NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 20 The booklet cover says it all: Missing. Released by the United Nations Population Fund or UNFPA, it maps the declining child sex ratio (in the age group 0 to 6) in the country: 20 pages talk of the last decade’s grim reality of the ‘missing girl’ child.

The national average dropped to 927 girls per 1000 boys in 2001 from 945 per 1000 in 1991. And Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh had a child sex ratio of less than 800 girls for every 1000 boys.

According to UNFPA, reasons for the decline have been attributed to the determination of the sex of the unborn child or foetus and eliminating the foetus when found to be female.

The UNFPA says 70 districts in 16 states and Union Territories recorded more than a 50 point decline in the child sex ratio in the last one decade.

‘‘The ratio stands at a mere 770 in Kurukshetra district of Haryana, 814 in Ahmedabad and 845 in the south west district in Delhi, which are among the most prosperous regions in the country,’’ states the report.

The booklet, released by Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Sushma Swaraj today, says Punjab represents the worst case: the state average is 793, no district recording more than 850 girls per 1000 boys.

Ten of the 17 districts recorded a low of less than 800 per 1000 boys, with the lowest 754 per 1000 in Fatehgarh Sahib.

Haryana is next with five districts recording less than 800 girls per 1000 boys and the state average dipping from 879 in 1991 to 820 in 2001.

In Gujarat, the situation worsened in Mehsana where the ratio declined to 798 per 1000. The Gujarat average too has dropped from 928 in 1991 to 878 in 2001. Rajkot has shown a sudden decline from 914 in 1991 to 844 in 2001.

Delhi is No.4: the ratio declined to 865 from 915 in 1991.

The worst affected is Delhi’s south west district with the ratio dropping from 904 in 1991 to 845 in 2001.