A report issued by NITI Aayog (formerly known as the Planning Commission of India) has stated that birth of female children in as many as eight States has gone down.

Survey conducted in 21 States chosen by the Aayog revealed that birth-rates of both male and female children had come down in 17 out of the 21 States.  Rajasthan takes the first place in the list of 8 States where female children’s birth-rate had come down alarmingly.

The male-female children ratio in Rajasthan, which was earlier 1000:907, had now come down alarmingly to 1000:854, thus registering a deep decline of 53 points.  Haryana (35 points), Rajasthan (32 points), Uttarakhand (27 points), Maharashtra (18 points), Himachal Pradesh (14 points), Chhattisgarh (12 points) and Karnataka (11 points) are the other States in the list.

Ironically enough, most of these are ruled by the BJP with/or without allies. Aayog sources said that the reduction in birth-rate can be attributed to increasing number of abortions. Opposition parties might use this as a whip to attack the BJP-led Centre in the coming days.