Sharp improvement in sex ratio has been recorded in Haryana after continuous action on female feticide.

Haryana has seen significant improvement in its sex ratio, reaching 923 in 2025, a jump of 13 points from 2024, with officials attributing the gain to several steps taken to curb the practice of prenatal sex determination and illegal abortion.

Haryana recorded the sex ratio at birth (SRB) of 923 in 2025, the highest in the last five years, while it was 910 in 2024, officials said on Friday, January 2.

The data shows that in 2025, the state recorded 5,19,691 births – 2,70,281 males and 2,49,410 females – while in 2024, 5,16,402, including 2,46,048 females.

Officials attributed the improvement in SRB to various steps taken by the state government, including action against sex-selective abortion and illegal sale of medical termination of pregnancy (MTP) kits in Haryana.

According to the data, the SRB in 2025 was the highest in the last five years. The sex ratio of Haryana was 923 in 2019, which declined marginally to 922 in 2020 and further decreased to 914 in 2021. It was 917 in 2022 and 916 in 2023.

The sex ratio of the state improved from 871 in 2014 to 876 in 2015. In 2016, it increased by 24 points to 900, which was the biggest gain. The SRB rose to 914 in 2017, the second-highest jump, and remained unchanged in 2018.

As per the 2025 data, Panchkula recorded the state’s highest SRB at 971 females per 1,000 males, 56 points higher than the 915 reported in 2024.

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Districts achieving more than 950 SRB include Fatehabad (961) and Panipat (951).

The districts where the SRB was above the state’s average included Ambala (926), Bhiwani (926), Hisar (926), Kaithal (924), Karnal (944), Kurukshetra (927), Mewat (935), Sirsa (937) and Yamunanagar (943).

However, according to the data, the SRB in Gurugram recorded an increase of only two points to 901, while in Sonipat it declined by seven points to 894 and in Jind it declined by one point to 918.

The sex ratio in Charkhi Dadri, Faridabad, Kaithal and Panipat also showed improvements in 2025.

Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini on Thursday said that when the BJP government was formed in 2014, Haryana’s sex ratio was 871, which was one of the lowest in the country at that time.

Saini said, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the nationwide ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ campaign from Panipat in 2015, the state government took concrete steps in this direction.

According to officials, after the SRB declined to 2024, a task force was formed under Additional Chief Secretary (Health) Sudhir Rajpal, which held review meetings every week with officials from the health, AYUSH, women and child development and National Health Mission departments.

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He said action was taken in cases related to sex-selective abortion and sale of MTP kits.

A total of 114 FIRs were registered under the MTP Act, of which 83 chargesheets were filed in courts, officials said.

He said that in 2025, 154 raids were conducted for violations of the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PC-PNDT) Act, 41 medicine shops were sealed, while 395 MTP centers were closed for violations.

GL Singal, associated with the ‘Beti Bachao’ program in Haryana, said reverse tracking of abortions – a woman 12 weeks pregnant with a previous girl child – was one of the major steps taken to stop illegal abortions.

“Such actions gave us very good results in 2025, as the SRB increased by 13 points,” Singhal said.