India joins league of developed countries with improved sex ratio

With the sex ratio in the country crossing the 1000 mark for the first time, India has now moved into the league of developed countries. As per the National Family Health Survey (NFHS), the sex ratio in the country is presently at 1020:1000.

"For the first time, due to various measures taken for women empowerment such as financial inclusion and for combating gender bias and disparities, the sex ratio in the country has been reported at 1,020," revealed the survey. Sex ratio at birth has improved from 919 in 2015-16 to 929 in 2019-20.

The survey also notes that about two-thirds or 66.7 per cent of married women in the country use some family planning methods to delay or limit pregnancy. This was only 53.5 in NFHS 4. The use of contraception prevents pregnancy-related health risks for women, especially for adolescent girls, and properly planned intervals between births prevent infant mortality, the new survey notes.

The reach of family planning services are expanding in the country, the survey shows. Beneficiaries, mostly women, can decide the type of contraceptive methods to be adopted for spacing or limiting pregnancies, it notes. Furthermore, nearly four-fifth or 78 per cent of mothers received postnatal care from health personnel within two days of delivery. This was merely 62.4 per cent in NFHS-4.