One-third sonography centres violate law

Bhopal, Feb 6 (UNI) Nearly one-third of the sonography centres in Madhya Pradesh inspected in the past three months were found to be violating the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act, a senior official said.

As many as 1139 sonography centres, including 81 in government sector, have been registered in the state. Of 197 institutions inspected, action has been initiated against 62 institutions for violating the Act, Health Director Dr Yogiraj Sharma said.

At a meeting of the state supervisory board formed under the PNDT Act, Health Minister Ajay Vishnoi directed that cases against sonography centres engaged in sex determination should be directly filed in the court so that erring institutions could be punished at the earliest.

Stating that it was mandatory for institutions registered under PNDT Act to submit records with the Chief Medical and Health Officer every month, Mr Vishnoi said strict action should be taken against those not complying with the rules.

He, however, said reduction in sex determination cases had been registered in the urban areas due to wide publicity given for the PNDT Act, but rural areas particularly in Bhind, Morena, Gwalior and Shivpuri districts still lagged behind.

UNI