Sex ratio: Number of girls born on gradual rise in Maharashtra
Mumbai has seen marginal improvement as compared to 2017
In some good news for the state, Maharashtra's sex ratio at birth has shown a slight rise to end at the healthiest in six years, indicating that the number of girls being born is on a gradual rise.In 2013, the sex ratio at birth was just 900, which improved to 914 in 2014 but in 2015, marginally dipped to 907. The birth registration figures for 2016 and 2017 stand at 904 and 913 respectively. These have improved to 916 in the latest estimation for 2018.However, last year, while the number of girls born in urban areas of Maharashtra was 920, which is higher than the state's average, the figure for rural areas was at a much lower 902 girl children per 1,000 boys born.According to the state public health department's civil registration system's (CRS) figures, Sindhudurg in the Konkan has the healthiest sex ratio at birth (965), followed by tribal-dominated Nandurbar in North Maharashtra (954) and Ratnagiri (953). However, districts at the bottom of the heap include Buldhana (857), Kolhapur (870) and Jalna (879).