The female sex ratio in Telangana has shown a marginal decline till January end in 2019-20 as compared to the twelve month period of the previous year though the figures are far better than the national average.
The performance of key indicators of Health Management Information System of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare suggest that against 957 girl children born in Telangana in 2018-19 for 1,000 boys, the birth rate of girls in 2019-20 was 950. The national average of girl children was 925.
A total of 5.3 lakh children, both male and female, were born in Telangana in 2018-19 and 4.82 lakh till January this year. Of concern was the increase in reported still births by over 450 this year but this was attributed to the role of institutional deliveries following the implementation of KCR kits programme of government. The deliveries at government hospitals went up after the programme was launched which resulted in recording all cases of still births. Otherwise, they went unnoticed at private hospitals.
The highest number of girls were born in Khammam and Peddapalli districts in both the years. The lowest was in Yadadri - Bhongir district this year. Girl children born in Khammam in 2018-19 was 1,057 but it rose to 1,177 this year. On the other hand, their rate slid from 1,031 last year to 1,012 this year in Peddapalli.
The Superintendent of a hospital said the craving for a baby boy in small family norm drove the parents to discourage girl children. Hence, the problem of foeticide. A business community only wanted male children while another community sought large size of families irrespective of sex. The prospect of shelling down huge amounts as dowry in marriage was another factor which went against girls. In fact, a matrimonial service invited applications to fix marriage alliances only if the parents of girls owned property worth ₹ 2 crore and a monthly income of ₹ 2 lakh.
The year 2019-20 also saw an increase in maternal deaths after delivery and abortions. Medical fraternity has generally welcomed abortions as a tool for population control but they were also a result of unwanted pregnancy.
The percentage of pregnant women who tested positive among all women screened for HIV has come down this year from 2.1 in 2018-19 to 1.7 this year. The total number of infants deaths reported also came down from 3,675 to 2,408.