Indian parents did not want 21 mn girls, wanted boy instead: Economic Survey

New Delhi: Indians still want sons, the Economic Survey of 2017-18 has pointed out in a first-ever estimate of its kind.

The survey says there are 21 million girls that Indian parents did not want, they wanted a boy instead. This data was gathered by looking at the sex ratio of the last child, which tilts heavily towards boys. It indicated that parents keep on having children till they get the number of boys they want.

Breaking from past, the Economic Survey was printed in the colour pink as it waded into the problem of gender bias prevalent in India and underscored the importance of gender issues to the economy.

The pre-Budget annual document detailing state of economy was in the past presented in multiple hues of blue, green and yellow but the Survey 2017-18 sported a pink cover "chosen as a symbol of support for the growing movement to end violence against women which spans continents".

Indian parents continue to have children until they get the desired number of sons, it said observing that the adverse sex ratio of females to males has led to 63 million "missing" women.

The survey report's author, Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian said the document's cover was deliberately kept in pink colour to show the government's support to the movement 'in favour of women and women's empowerment'.

The survey has a whole chapter on gender.

Tamil writer and poet Subramania Bharati is quoted in the chapter on gender bias as the Chief Economic Adviser sought to highlight societal and economic challenges like son meta-preference and empowerment of women.

Also two-word hashtag '#Me Too' that denotes sexual harassment and assault too finds a mention in the gender chapter.

Many Twitteratis, however, were not amused with the choice of the pink colour of the survey. One Twitter user referred to the choice as "Pathetic, patriarchal, shallow symbolism", while another said it "contributes to stereotyping".

"They have got to be kidding us! They made the Economic Survey cover pink to symbolise women empowerment. What will be the colour of actualizing it?" a tweet by a user, Rachna Sinha, said.

(With inputs from agencies)