UP's sex ratio conundrum: among worst overall, amid the best in urban areas

The state has defied general belief that adverse sex ratio gets accentuated in urban areas, where access to sex tests and abortions is easier

It would require some explaining to figure out why Uttar Pradesh, which has one of the worst sex ratios in the country—the number of females to males at birth—has one of the best ratios in urban areas, nationwide. 

The Sample Registration System Statistical Report 2017 (SRS) released by the Census office last week shows that in the urban areas of India’s largest state, the sex ratio is 938 females for 1,000 males, at birth. As expected, in rural areas it is an abysmal 862. The general understanding of the adverse sex ratio is that it gets accentuated in urban areas