{"id":50844,"date":"2019-08-02T19:00:30","date_gmt":"2019-08-02T13:30:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogadmin.forumias.com\/?p=50844"},"modified":"2019-08-02T15:28:49","modified_gmt":"2019-08-02T09:58:49","slug":"7-pm-finding-the-data-on-missing-girls-2nd-july-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/7-pm-finding-the-data-on-missing-girls-2nd-july-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"7 PM | Finding the data on missing girls | 2nd July, 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Context:\n<\/strong>Skewed\nsex ratio in India and the flaws in data about Sex ratio at Birth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Sample Registration System (<\/strong><strong>SRS):<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Registration of births and\ndeaths is an important source for demographic data for socio-economic development\nand population control in developing countries. The data on population growth,\nfertility and mortality serves as the starting point for population\nprojections.<\/li><li>Apart from these vital\nindicators, an adequate evaluation of a number of programs in the health\nsector, including family planning, maternal and reproductive health,\nimmunization programs, is dependent upon the availability of accurate,\nup-to-date fertility and mortality data.&nbsp;<\/li><li>With a view to generate\nreliable and continuous data on these indicators, the Office of the Registrar\nGeneral, India, initiated the scheme of sample registration of births and\ndeaths in India popularly known as Sample Registration System (SRS) in 1964-65\non a pilot basis and on full scale from 1969-70. The SRS since then has been\nproviding data on regular basis.<\/li><li><strong>The main objective of SRS <\/strong>is\nto provide reliable estimates of birth rate, death rate and infant mortality\nrate at the natural division level for the rural areas and at the state level\nfor the urban areas. Natural divisions are National Sample Survey (NSS)\nclassified group of contiguous administrative districts with distinct\ngeographical and other natural characteristics. It also provides data for other\nmeasures of fertility and mortality including total fertility, infant and child\nmortality rate at higher geographical levels.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Health Management Information Systems (HMIS)<\/strong>: HMIS are one of the six building blocks\nessential for health system strengthening. HMIS is a data collection system\nspecifically designed to support planning, management, and decision making in\nhealth facilities and organizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Sex Ratio: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Sex ratio is used to\ndescribe the number of females per 1000 of males. <\/li><li>In the Population\nCensus of 2011 it was revealed that the population ratio in India 2011 is 940\nfemales per 1000 of males.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"333\" height=\"170\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogadmin.forumias.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/f.jpg?resize=333%2C170&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-50845\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>At the same time Child\nSex ratio (Age group 0-6 years) has reduced from 927 in census2001 to 914 in\ncensus 2011.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"530\" height=\"325\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogadmin.forumias.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/india.jpg?resize=530%2C325&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-50846\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Recent Data\nfindings by SRS:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The sex ratio at birth (SRB) has been\ndropping continuously since Census 2011, coming down from 909 girls per\nthousand boys in 2011-2013 to 896 girls in 2015-2017.<\/li><li>In the 2014-2016 period, of the 21 large\nStates, only two Kerala and Chhattisgarh had an SRB of above 950 girls per 1000\nboys.<\/li><li>At present, about 5% of girls are\n\u2018eliminated\u2019 before they are born, despite the promises of the Beti Bachao Beti\nPadhao scheme.<\/li><li>An analysis of the NFHS-4 data also\nrevealed a bias when it comes to the first-born child, the SRB is among\nfirst-born children was 927, meaning that 2.5% of first-born girls are\neliminated before birth.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Problem:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Of the 2.5 lakh reported births in the\n2010-2014 period, the distribution of births at home, government hospitals and\nprivate hospitals was 21%, 52% and 27% respectively and the corresponding SRB\nfigures were 969, 930 and 851. Thus, private hospitals had a disproportionate\nexcess of male&nbsp;children&nbsp;births, which the HMIS sample excludes.&nbsp;<\/li><li>There are flaws in HMIS data. These are\nmostly incomplete and not representative of the country as a whole as births\nhappening in private institutions are under-reported. This is one of the\nreasons that NITI Aayog used SRS data in its report \u2018Performance of health\noutcomes\u2019 in December 2016. <\/li><li>It is criminal to use public funds to\nprivilege boy births and facilitate discrimination against girl right from\nbirth. However, for years, in the special neonatal care units (SNCU) set up by\nthe government, there was an excess of about 8% male children in several\nStates.<\/li><li>There is problem with the implementation\nof PCPNDT Act. With the reach of technology to the core of Indian society, the\nsex ratio is in decline even in rural areas.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Pre-Conception\nand Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act (PCPNDT\nAct):<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The Census data indicate that the female\nratio has been declining at an alarming rate and would lead to serious socio-cultural\nproblem including violence and population imbalances. The Child Sex Ratio (CSR)\nfor the age group of 0-6 years as per the 2011 Census has declined to 914 girls\nas against 927 per thousand boys (Census 2001). <\/li><li>The issue of survival of the girl child\nis a critical one, especially in the conservative Indian Society. This\ntherefore, needs a systematic effort in mobilizing the community. In order to\ncheck gender biased sex selection, the Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques\n(Regulations and Prevention of Misuse) Act, 1994 was enacted and brought into\nexecution from 1st January, 1996.<\/li><li><strong>Main\nobjective<\/strong>:\nThe main purpose of enacting the act is to ban the use of sex selection\ntechniques before or after conception and prevent the misuse of a prenatal\ndiagnostic technique for sex-selective abortion.<\/li><li><em>Pre-Natal Diagnostic\nTechniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act, 1994 (PNDT), was amended\nin 2003 to The Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition\nof Sex Selection) Act (PCPNDT Act)<\/em><em>&nbsp;<\/em>to improve the regulation of the technology used in sex\nselection. The Act was amended to bring the technique of pre conception sex\nselection and ultrasound technique within the ambit of the act. The amendment\nalso empowered the central supervisory board and state level supervisory board\nwas constituted.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Conclusion:<\/strong><strong> <\/strong>Gender bias and deep-rooted prejudice\nand discrimination against the girl child and preference of the male child have\nled to the misuse of technology for gender biased sex selection leading to demographic\nimbalance in the last two decades. The declining child sex ratio in India is a\nmajor concern for all. The government has prioritized an\nexpansion of SNCUs rather than deal with the issue of the \u2018missing girls\u2019.\nProtecting the integrity of birth statistics will help the people, governments\nand health professionals to focus on improving the known gender gaps at birth\nrather than be just showing off with dubious claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/opinion\/op-ed\/finding-the-data-on-missing-girls\/article28787720.ece\">https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/opinion\/op-ed\/finding-the-data-on-missing-girls\/article28787720.ece<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Context: Skewed sex ratio in India and the flaws in data about Sex ratio at Birth. Sample Registration System (SRS): Registration of births and deaths is an important source for demographic data for socio-economic development and population control in developing countries. The data on population growth, fertility and mortality serves as the starting point for&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/7-pm-finding-the-data-on-missing-girls-2nd-july-2019\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">7 PM | Finding the data on missing girls | 2nd July, 2019<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":49370,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[130,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-7-pm","category-public","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/7-PM.png?fit=1000%2C500&ssl=1","views":{"total":0,"cached_at":1700795187,"cached_date":1704909544},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50844","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50844"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50844\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}