Nalgonda recorded the worst figures in the state, with just 787 girls born for every 1,000 boys

Hyderabad: Telangana’s sex ratio at birth (SRB) has come under scrutiny after fresh data showed 14 of the state’s 33 districts recording fewer than 900 girls for every 1,000 boys in 2024, according to Civil Registration System (CRS) data.

Nalgonda recorded the worst figures in the state, with just 787 girls born for every 1,000 boys, reported TOI. Kamareddy was the only district where girl births outnumbered boy births, posting an SRB of 1,060. Mulugu, Siddipet, Hyderabad, Vikarabad and Narayanpet also fared comparatively well, along with Peddapalli, Nizamabad and Jangaon, all above the state average of 910, per the report.

Other districts with low ratios included Mahabubabad, Nagarkurnool, Wanaparthy, Warangal, Yadadri Bhuvanagiri, Rajanna Sircilla, Mahbubnagar, Suryapet, Jogulamba Gadwal, Karimnagar, Rangareddy, Khammam and Medchal Malkajgiri.

Nalgonda’s slide is notable given its otherwise favourable demographic record, with its overall sex ratio improving from 966 in 2001 to 983 in 2011, even as its child sex ratio had already dropped to 923 that year, TOI noted. The district also has a troubled history: a 2017 survey by Rakshita, a child-protection committee, documented 14 cases of female infanticide over four years, according to the report.

“Districts reporting unusually low ratios are likely to come under greater scrutiny, with calls for stricter enforcement of the PCPNDT Act and closer monitoring of ultrasound centres,” activist Sabu Mathew George was quoted as saying by TOI.