Girl Child Birth Ratio Falls Sharply in Srikalahasti, Probe Ordered

Tirupati: Srikalahasti in Tirupati district has reported an alarming decline in the birth ratio of girls, prompting the district administration to initiate an inquiry.

Official data shows that only 629 girls were born for every 1,000 boys in the town during the past three months, a figure far below the district average of around 901 girls per 1,000 boys.

The figures were reviewed during the district multi-member advisory committee meeting, where collector Venkateswar described the trend as a matter of serious concern. While minor variations are expected in birth ratios, he said, the Srikalahasti numbers were far lower than normal and required immediate corrective steps.

The collector advised the district medical officer, Balakrishna Naik, to set up a committee to examine both government and private hospitals. The committee would study the reasons for the skewed ratio and submit its findings within a month.

Private scanning centres and nursing homes in the town would also come under scrutiny, as officials suspect that illegal sex determination practices may be contributing to the imbalance.

“These could be happening in some private scanning centres. Such practices are illegal. An inquiry committee has been formed to review the hospital and scanning centre records,” a health department official said.

The collector warned that violations of the pre-conception and pre-natal diagnostic techniques act would attract strict action, including cancellation of licences, registration of criminal cases, and imprisonment.

Alongside the inquiry, officials have been asked to strengthen awareness campaigns in rural areas, where a lack of knowledge about the law and social preference for male children continue to affect gender balance.

The PCPNDT Act, enacted in 1994 and amended in 2003, prohibits the use of diagnostic techniques for sex determination before or after conception. Despite this, selective abortions remain a persistent issue.