The child sex ratio (CSR) is declining faster in urban areas of the State indicating orthodox tendency still prevailing among the city residents.
According to the 2011 Census Report, while the CSR is 941 in Odisha, the female child ratio is 913 per 1,000 boys in the urban areas of the State as compared to the villages.
The CSR is higher in the tribal districts while the decline in number in the towns is a matter of great concern for the Government despite tough laws against female foeticide and sex determination tests in the city hospitals.
As per the current census, the sex ratio of girls in Odisha is 978 per 1,000 boys. The number of girls has risen considerably in the tribal areas as compared to the civilised societies in the cities.
While the number of girls is higher compared to boys in the tribal districts such as Malkangiri, Koraput, Nabarangpur, Raygada, Kalahandi, Nuapada, Kandhamal, Gajapati and Mayurbhanj, the ratio has fallen in the rest 20 districts apart from Kendrapada where ratio is pretty good.
However, it is alarming in Nayagarh district where the ratio of girls is 916 per 1,000 boys. Similarly, the sex ratio of girls in Khurda is 925, 1,048 in Raygada, 1,031 in Koraput, 1,020 in Nuapada and 1,037 in Kandhamal district.
The sex ratio is declining in the district like Kendrapada where the newborn female child number is less than 900 per boys.
The report states that the total number of tribal population is 9,590,756 lakh in Odisha out of which 8,994,967 lakh tribals live in villages and 5, 95,789 lakh tribals are the city dwellers. Of the total tribal population, 4,863,024 lakh are female and 4,727,732 lakh are male. While 4,566,445 lakh tribal women live in the villages, only 2,96, 579 lakh tribal women live in the cities. As per the report, the rate of tribal population has increased by 22.8 per cent against the previous census conducted in 2001. The population is rising in the cities (an increase of 26.9 per cent) as compared to the villages, where the percentage is only 11.8 per cent.