Faced with reported increase in the number of female foeticide, the Centre is in the process of bringing in suitable amendment to the Pre-conception and Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (PC&PNDT) Act, 1994, to render more teeth to the law and enforcement authorities.
A Committee under the Chairmanship of Secretary (H&FW) has been constituted to consider necessary amendments and revision to the Act to strengthen its implementation and related issues. The first meeting of the Committee was held on April 30, official sources said.
The Centre is also planning to conduct medical audit of all the ultrasound clinics in the country to catch the violators of the Act. The States have also been requested to constitute State Inspection and Monitoring Committee (SIMC). The Government of Gujarat has already constituted it and Delhi is in the process of constituting, it is learnt.
As per the statistics with the Health Ministry, a total number of ongoing court or police cases in the country relating to the Act were 412 till May this year. Most of the cases are related to non-registration of the centre and clinics while 58 cases are concerning the determination and disclosure of the sex of the foetus in the country. As many as 64 ultrasound machines seized/sealed so far.
National Support and Monitoring Cell (NSMC) has been continuously monitoring the action taken report on the court cases. National Inspection and Monitoring Committee (NIMC) constituting representatives from National Commission for Women, Department of Women and Child Development, NGOs and Central Supervisory Board Members at the Centre takes stock of the ground realities by field visits to the States. The report is sent to the chief secretary of the State for taking action on the same.
In 1994, the government enacted the Preconception and Prenatal Diagnostic Techniques Act (PC & PNDT), which prohibited those conducting such tests from telling or otherwise communicating to the woman or her family the sex of the fetus. The law was amended in 2003 to prohibit sex selection before or after conception.
According to a recent United Nations Population Fund's world population report, at least 60 million girls were "missing" in Asia, creating gender imbalances and other serious problems that experts say will have far reaching consequences for years to come. Analysing the National Family Health Survey 2 (NFHS2), the experts felt that about 300,000 girls went "missing" each year in the country.