The medical community and activists are puzzled over the declining child sex ratio in Thrissur district of Kerala. With the state having the highest sex ratio in the country, the recent trend in Thrissur district is surprising.
A Times of India report by Ramavarman T says that a certain section of the activists feel that this decline could be due to the incidence of female foeticide happening in a clandestine way in the district but doctors say there is no evidence for this.
The child sex ratio in the district was 958 as per 2001 census, which has now come down to 950 in 2011 census, the report says.
However, medical authorities are keen to find out the reason for this. “We have not received any evidence so far of medical termination of pregnancy (MTP) happening in the district after determining the sex of the foetus,'' Dr Unnikrishnan, the officer in charge of the units engaged in pre-natal and pre-conception diagnostic techniques in the district, told ToI.
Ironically, Thrissur is the only district in Kerala where the central government programme for girl child development, `Beti Bachavo, Beti Padhao' was implemented.
“It was important to identify in which strata of population the decline in girl child prevails. If it is seen to be happening in the lower strata it could be due to poor accessibility to healthcare systems,” Dr Raj Mohan, the research cell chief of the Indian Academy of Paediatrics told ToI.
Activists in the district have sought a detailed probe into the issue.