JHUNJHUNU: With election campaigning in full swing, candidates are reaching out to voters and trying to woo them in any way possible. In such a scenario, a man in Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan has placed a board at his shop telling candidates that he is ready to give his vote to any candidate but on one condition - they should get his sons married.


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Nandlal Chowdhary in Haridas market in Jhunjunu has hung a banner in his small tea stall saying whoever gets his son married can have his vote. He said that he has not been able to search for a bride for his sons. 


Due to a massively skewed sex ratio in the state, marriage of boys has become a huge problem for the people. Nandlal said that due to female foeticide, there are hardly any girls in the state and hence many boys are unable to get married. 


Such is the extent of the problem that none of the candidates are in a position to promise him a wedding of his son.  


According to the figures released by the Census 2011, Rajasthan has 883 girls between the ages of 0 to 6 for every 1,000 boys in the same age group. The child sex ratio in 2001 was 909. However, government records suggested that by December 2017, the ratio among newborns had improved to 955 girls per 1,000 boys.


Jhunjhunu is one of the districts with worst sex ratio records. Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi had chosen Jhunjhunu in March this year to announce the nationwide expansion of the government’s flagship Beti Bachao scheme. The district was part of the initial 100 districts which were chosen the launch of the scheme in 2015. 


Jhunjhunu was also one of the 14 districts where the health department of Rajasthan had implemented the Pre-conception and Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act strictly. The government figures claim that there has been a massive improvement in the sex ratio in all these 14 districts with an improvement of 67 points in Jhunjunu.