Hyderabad: The recent national family and health survey organised by the Union ministry of health and family welfare shows an alarmingly low gender ratio between boys and girls aged under five years in Telangana and in rural Andhra Pradesh.
The survey for 2015-16 said there were 884 girls in urban areas and 863 in rural areas per 1,000 boys under the age of five in Telangana state. The cumulative total for this age group was 874 girls for 1,000 boys.
TS recorded the presence of 976 women per 1,000 men in urban areas while in the countryside it was 1,035 women per 1,000 men.
Telangana state women and child welfare project director P. Ashritha the higher number of women in rural areas could be due to migration of men to the cities and towns in search of employment.
The cumulative ratio of women and men was registered as 1,007 women per 1,000 men, she said. “When we divide it into rural and urban areas, the cities perform poorly,” she said.
Regarding the small number of girls in the under-five category, she said: “In order to achieve good girl child ratio, the government is encouraging parents by offering Beti Bachao, Bangaru Talli and Kalyana Lakshmi schemes. The women and child welfare department is creating awareness among rural and urban families on the importance of girl child.”
In AP, the survey said, there were 1,010 girls per 1,000 boys aged below five years in the urban areas. The figure plunged sharply to 880 per 1,000 boys in rural areas.
An official said that the sex ratio in children below five years would rise in the next five years. Andhra Pradesh has 1,027 women to 1,000 men in urban areas and 1,018 women to 1,000 men in rural areas.
