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in Gujarat followed by West Bengal (9.6%) among the major states” (The First Report on Religion Data 2004: xx).
In the absence of any study on the subject the causes of declining sex ratio among the Jains are not easy to find. Apparently the prevalence of female foeticide could be one factor in this regard. Female child diksha and discouragement of widow remarriage in the community could also be the contributing factors (See Sangave 1980: 29-30). Needless to say, this decline in sex ratio has begun to give rise to a number of marital and social problems among the Jains that in turn have been contributing factors in lowering the sex ratio - a vicious circle indeed.
59 | Jains in India and Abroad
