With the growth rate of population slowing down to 17.64from the earlier 21.54 , we can hope to see our population stabilizing earlier than we had expected. The sustained campaign by central and state governments, non government organizations and leaders of the society to educate our masses have also borne fruit – with literacy levels having risen to 74.04 from 64.83 in 2001. What is more heartening in this regard is the fact that among these additional literates the number of women is more than that of men. India is finally giving due thought to the education of her daughters. We are now 4.91 points closer to bridging the gender gap in literacy.

However, while India may have started showing concern about her daughters’ education, the same cannot be said about her enthusiasm in welcoming female offsprings into the family- at least in major parts of the country. The alarming and continuous drop in the Child Sex Ratio over the years is not just a matter of serious concern for the nation but also a matter of shame for any civilized society. Studies point to the growing scale of son preference and the resultant sex- selective abortion or female foeticide as the major reason for this drop in CSR. The trend seems to be more alarming in the northern and the western parts of the country. Clearly, the legislation preventing sex-selective abortion has proved totally ineffectual, and we need to work out more effective strategies in this regard.

Apart from this major problem, the continued, less than satisfactory performance of the Empowered Action Group of States also needs to be addressed afresh. Not that these states have not made any progress –but the current rate of change is not good enough to ensure a satisfactory rate of development in these states, nor a fast attainment of the Millennium Development Goals.