The Union Territory of Ladakh recorded the highest sex ratio at birth in the country in 2020, followed by Arunachal Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Tripura and Kerala, according to the annual report on Vital Statistics based on 2020 Civil Registration System report.
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“Highest Sex Ratio at Birth (SRB) based on registered events has been reported by Ladakh (1104) followed by Arunachal Pradesh (1011), A&N Islands (984), Tripura (974), and Kerala (969),” the report released by the Registrar General of India (RGI) on May 3 said.
Sex ratio at birth is number of females per thousand males.
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Lowest sex ratio at birth was reported by Manipur (880), followed by Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (898), Gujarat (909), Haryana (916) and Madhya Pradesh (921).
In 2019, the highest sex ratio at birth was reported by Arunachal Pradesh (1024), followed by Nagaland (1001), Mizoram (975) and A&N Islands (965), and the lowest sex ratio was reported by Gujarat (901), Assam (903), Madhya Pradesh (905) and Jammu & Kashmir (909).
No data from 4 States
The report said that the requisite information from Maharashtra, Sikkim, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi on sex ratio at birth was “not available.” They had not provided the said data to the RGI in 2019 as well.
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“The Sex Ratio (Number of females per thousand males) at birth of registered events is an important indicator to map the sex differential of the population at the beginning of their life. The sex ratio at birth has been calculated after deducting the delayed registration of more than one year for the year 2020,” the report said.
None of the States or Union Territories have recorded sex ratio at birth below 880.
Infant deaths
The report noted that 1,43,379 infant deaths were registered in 2020 and the share of rural area was only 23.4%, while that of urban area was 76.6% in total registered infant deaths. “Non-registration of infant deaths in rural area was a cause of concern, which may be due to non-reporting of infant deaths to the Registrars, especially in case of domiciliary events,” it stated.
It is compulsory to report births and deaths to the Registrar of Births and Deaths under the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969 and births and deaths are registered only at the place of their occurrence.