Govt to move courts against doctors violating PNDT Act

New Delhi, Jun 14 (UNI) The centre today lamented the low level of implementation of the existing laws for the incidents of female foeticide and said more teeth would be provided to the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act to check the declining sex ratio in the country.

Briefing newspersons after the 14th meeting of the Central Supervisory Board, Union Health Minister Anbumnni Ramadoss and Women and Child Development Minister Renuka Chowdhary said future of the country was at stake due to the female foeticide and stressed the need for effectively implementing the act. Stating that the act itself was good, they said implementation was negligible which must be corrected.

Dr Ramadoss said the centre would move the courts against the doctors and clinics which are violating the provisions of the PNDT Act.

He has already written to the Chief Ministers of the concerned states where the sting operation carried by various TV channels exposed the doctors/clinics violating the Act to take action against them, he said and added only Rajasthan government has responded to it while other states were still silent.

''We will wait for some more time and still if the state governments failed to take the action, then we will move the courts ourselves,'' he said and added that though there was no time frame for it, the government would soon act. Regretting very low level of conviction under the law for female foeticide and delays in prosecution, the minister said that it needed to be changed.

Asserting the government does not want to paint all doctors or ultrasound clinics as killers of unborn girls, he said there were only few black sheep among the life savers so they need to be identified and tackled strongly. Altogether 387 cases have been registered under the Act in the country and maximum were in Punjab, Maharashtra and Haryana.

The Health Minister also announced to give Rs five lakh each to the MPs of six states/UTs--Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Delhi and Chandigarh--from where maximum cases of violations have been reported, for creating awareness about the ill effects of sex selective abortions.

Ms Chowdhary, who is the co-chair of the CSB, said five lakh girl children are killed every year of which a substantial number is through sex-selective abortions. This is not only creating an adverse sex ratio but also cause problems like cross border trafficking and put gene pool in crisis. She called for creating more awareness about the social menace and cancellation/suspension of licenses of doctors indulging in illegal practices and banning mobile ultrasound clinics.

Stating that female foeticide was not only a health issue but a social problem, Dr Ramadoss sought support from all the sections of the society, NGOs, MPs and religious leaders on the issue. He said he would soon address a meeting of the religious leaders in Delhi and Punjab seeking their support in checking the sex selective abortions. Pointing out that the problem was more prevalent among the educated sections of the society, he said that the government would focus on 'educating the educated' on this issue.

He said that the Central Supervisory Board on PNDT Act would be further strengthened and the National Monitoring Cell would be augumented to strengthen the monitoring mechanism. He said that at the district level a doctor would be appointed as the chairman of the Committee to ensure proper implementation of the law.

The Health Minister said the meeting recommended giving more teeth to CSB by having members of NGOs on board to bring openness, transparency and giving more strength to it. It would also help facilitate reporting of violations of the act.

UNI AJ PR RS1747