Panaji, May 14 (IANS): Folks living in rural Goa as well as scheduled castes (SC) and scheduled tribes (ST) population account for higher sex ratio than the urban population in the state, the primary census data for 2011 released here Tuesday shows.

According to figures released by Census Director A.K. Wasnik, the total sex ratio for Goa is 973:1000, while rural Goa, accounting for 37 percent of the state's population, boasted a ratio of 1,003 females per 1,000 males. The urban areas accounted for only 956 women per 1,000 men.

The sex ratio amongst the state's SC population was 1015:1000, while the ST population recorded a female-to-male ratio of 1046:1000.

While Goa's female sex ratio of 973 is higher than the national average of 940, successive governments have been concerned that given the state's high literacy levels (88.70 percent) the numbers should be higher.

After promising to crack down on illegal sex determination facilities, both the Congress as well as the Bharatiya Janata Party-led governments in the state have been introducing schemes to encourage the birth of girl children.

As a result, every girl born in Goa gets a fixed deposit of Rs.25,000, which is formally handed over to her at the age of maturity.

The newly-launched Laadli Laxmi scheme grants Rs.100,000 to women at the time of their marriage. A budget of Rs.150 crore has been set aside to fund these schemes.

In a population of around 14.5 lakh in Goa, 7.39 lakh are male and 7.19 lakh are females. In the age group of below six, there are 74,460 boys as compared to 70,151 girls.