US lawmakers examine India’s gender imbalance

The panel has often been a forum for tough criticism of China’s one-child policy. Its chair,Smith,was more nuanced in his comments on India,acknowledging that Prime Minister Manmohan has decried the falling proportion of girls in his country. But Smith railed against what he called the systematic “extermination’’ of female fetuses and authorities’ failure to enforce laws against it. He said that has led to a dearth of women which has fueled human trafficking as men seek marriage partners.

The Indian Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

India’s gender imbalance has grown. The 2011 census showed 914 girls for every 1,000 boys younger than 6. That was a drop from 927 girls for every 1,000 boys a decade previously. Experts say such ratios are the result of abortions of female fetuses,or sheer neglect leading to a higher death rate among girls. Part of the reason Indians favour sons is the enormous expense of marrying off girls.