There has been a decline in female sex ratio at birth in several districts across the State.
This is becoming a trend in urban areas like Chennai as well, according to members of Campaign Against Sex Selective Abortion (CASSA).
Quoting details obtained through an RTI query, one of the founding members, A. Gandhimathi, said the average female child sex ratio has declined to 905 (against 1,000 male infants) in 2011. The sex ratio was below 890 in 17 districts, including Cuddalore, Krishnagiri and Dharmapuri in 2012.
“This indicates that there is an increase in sex selective abortions and misuse of pre-natal diagnostic techniques. While the number of scan centres has increased from 4,000 to 5,000 in the past four years, there has not been any monitoring of records,” she charged.
Several non-governmental organisations joined CASSA in protesting against the decline in female sex ratio and female foeticide on Tuesday. M. Jeeva, CASSA’s State convenor, said the female child ratio has marginally declined over the past decade in Chennai too.
There is an urgent need to verify registration and records of the scan centres and regulate them. Various representatives, including educationist V. Vasanthi Devi, demanded that the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act must be implemented stringently and monitoring committees be constituted to prevent such practices.
