Prime minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday said it was a "national shame" that the practice of female foeticide was continuing in the country despite women breaking existing barriers to prove their worth in every sphere.

"The provisional population totals for Census 2011 have been released recently. While most of the news appears to be good, the falling child sex ratio is an indictment of our social values," he said inaugurating the Civil Services Day in New Delhi.

Improving this ratio was not merely a question of stricter compliance with the existing laws and "What is more important is how we view and value the girl child in our society," he said.

"Our girls and women have done us proud in classrooms, in boardrooms and on the sports field. They have broken existing barriers to prove their worth in almost every sphere", the prime minister said.

"It is a national shame for us that despite this, female foeticide and infanticide continues in many parts of our country", he said, adding the social bias against women has to be fought with all the physical and moral resources.

Seeking a national campaign to counter this bias, Singh told the civil servants to play a big role in launching a crusade against it.