International Women's Day 2021 Special: An eye opener on gender ratio and female equality in India - Today news..

ew Delhi | Jagran News Desk: A woman is the personification of selfless love, strength, patience, purity and more. The essence or importance of a woman can't be described in a few words but sadly it can be with numbers. Yes, we are talking about the rate of female foeticide in India. As the International Women's Day 2021 is right around the corner, here we are with a reality check on the country's gender ratio. As the 16th Census of India is still awaited and will take place in 2021, we have accumulated the data from 2001 to 2011.

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Population

As per the 2001's census which was the 14th Census of India since 1871, the country's population accounted to be 1,028,737,436 out of which 532,223,090 were men while 496,514,346 were women. Meanwhile, in 2011, India's population rose to 1.21 billion with 17.70% of growth throughout the decade. The gender ratio of the population in 2011 was almost 940 females per 1000 males.

Gender ratio (2001-2011)

As per data, there were 927 girls per 100 boys between the age group of 0-6 years in 2001. Meanwhile, in 2011 the ratio went down to 918 girls per 1000 boys. This was the lowest recorded gender ratio of girls in the country since 1961.

On the other hand, if you think rural regions are way backward and kill daughters, then you are slightly wrong. Yes, as per 2011, there were 943 females per 1000 males which was an increase as compared to the year 2001 where there were only 933 women per 1000 men. 

Gender Ratio Statewise 

Talking about statewise, in 2011, the gender ratio was found to be more in north-western states like Maharastra where there were 118 males per 100 females. In Haryana, the ratio was 120 men per 100 women while in Jammu & Kashmir there were 116 males. Talking about Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh, the ratio accounted to be 112 and 111 men per 100 women respectively. But what caught our attention was Uttarakhand's gender ratio which fell from 908 women per 1000 men in 2001 to 890 women per 1000 men in 2011. 

Child marriage data

The common belief of terming females as 'paraya dhan' is a sad reality which we came across through this research. As per UNICEF, India accounts high in child marriages so much so that 1 in every 3 child brides in the world is Indian. Wait till you read this, according to the data, 10.2 crore child brides out of 22.3 crore were below 15 years of age when married. That's not all, the early marriages led to early pregnancy and as many as 45 lakh child brides under 15 became mothers and most of them have 2 kids.

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Education

We know, after the above disturbing data the education rate in women is pretty much predictable as it is believed that educating a girl is unnecessary and families refrain from investing in girls' education financially. As per 2017, 32% of girls dropped out of school as compared to boys who were 28%. 

As per the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights' 2019 report, almost 40% of girls aging between 15-18 years dropped school, out of which more than half of them took up household duties. 

So guys, what are your thoughts on this eye-opening data on women? Do let us know