Government Offers Reward for Having a Daughter

HYDERABAD, India — An Indian state government has offered to pay 100,000 rupees ($2,300) to families who have just one daughter in a bid to counteract traditional preferences for sons and balance the sex ratio.

The cash incentive will be paid to the daughters when they reach 20 years of age, provided their parents have had only one child and have undertaken birth control operations, officials said on Thursday.

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In India, where millions of couples still hanker for a male child, the overall sex ratio is 927 females to 1,000 males, down from 945-to-1,000 more than a decade ago. It has one of the lowest female-to-male ratios in the world.

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