Union health ministry’s Central Supervisory Board (CSB) which regulates the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) violation in the country is likely to soon meet Indian Radiological and Imaging Association (IRIA), the Federation of Obstetric and Gynecological Societies of India (FOGSI) and Indian Medical Association (IMA) on issues related to record keeping and sealing of sonography machines.
Union health ministry has approved in principle to amend PCPNDT Rules to keep record-keeping out of the ambit of criminal provisions of the Act following recent representations made by the radiologists, said a senior official associated with the development.
Though the ministry is scheduled to make changes in the rules soon, a committee under the Union health ministry had also been constituted to recommend separate provisions for record- keeping and actual sex selection under the Act.
Accordingly, the committee is likely to lay down guidelines for a 3-tier categorization of offences based on the severity or seriousness of the violation to make it more practical for serving the desired purpose for which it was framed.
Government's delay to modify PCPNDT Act has led to harassment of radiologists by the authorities for minor administrative lapses and not actual sex selection in violation of the Act.
Radiologists have been advocating that the violation of the said Act amounts to equal punishment for sex determination and clerical errors.
Indian Radiological and Imaging Association had in the past also held meetings with the Union health minister J P Nadda and proposed to change the PCPNDT Rules with reference to record keeping to prevent harsh penalties for clerical errors.
Maharashtra State Branch Indian Radiological and Imaging Association (MSBIRIA) had four months ago suspended its services citing wrong implementation of PCPNDT Act by the authorities leading to closure of sonography clinics and prosecution of radiologists as they say that the rules are often misinterpreted.
The union health ministry will also soon come out with a set of new draft Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) as a part of PCPNDT Rules as a step towards making it more compliant and less stringent in the wake of nation-wide protests from radiologists a couple of months back.
The new draft SOPs is likely to be shared with the concerned stakeholders soon to make it more practical and acceptable to the radiologists, according to an official associated with the development.