Strict implementation of PNDT Act in Haryana

Chandigarh, Sep 28 (UNI) With the strict implementation of Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PNDT) Act in Haryana, registration of 165 ultrasound centres have been either suspended or cancelled in the state and er cases have been filed in various courts against violators of PNDT Act, Haryana Health Minister Kartar Devi said today.

She said as many as 98 ultrasound machines had been seized and sealed by respective District Appropriate Authorities for being unregistered or unserviceable or for violations of the provisions of PNDT Act.

Ms Kartar Devi said that as a result of effective steps taken to check the declining sex ratio, which included implementation of various schemes, the child sex ratio (between 0-6 years of age) increased from 819 females as per census 2001 to 857 in December 2006 according to civil registration system.

It further increased to 862 in July 2007, she added.

She said 950 ultrasound clinics or genetic clinics and 66 genetic counseling centres had so far been registered under the PNDT Act.

Also, 47 ultrasound machines had been registered in government sector.

She said awareness was being created about the provisions of the PNDT Act by organising meetings, seminars, workshops, debates and rallies and also through media so as to check pre-natal sex determination and female foeticide.

While in one case under the PNDT Act, the court had ordered imprisonment for a period of two years and a fine of Rs 5000 to a doctor and a technician in Faridabad district, in two other cases the charges had been framed against the accused, she added.

UNI