Q.What is sex ratio? Discuss the trend in India's sex ratio based on Census data.

Sex ratio is one of the most closely watched social indicators in Indian demography.

Sex ratio in India is conventionally defined as the number of females per 1,000 males in a population, unlike the international convention of males per 100 females. It is an important social indicator because a ratio significantly below 1,000 signals an underlying gender imbalance rather than a purely biological outcome, since the natural sex ratio at birth typically favours a slightly higher number of male births that is usually balanced out over a lifetime by higher male mortality.

As per Census 2011, India's overall sex ratio stood at 943 females per 1,000 males, an improvement over the 933 recorded in the 2001 Census, and part of a longer-term gradual recovery from a low point recorded in the mid-twentieth century. Despite this improvement, a ratio below 1,000 reflects continuing social factors such as son preference, unequal access to healthcare and nutrition for girls, and historically, sex-selective practices, which laws such as the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act aim to curb. …

Confusing the OVERALL sex ratio with the CHILD sex ratio (0–6 years) — the two can move in opposite dire …