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Just 583 women to 1,000 men in J&K

The only silver lining is that the child (0-6 years) population ratio of females is better than males in Leh. The male child population ratio is pegged at 6.54% while for females it is 10.59%.

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The findings of Census 2011 are being hotly contested in Leh district of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K), after it revealed a shocking statistic: Leh has the lowest sex ratio in India with only 583 women for every 1,000 men. The sex figure has fallen dramatically since 2001, when the sex ratio was 823.

The only silver lining is that the child (0-6 years) population ratio of females is better than males in Leh. The male child population ratio is pegged at 6.54% while for females it is 10.59%.

“Nobody believes the Census figures. These are far from the truth. There is no gender bias nor is there any prevalence of female foeticide,” said Rigzin Spalbar, chief executive councilor of Ladakh (Leh) Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC).

Farooq Ahmad, director, Census operations, Jammu & Kashmir, declined to analyse the reasons behind the low sex ratio. “Our job is to come out with figures which reflect reality,” he said.

Joint chief principal Census officer CS Sapru suggested that one reason could be that a larger number of Ladakhi girls move out of the region to study. “You have so many Ladakhi girls studying outside. They were not present during Census,” he said.

Another credible reason could be the fact that Leh has seen an increase in the number of soldiers posted in the district after the Kargil War.

Sapru said the sex ratio in J&K as a whole has slipped to 883 even in the Kashmir Valley, which has traditionally had a balanced sex ratio. “Our sex ratio has fallen to the levels witnessed in 1901. The sex ratio in 0-6 age group is also very low. This will have a huge impact in 20 years”, he said.

Bashir Ahmad Dabla, professor of Sociology at the University of Kashmir, said the census data needs correlation with demographic and economic changes, education to reach a definite conclusion.

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