Female Literacy and Changes in Child Sex Ratio in Bihar: A District Level Analysis

Bihar is the state, where majority of the population is illiterate and ranks lowest, among all the Indian state in terms of literacy rate (61.8 percent), where, the male and female literacy rate are 71.20 and 51.50 respectively. Sex ratio and literacy rate have always been considered as an important key for the socio - economic growth of the study of an area. Similarly female literacy rate and child sex ratio also affect the social structure and future of mankind. But it is a known fact that the literacy rate and sex ratio has an inverse relationship. In spite of the legal prohibition female foeticide is a common practice. Declining child sex ratio has been a matter of grave concern which is prevalent due to the son preference in the society, and is detrimental to the development of the nation and the state. Present paper deals with variation in female literacy rate and child sex ratio as well as their relationship and change in child sex ratio for every 1 percentage point rise in female literacy rate. The literacy rate in Bihar has been increased from 47.53 percent in 2001 to 61.80 percent in 2011, whereas the sex ratio has declined from 919 femalesper thousand males in 2001 to 918 in 2011. Similarly female literacy rate in Bihar has increased from 33.12 percent in 2001 to 51.50 percent in 2011, whereas the child sex ratio has declined from 942 girls per thousand boys in 2001 to 935 in 2011. The child sex ratio is normally low in those districts, where the female literacy rate is high to very high, especially in the census year 2011. Districts having low to moderate female literacy rate are having high child sex ratio. Districts like Purnea, Kishanganj, Araria and Katihar, recorded high to very high child sex ratio whereas, their female literacy rate are low in both the census years, 2001 and 2011. The change in child sex ratio for every 1 percentage point rise in female literacy rate is also high in two districts Saharsa, and Darbhanga, where the female literacy rate is low in 2001 and moderate in 2011, whereas, Arwal (1.24) with the second highest change in child sex ratio for every 1 percentage point rise in female literacy rate has moderate female literacy rate in 2001 and high in 2011. Apart from this ten other districts recorded positive change in child sex ratio below 1. Rest of the districts recorded negative change in child sex ratio for every 1 percentage point change in female literacy rate. The inverse relationship between female literacy rate and child sex ratio has been clearly indicated by the coefficient of correlation obtained by means of Karl Pearson?s method of correlation, which is - 0.2823 in 2001 and - 0.4890 in 2011.