An unhealthy fall in India's sex ratio Friday brought industrialists and politicians of the country together to fight the evil of sex-selection.

The unhealthy fall is attributed to the "disappearance" of nearly 13.7 million girl children since 1981.

Nearly 20 parliamentarians participated in a Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) organised round-table conference on the scourge of sex-selection and the drastic fall in male-female ratio in the country.

The conference came in the wake of findings that the shortfall in the number of women has increased from 4 million in 1901 to 35 million in 2001, at an unhealthy ratio of 927 females per 1,000 males.

The figure of 13.7 million "missing girls" was calculated on the basis of the shortfall in the numbers projected for 2001.

According to the 2001 census, the states of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and Gujarat saw a decline in sex ratio of less than 900. Seventy districts in 16 states and union territories recorded more than a 50-point decline in child sex ratio.

Those who attended the "Round Table on Missing Daughters" included among others, Samajwadi Party MP Jayaprada, Anand Sharma of the Congress and Sumitra Mahajan of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

The conference sought to launch a national forum to be led by parliamentarians in their respective constituencies and raise the issue in parliament.

The meet agreed that the Pre-conception and Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act had been ineffective in prohibiting sex-detection and resultant abortions and therefore there was an urgent need for effective implementation of the law.

Highlighting the alarming trend, chairman of Fortis Healthcare Ltd. Harpal Singh said: "Leaders and policy makers have the principal responsibility for creating a legal environment for the girl child to live".

Actress-turned-politician Jayaprada said: "Some of the causes for such a situation is traditional preference for a son, lack of security for women and lack of education."

"Therefore, mindsets have to be changed for a long-term solution to this problem."

Addressing the meet, UN Population Fund Representative to India Hendrik Van der Pol said: "Sex ratio is a powerful indicator of the social health of any society. Unfortunately, evidences indicate that the society we live in is far from healthy."