Despite marginal increase in sex ratio, the percentage of women voters per thousand is quite dismal in the national Capital. This has been revealed at a draft roll of electors compiled by the Chief Electoral Office of Delhi.
The data indicates that the situation is quite worrisome in constituencies like RK Puram, Kasturba Nagar, Model Town, Rajinder Nagar, Sangam Vihar, Badli, Kirari, Karawal Nagar, Deoli, Chhatarpur, Mangolpuri, Vikaspuri, Badarpur, Tuglaqabad, laxmi Nagar, Gandhi Nagar.
However, some of the constituencies have also shown increasing trend that include Rohini, Tilak Nagar, Shakurbasti, Rajouri Garden, Dwarka, Krishna Nagar, Matia Mahal, Rohtas Nagar.
An assessment of the gender ratio shows that it is 803 women per 1,000 men. For now, Delhi has 1.123 crore voters, with 62.36 lakh male and 50.05 lakh women voters. The youth enrolment for those between 18-19 years of age remains low at 2.69 lakh.
According to the data, Sangam Vihar and Tuglaqabad constituencies have lowest percentage of women voters. The gender ratio is 641 in Tuglaqabad, while it is 668 in Sangam Vihar. There are 22 constituencies where gender ratio is less than 775.
For instance, Okhla, a minority dominated Assembly segment, has a very abysmal gender ratio of 671. Its neighbouring sector, Badarpur, is slightly better at 708.
Constituencies such as Kirari at 726; Badli 737, Karawal Nagar 747, Delhi Cantt 769, Rajinder Nagar 761, Burari 753, Adarsh Nagar 791, Model Town 798 and Deoli 737. The Electoral Office of Delhi is assessing why women electors are lowest in these constituencies.
It is a cause of concern that sex ratio has not grown as it should have in Delhi. Being the Capital, there should have been significant increase in male-female sex ratio, but it still remains skewed.
There are constituencies like Rohini, Tilak Nagar, Shakurbasti, where gender ratio is above 900. According to data, Shakurbasti and Tilak Nagar constituencies have the highest sex ratio that is 936. The sex ratio in Rohini is 917, and constituencies like Krishna Nagar, Dwarka, Matia Mahal, Shahdara, Rajouri Garden, Najafgarh and Vishwas Nagar have shown an increasing trend as well.
Worried over the dismal percentage of women voters, Delhi Chief Electoral Officer Vijay Dev said that there are multiple reasons behind low gender ratio in here.
“The election office has identified constituencies and polling booths where gender ratio is the lowest. They are examining the trend and are trying to identify the reasons. To improve the sex ratio, special drive is to be launched in these constituencies. The special drive will focus on youths and women voters. Besides this, politicians should come forward and focus on this issue,” he said. According to Dev, Delhi Cantonment's gender ratio cannot be improved at all.
According to the Census data, the sex ratio in Delhi has shown an improvement with the female population registering a growth up to 24.9 per cent, while the male population grew at a lesser rate of 18.1 per cent. Sex ratio has gone up from 821 in 2001 to 868 in 2011.
Interestingly, sex ratio in 1901 (the start of the 20th Century) was 862 and this figure was crossed for the first time in 2011.