During the recent part, several steps have been taken by the state government for strict implementation of the PNDT Act. The government has reoriented its approach towards the war against discrimination against girl child with major focus on efforts at community level. As an incentive, the state government has made a provision, to reward the village, block and tehsils reporting the best sex ratio in the state. At the district level, efforts have been initiated to involve local people in effective implementation of PNDT Act. For this administration has announced financial reward to anyone who helps the administration snitched the immoral doctors involved in sex identification and termination of pregnancy. The Central Government is contemplating to incorporate provisions for life imprisonment in the PNDT Act for those indulging in the misuse of the technology. References : [1] Chandna, R.C. (2008), Spatial pattern of sex ratio in pre-independence Punjab ( ), Punjab Geographer, Vol. 4 pp , Oct [2] Das Gupta and Bhat, P.N. Mari (1997), Fertility decline and increased manifestation of sex bias in India, Population Studies, Vol. 51, pp Page 389

12 [3] Bhat, P.N.M. and Zavier, A.J.F. (2007), Factor influencing the use of prenatal diagnostic techniques and the sex ratio birth in India, Economic and Political Weekly, pp , June 16, [4] Mitra, A. (2011), Son preference in India: Implications for gender development Oklahoma. [5] Chandna, R.C. (2011), Sex ratio in Punjab-Haryana region, 2011, Punjab Geographer, Vol. 7, pp , Oct [6] Agnihotri, S.B. (2000), Sex Ratio patterns in Indian Population, Sage, New Delhi. [7] Agnihotri, S.B. (2001), Declining Infant and Child Mortality in India, Economic and Political Weekly, pp , Jan.20, 2001 [8] Ali, A. (2009), Sex composition in Uttarpradesh : A Spatial Analysis. Punjab Geographer, Vol.5, pp.79-92, Oct [9] Bhat, P.N.M. (2002), On the trail of missing Indian females, I : Search for Clues, Economic and Political Weekly, pp , Oct. 21, [10] Bose, A. (2001), Fighting female foeticide, Economic and Political Weekly, pp , Sept. 8, [11] Census of India (1991, 2001, 2011), Final population Totals, India Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India, New Delhi. [12] Das Gupta and Bhat, P.N. Mari (1997), Fertility decline and increased manifestation of sex bias in India, Population Studies, Vol. 51, pp [13] Gatade, D.G., Mali, S.R. (2012), Spatial pattern of sex ratio in India: A Geographical prospective, ISRJ, Vol. 2, pp. 1-4, May 12, Page 390