Female mortality high up north

The study proves that sex ratio patterns in India in the age group of 0-9 show that certain regions stand out for their alarmingly high Female Mortality Rates (FMR), raising questions about the women and child welfare programmes in these areas and the need for group specific interventions.

The region with the lowest FMR range, below 900, spreads across the plains north of Narmada. It contains a hard core area of alarmingly low FMRs, below 850, spanning 21 districts in Haryana, western UP, north eastern Rajasthan and the ravines of MP. The next range of FMRs between 900 and 950 covers most of the remaining districts in the plains in the north, districts of West Bengal, the central region and descends across Narmada into the south, through Jalgaon, Dhule and Nashik districts of Maharashtra.

“The sex ratio in India has a high masculine bias compared to most other regions in the world, the proportion of females in its population continues to decline and stands at 927 females per thousand men in the 1991 population census,” says Agnihotri.

The mortality pattern is one that is well recognised and attributed to the differential care of the girl child in south Asian countries. This includes unequal access to food, nutrition and care including health care compared to the male members of the household. This, feels Agnihotri, is a socio-cultural process linked with stereotyped perceptions about the role of sons and daughters and reflects the `son preference’.

According to the study, in India, nearly 60 per cent of the deaths in the 0-9 age group occur during infancy, that is upto the age of one, 30 per cent deaths occur in the 1-4 age group, whereas the remaining 10 per cent occur in the 5-9 age group.