Associate Professor (Statistics), Banasthali University.

The composition of population by gender is one of the primary demographic characteristics of human population. The present study is an attempt to examine this gender composition in India for the last three decades. For this purpose the country was divided into six distinct regions and the data pertaining to gender composition for the three decades 1991, 2001 and 2011 were studied. A comparative analysis of the regions over time was undertaken using the two way analysis of variation. A significant difference was observed in the value of sex ratio for the selected regions. Undoubtedly, the southern region scored well on this front with Kerala outshining in this region. In contrast, the performance of the western region was far below expectation with Gujarat registering the highest percentage decline from the year 1991 to 2011. Moreover, the lowest performer in terms of sex ratio for the three decades has been the national Capital.