Sex ratio among youth could drop below 900 in India

New Delhi, Jun 20: The consistently falling male-female ratio among India’s youth, which remains hopelessly skewed as a result of preference for a male child in previous decades, could fall below 900 in the next 15 years.

The recently published ‘Youth in India 2017’ report has found that the drop in sex ratio is more rapid among the youngsters than what is observed in the overall population.

“A negative aspect of youth in India is that the sex ratio in youth population is consistently decreasing from 1991 onwards. It has come down to 939 in 2011 as compared to 961 in 1971, and is projected to decline further to 904 (World Bank projection) in 2021,” the report, released by the Central Statistics Office, said.

Quoting the World Bank projection, it said the sex ratio among the youth could further decline to 898 by 2031. Having dropped to 945 in 1981, this ratio rose marginally to 250 in 1991. It was 940 in 2001 and 939 at the beginning of the following decade. However, youth population has been showing a consistent growth from 30% in 1971 to 34% in 2011. The report stated that it would drop to 31.8% in 2031.

“The percentage of male youth population to the total male population follows the pattern of overall youth and was also on a steady rise till 2011. But the share of female youths to total females showed a slight decrease in 2001, which might have resulted due to a declining sex ratio during this period,” it noted.A welcome change is in the number of married women in younger age groups. The percentage of currently married women in the age group of 15 to 19 has dropped from 69.57 in 1961 to 19.47 in 2011.

“The mean age for effective marriage for women in India has come up to 22.3 in 2014 as compared to 19.4 in 1995,” the report said. It also said India has the “relative advantage at present” over other countries in terms of distribution of youth population.

According to census, the total youth population increased from 168 million in 1971 to 422 million in 2011. “India is seen to remain younger longer than China and Indonesia, the two major countries other than India that determine the demographic features of Asia,” it added.

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Rajdhani Express Derails, 7 elephants killed after collision in Assam

News Network

December 20,2025

At least seven elephants were killed and one calf injured after a herd collided with the Sairang-New Delhi Rajdhani Express in Assam's Hojai on Saturday morning, leading to disruption of rail services.

The Sairang-New Delhi Rajdhani Express struck a herd of elephants, resulting in the derailment of the locomotive and five coaches. No passenger casualties or injuries were reported, officials said.

The New Delhi-bound train met with the accident around 2.17 am, PTI reported. The Sairang-New Delhi Rajdhani Express connects Mizoram's Sairang (near Aizawl) to Anand Vihar Terminal (Delhi).

Railway has issued helpline numbers at the Guwahati Railway Station:-

•   0361-2731621
•   0361-2731622
•   0361-2731623

The accident site is located about 126 km from Guwahati. Following the incident, accident relief trains and railway officials rushed to the spot to initiate rescue operations.

Train Services Disrupted

Sources said that due to the derailment and elephant body parts scattered on the tracks, train services to Upper Assam and other parts of the Northeast were affected.

Passengers from the affected coaches were temporarily accommodated in vacant berths available in other coaches of the train. Once the train reaches Guwahati, additional coaches will be attached to accommodate all passengers, after which the train will resume its onward journey.

The incident occurred at a location that is not a designated elephant corridor. The loco pilot, upon spotting the herd on the tracks, applied emergency brakes. Despite this, the elephants dashed into the train, leading to the collision and derailment.

Last month, an elephant was killed after being hit by a train in Dhupguri in West Bengal's Jalpaiguri district. The incident took place on November 30.

The adult elephant was killed on the spot, and a calf was discovered lying injured beside the tracks.

Over 70 Elephants Killed In Train Collisions Over Last 5 Years

At least 79 elephants have died in train collisions across the country in the last five years, the Environment Ministry had informed Parliament in August.

In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Environment Kirti Vardhan Singh had said the figure is based on reports from state governments and Union Territory administrations for the period 2020-21 to 2024-25.

He said that the ministry does not maintain consolidated data on the deaths of other wild animals on railway tracks, including in designated elephant corridors.

Singh confirmed that three elephants, including a mother and her calf, were killed on July 18 this year after being hit by a speeding express train on the Kharagpur-Tatanagar section in West Bengal's Paschim Midnapore district. The incident took place near Banstala between Jhargram and Banstala stations.

The minister said several measures have been taken jointly by the Environment Ministry and the Railways to prevent such accidents.

These include imposing speed restrictions in elephant habitats, pilot projects such as seismic sensor-based detection of elephants near tracks and construction of underpasses, ramps and fencing at vulnerable points.

The Wildlife Institute of India, in consultation with the ministry and other stakeholders, has also issued guidelines titled 'Eco-friendly Measures to Mitigate Impacts of Linear Infrastructure' to help agencies design railways and other projects in ways that reduce human-animal conflicts.

Singh added that capacity-building workshops were conducted for railway officials at the Wildlife Institute of India in 2023 and 2024 to raise awareness on elephant conservation and protection.

A detailed report titled 'Suggested Measures to Mitigate Elephant & Other Wildlife Train Collisions on Vulnerable Railway Stretches in India' had also been prepared after surveys across 127 railway stretches covering 3,452 km.

Of these, 77 stretches spanning 1,965 km in 14 states were prioritised for mitigation, with site-specific interventions suggested.

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