Which among the following is NOT a reason for decline in sex-ratio in…

The correct answer is Option (1) → Increasing health risk of men

Option (1) Increasing health risk of men — Not a reason (Correct). The sex ratio is the number of females per 1000 males. If more men fell ill and died, there would be fewer males for every 1000 females, and the ratio would rise, not fall. Every reason given for the decline works against girls and women.

Option (2) Female infanticide — A reason (Incorrect). Female infanticide is the killing of girl babies due to religious or cultural beliefs. Such practices have been known to exist in many regions, and they reduce the number of girls directly.

Option (3) Social stigma towards girl child — A reason (Incorrect). Social scientists believe the cause has to be sought in the differential treatment of girl babies: severe neglect of girls in infancy, leading to higher death rates, and sex-specific abortions that prevent girl babies from being born.

Option (4) High maternal mortality — A possible reason (Incorrect). The main health factor that affects women differently from men is childbearing, so demographers ask whether the fall in the sex ratio may be partly due to the risk of death in childbirth that only women face. It is hard to see it as the cause of the worsening ratio, because maternal mortality rates have been coming down; but it is a factor that removes women, the reverse of Option (1).

Note: The book discusses high maternal mortality as a possible reason for the fall in the sex ratio and then finds it hard to see it as the cause of the worsening over time. It still counts as a reason that works against women. A rising health risk for men is the only option that would push the ratio up, so it cannot be a reason for its decline.