В округе Манса низкий полорождаемость, но женщины занимают ключевые посты в администрации

Mansa’s gender contrast: Low sex ratio, but women hold key administrative posts Former Union Minister and Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal is serving her fourth term as the MP from the constituency Mansa has one of Punjab’s lowest sex ratios at birth, but women are increasingly occupying key positions of authority in the district administration, education and public institutions, presenting a striking gender contrast. According to data by the Health Department, Mansa's sex ratio at birth declined from 921 girls per 1,000 boys in 2024 to 906 in 2025. In contrast, Punjab’s overall figure improved marginally from 922 to 923 during the same period. Mansa’s figure is also lower than that of many other districts, including SBS Nagar (964), Hoshiarpur (962), Malerkotla (952) and Barnala (939). At the same time, women hold several important administrative positions in the district. Deputy Commissioner Navjot Kaur, Additional Deputy Commissioners Poonam Singh and Kritika Goyal, District Development and Panchayats Officer Kavita Garg, Sub-Divisional Magistrate Baljit Kaur, District Programme Officer Khushpreet Kaur, District Education Officers Neelam Rani and Manju Bala, and Secretary of the District Legal Services Authority Rajwinder Kaur are among the women officers serving in Mansa. Inspector Beant Kaur is posted as SHO of the Mansa City-2 police station. Women's political representation is also significant. Former Union Minister and Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal is serving her fourth term as the MP from the constituency. The district's low sex ratio has raised concerns about the possibility of sex-determination tests being conducted in neighbouring Haryana. Some locals claimed that people from Mansa travel across the state border for such tests at illegal centres. As per National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), Haryana recorded 19 cases of female foeticide from 2022 to 2024, the fourth-highest figure in the country. However, Dr Ranjit Rai, Civil Surgeon, Mansa, attributed the district's low figure partly to gaps in birth data. He said many people from the district go to Haryana for deliveries and that details of these births do not reach Mansa health authorities for compilation. “If we get that data and compile that, then the record will be better,” he said, while denying reports that people from Mansa were travelling to Haryana for sex-determination tests followed by abortions of female foetuses. Meanwhile, women officers have also been at the forefront of the district’s recent administrative achievements. Mansa ranked first in Punjab in the digitisation of enumeration forms during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The district also secured third position in the state in the Digital Crop Survey for Rabi 2025-26 and topped the state in the timely disposal of grievances on the PGRS portal. “The district also secured first position for declaring 15 villages Open Defecation Free (ODF) Model Plus during 2025-26 and figured among the top three districts in the delivery of citizen-centric services through the e-Sewa portal and in NCD screening for hypertension and diabetes,” said Deputy Commissioner Navjot, highlighting some of the district’s achievements.