Falling child sex ratio is national shame: PM

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Calling for a 'crusade' to curb bias against women, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday said the practice of female foeticide and infanticide was a 'national shame'.

Addressing bureaucrats at a function here, Manmohan Singh said Indian girls and women 'have done us proud in classrooms, in boardrooms and on the sports field. They have broken existing barriers to prove their worth in almost every sphere'.

But, he said, 'the falling child sex ratio (as shown in the latest census data) is an indictment of our social values'.

Manmohan Singh said this couldn't be improved by merely strict compliance with the existing laws.

"What is more important is how we view and value the girl child in our society," he said.

According to the census data, the child sex ratio in the country (0-6 years) has touched the lowest levels since independence.

In 2001 it was was 927 females per 1000 males born, which declined to 914 females per 1000 males in 2010-11 Census.

Manmohan Singh said: "It is a national shame for us that despite this, female foeticide and infanticide continue in many parts of our country."

He stressed that the 'social bias against women has to be fought with all the physical and moral resources at our command'.

"There has to be a national campaign to counter this bias and I expect civil servants to play a big role in launching a crusade against it," he added.