Kerala leads: Son-bias among women declining

NEW DELHI: Are Indian women gradually overcoming their obsession with sons? Yes, it seems, if one goes by the latest report of the Central Statistics Office (CSO) on Gender Issues.According to the report, there has been a drastic decline in the percentage of women preferring sons. If 41.4 per cent women preferred sons in 1992, it came down to 33 per cent in 1998 and has now touched an even lower figure of 25 per cent. This fall in preference for sons is maximum in Kerala and minimum in Bihar.As expected, now the preference for sons is more in rural areas than in urban areas where only 14 per cent of women prefer sons. Similarly, there has also been an increase in the number of women preferring girl children, according to the report, and this is higher in Kerala and, again, lower in Bihar. This decrease in preference for sons is the only silver lining in an otherwise gloomy gender equality scenario. According to the report, the status leaves much to be desired in all aspects of life, including health, education, choices in life and decision-making. Certain revelations are alarming. One is that 45.6 per cent of women in India get married before the legal age of 18 and that the lower childbearing age is leading to maternity risks, premature delivery and life risk to infants. The highest percentage of anaemic women is found in the age group of 20-29 which is the prime childbearing age span.