Gujarat : An Emerging ‘Epi – Centre’ of Female Deficit

Between 1991 and 2001, Gujarat has registered one of the steepest declines in the proportion of female to male children in the 0-6 year age group. The extent of decline revealed in the provisional figures of the Census 2001, is serious in the rural areas and alarming in the urban. Further, the NSSO data (43rd, 50th and 55th rounds) show that the prosperous segments of the society, both rural and the urban, show a disproportionately high deficit of daughters. In spatial terms, one can identify the emergence of certain ‘epi-centres' of female deficit. These patterns are clearly a result of large-scale elimination of female fetus through sex selection techniques. Moreover, these raise serious questions about the model of ‘development' that is being pursued in the state since prosperity and urbanisation do not appear to be improving the survival chances of girl children in the state; in fact these are showing an adverse impact. This should be a matter of deep concern to development planners, researchers and activists alike