CHANDIGARH, Aug. 10 -- Haryana's battle against gender imbalance has hit a worrying roadblock in six districts-Ambala, Bhiwani, Charkhi Dadri, Karnal, Palwal and Sirsa-where the sex ratio at birth (SRB) has plunged by 18 to 35 points in the first seven months of 2025 compared to same period last year, it has emerged. The drop in the SRB comes despite a slew of aggressive steps by the health department at multiple levels to improve the SRB, raising fears that the state's annual SRB may take a hit if the free fall in six districts continues over the next five months. The SRB is a critical indicator of gender equality and a better SRB leads to an improvement in the child sex ratio (CSR). Haryana has been waging a war against gender determination tests, the supply of MTP kits and illegal abortions since February after suffering a setback in 2024 when the state's annual SRB slipped to 910 females births per 1,000 males, a dip of six points from 2023's 916. Though the SRB of 14 districts showed improvement with overall SRB till July 2025 recording 907 girls against 1,000 boys in comparison to 899 during the corresponding period in 2024, the first seven months data of 2025 paints a grim picture of gender imbalance in six districts compared to the same period last year. Alarmed by this latest downward trend, director general health services (DGHS) Dr Munish Bansal on August 8 formally withdrew Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Technique (PC-PNDT) Act powers of civil surgeons posted in Ambala, Bhiwani, Sirsa, and Palwal. "...It has been observed that your performance regarding improvement in sex ratio is not satisfactory and there is a significant decline in sex ratio of your district from January 1, 2025 to July 28, 2025 when compared to last year. Therefore, powers conferred to you vide a November 7, 2013 state government notification...stand withdrawn and have been granted to the civil surgeon of adjoining district...," the communication says (HT has a copy). However, eyebrows are being raised over the DGHS's letter under which powers of the Bhiwani civil surgeon were given to the civil surgeons of Charkhi Dadri, a district which is among the worst performers. DGHS Dr Munish Bansal did not respond to phone calls and WhatsApp messages. Sources say the move to clip wings of some civil surgeons was the fallout of July 29 meeting of the state task force (STF) where additional chief secretary (ACS-health) Sudhir Rajpal had directed to de-list private hospitals, medical centres and clinics from empanelment under the Ayushman Bharat scheme and any other government facility in case they are allegedly involved in "illegal abortions". "The ACS-health had also directed to withdraw PC-PNDT Act powers of civil surgeons of Ambala, Bhiwani, Charkhi Dadri, Palwal and Sirsa because these districts have performed below expectations and registered a downward trend in sex ratio as compared to last year," an official said. The latest January to July official figures paint a grim picture of gender imbalance in six districts during the first seven months of 2025 compared to the same period last year. Ambala has taken a hit of 21 points with the SRB coming down to 886 from 907 last year, while Bhiwani slipped 18 points from 927 last year to 909 now. Charkhi Dadri's drop is starker where the SRB came down by 32 points from 886 last year to 854 now. Karnal, once among the better performers, has seen one of the steepest falls, crashing 35 points from 947 in July 2024 to 912 in July 2025. Palwal's SRB has fallen to 885 from 917, a dip of 32 points. Sirsa--touted last year as a success story with 955---has slid 28 points from 955 to 927. On the other hand, the annual 2024 SRB of Ambala was 913, Bhiwani (919), Charkhi Dadri (869), Palwal (909), Karnal (926) and Sirsa (936). "This slump in six districts raises concern about the effectiveness of the ongoing interventions as evident from the August 5 meeting of the STF when it emerged that in a week (July 25-July 31) at least 72 abortions above 12 weeks of pregnancy were reported from across all 22 districts with the highest 13 abortions detected in Jind, nine in Hisar, six in Faridabad, four each in Charkhi Dadri and Gurugram, and three each in Kaithal, Nuh, Panipat and Sonepat," a senior health department official said. The state government has hand-picked Haryana Civil Service (HCS) officers, who have been tasked to explore the reason behind the fall in sex ratio of the districts in question and submit a report by August 12....