The curious case of missing girls of Maharashtra, Gujarat
There is a shortfall of 73% and 55% in inspections of sonography centres in the western states of Gujarat and Maharashtra, two of India's richest.The child sex-ratio (number of girls under six years per 1,000
Sex ratio improves in India, not in Maharashtra, Gujarat
Maharashtra's overall sex ratio declined from 920 to 919 over a decade (2001 to 2011) although the all-India ratio improved from 933 to 943, according to census 2011.
For Gujarat, the overall sex ratio declined from 920 to 919 from 2001 to 2011. However, there was some improvement in the child sex-ratio from 883 to 890 between 2001 and 2011.
Another important finding of the report is that the child sex-ratio is lower in urban areas than in rural areas in both states.
The report explains that this could be due to the availability of sonography centres in urban areas.
“The availability of genetic clinics in urban areas and awareness of literate people about usage of sex determination techniques could also be attributed to declining child sex-ratio in urban areas,” the report said.
The child sex-ratio in urban India stood at 902 as against 919 in rural areas, the report said.
In Maharashtra, the child sex-ratio in urban regions stood at 899 and 890 in rural areas.
In Gujarat, the child sex-ratio in urban areas is 852 and 914 in rural areas.
Children forced into marriage under-reported by both states
Child marriages, meaning girls/boys aged 10 to 19 years getting married, are common across Maharashtra and Gujarat, the report said. The audit found that both states were under-reporting child marriages.
There are almost 17 million children in India who were married between the ages of 10 and 19. Maharashtra ranks 5th with 1.5 million children married, while Gujarat is 7th with 0.9 million children married in the 10-19 age group.
Almost 73% of children married are girls in Maharashtra while it is 66% in Gujarat.
The report highlighted the high pendency of cases pertaining to child marriages in Maharashtra.
In 2014, 101 new cases were registered and verdicts were pronounced in 23 cases.
There were delays in nominating Child Marriage Prohibition Officers in rural areas while no officers were nominated in urban areas, the report said.
Though The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act came into force from June 2012, the government was yet to frame guidelines to assist girls during pre-trial and trial, the report said.
In Gujarat, out of 659 complaints of child marriages during 2009-14, court cases were filed in only 15; no one was convicted during this period.
Maharashtra, Gujarat: Money is not the issue
Gujarat contributes more than 7.5% to India's GDP while Maharashtra contributes about 14%.
In 2013-14, Maharashtra's per capita income (at current prices) was 45.6% above the Indian norm (Rs 117,091 annually), while Gujarat‘s was 33% above (Rs 106,831 annually at current prices). India's average annual per capita income (at current prices) was Rs 80,388.
While Maharashtra grew at 8.7% in 2014-15, Gujarat grew at 8.8% in 2014-15.