Maharashtra has second largest population

By Arunkumar Bhatt

MUMBAI, MARCH 31. The adverse sex ratio in Maharashtra has become far worse during the 1991-2001 decade, reaching an all-time low of 922 females per 1000 - down by 12 compared to the earlier decade, according to provisional census figures.

This is contrary to the all-India trend and also the tendency in all the neighbouring States where the number of women has gone up.

The sex ratio is one of the most important indicators of the demography of the nation. Generally, in developed countries females are more in number than males but in developing countries reverse is the case.

According to the census figures, Kerala continues to enjoy highly favourable sex ratio of over 1,050 females per 1,000 males while Pondicherry strikes even. Surprisingly, States like Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana and Delhi have much adverse sex ratio, even worse than the all- India figure.

But the sex ratio of not so well off States like Chhatisgarh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Orissa, Uttaranchal, Mizoram, Tripura and Jharkhand is better than the all-India figure. The worst is the case of the Union Territory of Daman and Diu - about 710 females for 1000 males.

Within Maharashtra, the worst sex ratio is that of the district of Thane (857), followed by Mumbai Suburban (826) and Mumbai City (774). According to an expert, this could be due to migrant industrial and other labour who leave their families behind in their villages.

The bifurcation of Bihar has made Maharashtra the second most populated State in the country, with its numbers growing by 22.57 per cent to 9.67 crore.

But growth rate has declined by 3.16 per cent during the decade and the literacy rate has reached an all-time high of 77.27 per cent, registering a jump of 12.4 points. Female literacy, that has been improving much faster from 1971, continued to do so and has done even better during this decade. While female literacy has seen a surge of 15.2 points, male literacy has improved by 9.7 points.

While Kerala continues to be the most literate State at 90.92 per cent, Maharashtra is ranked tenth and Bihar 35th with only 47.53 per cent literacy. The national average is 65.38 per cent.

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