Karnataka may pride itself on advancing across development indices, but it remains locked in a grim battle against female foeticide and infanticide. Its sex ratio of 973 and child sex ratio of 948 sit above national averages, yet these comforting aggregates mask districts where bias against the girl child persists.
The latest Child Rights Index shows that Mandya has consistently recorded the lowest child sex ratio—884 in 2020, 873 in 2021, 877 in 2022 and 887 in 2023—improving to 915 only in 2024. Bengaluru Rural fell sharply from 955 in 2023 to 917 in 2024, while Chikkamagaluru dropped from 976 to 928. Bagalkot (919), Bidar (920), Kalaburagi (910) and Chikkaballapur (937) remain troubling. Worse still, several had dipped below 900 girls per 1,000 boys just a year earlier. In a heartening shift, Bidar clocked 991 in 2024.
These are not aberrations. Historically, the state fared better: the 2011 Census recorded a child sex ratio of 948. The downward arc since reflects a patriarchal mindset driving sex-selective abortions and unequal access to feeding, healthcare and immunisation. Officials acknowledge that such declines cannot be explained by normal biological variation. They point unmistakably to sex determination and the selective elimination of girls.
Organised sex-selection rackets reinforce this reality. In Mandya, an ultrasound centre funnelled women to an Ayurvedic hospital in Mysuru, where abortions of girl foetuses cost Rs 40,000 each. This single racket accounted for nearly 1,000 female foeticides before its 2023 bust. Several districts now mirror Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, where long-standing gender bias has left communities struggling for brides.
While the government has tightened implementation of the PCPNDT Act, loopholes and lenient penalties—the maximum prison term is three years—blunt deterrence. The law still places a disproportionate onus on families rather than on the medical networks that enable the crime.
Ultimately, Karnataka’s crisis is not legal but social. Districts like Udupi, Dakshina Kannada and Kodagu—and states such as Kerala and Puducherry—show that literacy, awareness and gender equity can reverse the trend. But until girls stop being viewed as burdens and sons as assets, technology will continue to be weaponised against them. Karnataka has the data and the laws. It now needs the collective will to value every child equally.