Patna, June 10 The latest Vital Statistics Report 2022 of the Civil Registration System (CRS) released by the Office of the Registrar General of India has revealed a sex ratio at birth of just 891 girls per 1,000 boys in Bihar.
Responding to this report, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi, in a strongly worded post on Monday on social media platform X criticised the Nitish Kumar-led state government.
"What is happening that the number of girls among the children born is continuously falling?" she asked.
Targeting the JD-U-BJP-led 'double engine' government in the state, she said that the combination was proving dangerous for women.
"On the one hand, there is continuous brutality against women, and on the other hand, the worst sex ratio in the country. This is not a coincidence -- it is a reflection of the government's neglect and societal bias," she wrote.
If daughters are not welcomed at birth, Priyanka Gandhi says then slogans of women's empowerment are hollow.
"This is not just a question of gender imbalance but it is a challenge to build a civilised and prosperous society," the Congress leader wrote.
According to CRS data in 2020, Bihar's sex ratio at birth stood at 964 girls per 1,000 boys.
In 2021, the sex ratio in Bihar dropped to 908, and in 2022 it plummeted further to 891.
This steady decline paints a grim picture of entrenched gender bias and reflects the persistent social stigma against the birth of daughters, despite various state and Central schemes promoting girl child welfare.
While Bihar has seen a drastic decline, the report notes that states like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, and Uttarakhand have generally seen increases in registered births.
Southern and northern states, including Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, and Delhi, have recorded minor declines in birth rates but not in such a skewed gender ratio.
Nationally, total registered births increased from 242 lakh in 2021 to 254.4 lakh in 2022, while deaths decreased from 102.2 lakh to 86.5 lakh.
Bihar stands out not for numbers alone, but for the sharp deterioration in the gender balance.
The revelations come at a politically sensitive time, with the Bihar Assembly elections approaching.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections 47.6 per cent of Bihar's 7.64 crore voters were women and their turnout was 50.4 per cent, indicating rising political engagement.
Political parties are vying for women's support, but this data underscores a contradiction between electoral wooing and systemic neglect.
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