There has been a rise in number of cases registered under the PC & PNDT Act, in the country, Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said at the recently held Consultative Committee of MoHFW meeting in New Delhi. He said that 436 cases have been registered against violation of the PC & PNDT Act in last two years as against 789 cases between 1996 and 2010.
“To strengthen the hands of Appropriate Authorities, Government of India has notified important amendments in Rules under the Act including action against unregistered ultrasound clinics, regulation of portable equipment and enhancement of registration fees of diagnostic facilities. Inspections by the National Inspection and Monitoring Committee (NIMC) have been stepped up in the States of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Odisha, Punjab and Bihar,” he informed.
Similarly, State Inspection and Monitoring Committees have scaled up action in States. A total of 69 machines were sealed in the past one year and 19 cases have already been filed in court. Capacity building trainings of Judicial Officers and Public Prosecutors have been conducted in judicial academies of Chandigarh, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan. The Ministry is supporting civil society partners through Grants-in-Aid for enhanced community mobilisation on the issue.
Under NRHM, financial support is being provided for building dedicated PNDT cells, both at the State and the District levels to strengthen capacities to effectively implement the law. Support is also being provided for intensifying IEC activities.
The meeting was held to discuss the PC & PNDT Act and was attended by Minister of State for Health & Family Welfare S Gandhiselvan, Shailendra Kumar, Datta R Meghe, Dr Girija Vyas, Dr RC Dome, Davidson J Helen, Dr Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Muhammed Hamdullah AB Sayeed, Dr M Jaggannath, Inder Singh Namdhari, Zafar Ali Naqvi, Motilal Vora, KVP Ramachandra Rao and Baishnab Parida.
In his concluding remarks Azad said that the Parliamentary Consultative Committee is engaging with the topic of the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Tests Act of 1994 at a crucial time, when the urgent need to tackle the social evils of sex selection and sex selective abortions is acutely felt and recognised by our society. He hoped that members will take note of the serious socio-cultural and economic implications of the declining child sex ratio and help pave the way for mass involvement in ridding the country of this social evil.
EH News Bureau
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