A major racket of conducting pre-natal sex determination tests is still thriving in many districts of Karnataka despite the Supreme Court order calling for registration of clinics. Although the practise of sex determination and female foeticide is under control in urban areas like Bangalore, Mangalore and Mysore, the situation is still not under control in the backward and rural districts of Karnataka, it is learnt.

There are many districts like Kolar, Raichur, Gulbarga, Chitradurga, Bellary Hubli Dharwad etc where the pre natal diagnostic techniques (PNDT) are misused. The main reason is that the doctors there are ready to provide their services in rural areas such as Alnavur, Haliyal and Dandeli who continue to abuse the pre natal diagnostic techniques for commercial benefits.

There are cases like where one of the general physicians at Alvanur even offered to carry out amniocentesis, which is a procedure of drawing amniotic fluid to determine the sex of the foetus though this procedure required advancement equipment and expertise.

According to Pankaj Kalmath, president, Karnataka Integrated Development Services (KIDS), Dharwad, a voluntary organisation working with underprivileged women in the district, which formed self-help groups (SHGs) to empower women economically. Some of the poor families with pregnant women at Horatti and Mugli villages have applied for loans up to Rs. 2,000 from one of the SHGs on health reasons. "Later we found they needed money for sex determination and abortion of the female foeticide."

Dr. Sanjiv Kulkarni, gynaecologist, Dharwad Medical College Hospital who had done extensive research on the use of ultrasonography for sex determination in Mumbai in the 1980s said it was difficult to nab the culprits because most the medical practitioners who were misusing ultrasonography were doing it on the pretext of carrying out normal scanning to check abnormalities in the foetus.

After the Supreme Court's directive last year, district level supervisory committees were formed in Karantaka to prevent the misuse of pre-natal diagnostic techniques. But these committees did not seem to have done much to check female foeticide.

Dr. B Appannavar, District Health and Family Welfare Officer in Dharwad, an appropriate authority for regulation under the PNDT Act, said that the institutions in Dharwad district had ultrasonography equipment and were registered with the District Health and Family Welfare Office (DHO). In all 61 institutions and 68-ultrasound sonography machines were registered under the Act. "Before granting licence to the institutions having ultrasound machines, an inspection is done to find out if they comply with the provisions of the PNDT Act. We did not feel the need to take action against the institutions having ultrasound machines or sonologists as they have registered voluntarily. No complaint was received against any doctor," he informed.

He admitted that he was aware of the rampant misuse of ultrasonography for sex determination tests, and it was difficult to check the incidence of female foeticide. "We will send teams to inspect institutions having ultrasound sonography machines shortly to prevent further misuse," he said. An health official also pointed out that since there was a great demand for sex determination tests, the doctors were providing the service for a price.

With doctors violating the PNDT Act and officials turning a blind eye, there might soon come a day when there will be very few girl children in Dharwad district.

The abuse of the PNDT Act is also high in several nursing homes and small medical units in many of the interior areas of Karnataka. Despite surprise inspections the district level supervisory committees have not be able to seize the equipment from doctors who are practising sex determination tests, informed sources from the State government.

When Pharmabiz.com spoke to health officials in the Directorate of health and Family Welfare, in Bangalore they were surprised to learn of the misuse of PNDT. A senior official from the government who wished to anonymous admitted that it was difficult to take action against the law breakers as many of the centres conducting the PNDT tests where mostly residences of private medical practitioners who have invested in the machines but failed to register as this was one of the fastest means to make the fast buck.