Gurgaon: Despite taking a series of steps to stop suspected gender selection and foeticide practices last year after alarm bells rang over a falling sex ratio at birth (SRB) in Haryana, numbers for the first four months of this year have fallen again, prompting another review by the state govt.SRB for the first four months is 895, sharply below last year’s 925. Data reviewed on Friday at a meeting chaired by additional chief secretary (health and family welfare) Sumita Misra revealed several districts recorded steep declines in SRB between Jan and April this year, with Charkhi Dadri reporting the lowest ratio of 769 girls per 1,000 boys. It was followed by Ambala at 843, Mahendragarh at 847, Gurgaon at 863 and Jind at 872.Among the best-performing districts, Karnal recorded the highest SRB at 968 girls per 1,000 boys. Faridabad and Kurukshetra followed at 932 each, while Palwal stood at 924 and Nuh at 913.The figures also showed steep year-on-year declines in several districts. Charkhi Dadri saw the sharpest fall, with its SRB dropping from 853 in Jan-April 2025 to 769 this year. Ambala declined from 906 to 843, Jhajjar from 947 to 876, Yamunanagar from 956 to 881, and Panchkula from 966 to 901.Despite being one of Haryana’s most urbanised districts, Gurgaon continued to post a weak SRB of 863, though this was slightly better than last year’s 842. In contrast, neighbouring Faridabad emerged as one of the strong performers, improving from 905 to 932.The statewide decline comes despite Haryana recording its highest-ever annual SRB of 923 in 2025. District-wise annual data for that year showed Panchkula leading with an SRB of 971, followed by Fatehabad at 961, Panipat at 951 and Karnal at 944. The lowest annual SRB in 2025 was recorded in Rewari at 882, followed by Sonipat at 894 and Gurgaon at 901.Taking serious note of the decline in 2026, Misra directed district administrations, police and health officials to intensify sting operations and dismantle organised interstate networks involved in illegal sex determination and female foeticide.She ordered faster reverse tracking of abortion cases, inspections of medical stores linked to illegal sale of MTP kits, and identification of unauthorised hospitals carrying out unlawful procedures. She also warned officials against complacency despite gains made in recent years.Officials said in the meeting that Haryana has 1,206 registered MTP centres, of which 201 have been shut down for violations. The authorities carried out 1,240 inspections during 2025 and 2026 and issued 58 notices to erring centres.The state has also expanded “reverse tracking” of abortions to identify illegal operators. Between Jan and March 2026, authorities tracked more than 600 MTP cases involving pregnancies between 12 and 20 weeks across districts.Data presented at the meeting showed that MTPs below 12 weeks declined from 47,730 in 2024-25 to 43,443 in 2025-26. Cases involving pregnancies beyond 12 weeks also fell, from 4,291 to 3,841.Crackdowns on illegal sale of abortion kits have intensified. During enforcement drives this year, authorities sealed 44 chemist shops, registered 59 FIRs and seized more than 6,000 MTP kits across Haryana.The meeting was also informed that Haryana has registered more than 1,300 FIRs under PCPNDT and MTP Acts since 2014 and conducted over 400 interstate raids against illegal operators.Misra told officials to strengthen monitoring through Saheli network of Asha workers, anganwadi workers and auxiliary nurse midwives. She said accountability would be fixed in cases of negligence, while good-performing field staff would be recognised.The govt has also decided to step up village-level awareness campaigns in districts with poor SRB and involve religious leaders and local institutions in efforts against female foeticide. Misra suggested that pandits, maulvis and granthis conducting marriages should encourage couples to pledge against sex determination tests and female foeticide.Haryana, which had the worst sex ratio at birth among all states at 834 girls per 1,000 boys during the 2011 Census period, improved its SRB to 923 by 2019 after years of aggressive enforcement under Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign. The state has since seen a renewed decline, with the annual SRB falling to 910 in 2024, the lowest level since 2016.
