Think of the various ways in which government should have special schemes for different age groups. Examples could be midday meal schemes; anganwadi programmes etc. Why are they necessary?

Sex Ratio

    Sex ratio is the number of females per 1000 males in the population. This information is an important social indicator to measure the extent of equality between men and women in a society. You have calculated this for the families that you surveyed. Now, examine these figures for the country as a whole.

    We notice that the number of women in India has consistently been lower than that of men. This female/ male ratio, the ‘sex ratio’ is a cause of concern since it indicates a hidden form of discrimination. Women and girls in particular face unequal opportunities for education and development. They are discriminated against in the most basic needs of nutrition, child care and health also – they get less of these things as compared to males. This often happens within the family. Yes, this discrimination is not always obvious.
     Medical research shows that given similar circumstances, girl children survive much better than boys. Hence, if there was no discrimination, the number of girls should be higher or as much as boys. From the census survey, we get another indicator. In India, sex ratio at birth is estimated to be 105 boys for 100 girls. More female babies die than male babies. The census shows that in the age group 0-5, the number of girls who survive is much lower than boys. This can only happen if there is some discrimination in their care and nutrition because otherwise the physical chance of survival is better for girls.
    The other evidence that we have is from comparative figures. If we look at societies or regions that have provided equality to women and provided equal opportunities for them, the sex ratios are different. Regions that have unequal gender relations that favour the males and discriminate against the females tend towards unequal sex ratios. This can happen even though they have high incomes. For example, look at the following data: