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The premier Act to prevent pre conceptual and pre natal sex determination and consequent female feticide is the Pre Conception and Pre Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act, 1994 (PC and PNDT Act).
It seeks to prohibit the techniques of pre conception and prenatal sex determination and to preempt the misuse of such technologies. It has provisions for use, regulation and monitoring of ultrasound machines to curb their misuse for detection of the sex of the fetus and provides punishment for violation of these provisions.
Unfortunately, the existing provisions and current implementation mechanisms have failed to make any significant impact on the rising trend of female feticide. In fact, the situation has worsened in past few decades with a fall in the female sex ratio of the 0-6 year age group from 976/1000 as reported in 1961 to 947/1000 in the 2011 census.
Effective implementation of the PC and PNDT Act
The Act therefore needs to be thoroughly reviewed to evaluate its existing administrative, enforcement and monitoring provisions and put in place such mechanisms that can tackle the problem of sex determination and feticide in a more effective manner. Some suggestions in this regard include:
- The composition of the Appropriate authorities (AA) must be changed to strengthen the role and responsibility of government officials of suitable rank, such as DM, to enlist the services of responsible NGOs, and to guard against undue influence of the medical profession in assessing and ruling on offences.
- It should be ensured that the persons notified as AA should desirably be neither doctors or from the medical profession; preferably they should be chosen from retired Bureaucracy, judiciary, prominent NGOs or Social activists.
- The inclusion of Women organizations, Women Development Centers and Study Centers, people’s representatives at all levels from Gram Panchayat, block levels etc. is also important in the list of Appropriate Authorities.
- The Appropriate Authorities should take the help of Government Departments such as Women and Child, Revenue, Municipal Authorities etc.
- The help of the police may also be taken by the Appropriate Authorities to raid,
- investigate etc. the suspect clinics.
- Provisions of the Act, official commitment to take action, and preventive and corrective action should be made widely known through channels that effectively reach the public.
Stringent penalties and punitive action
- Female feticide should be treated as a crime and not just a social evil and therefore the State must take primarily corrective, preventive and punitive action to address the crime.
- A system of telescoping of offences can be formulated with punishment becoming more stringent with the number of times offences are committed.
- As foeticide is murder of the unborn child, it should be examined whether it can be treated as a crime under IPC and brought under the jurisdiction of Sessions Court.
- A website could be developed to disseminate to wider audiences and flag the names of black-listed organizations/clinics/doctors.
- A system of incentives can be formulated (as in the case of drugs and narcotics seizures) for tip offs on clinics which are indulging in sex determination.
Monitoring and Surveillance
- The income of the Genetic Counseling Centers (GCCs) should be cross-checked with number of ultra Sonography (USGs) performed by them so that unreported USGs can be tracked.
- A Database on raids and convictions conducted should be built, which would include the names of the clinics, the earlier case records and current status. Census of static and mobile USG machines need to be collected as there are a large number of unregistered machines in operation.
- Correlation to be done between the need for USGs and number of Mobile machines that are operating in different areas so that a check can be made on the growing number of mobile machines.
- Every GCCs should prominently display IEC material which show the positive sides of having a girl child
- Compulsory registration of pregnancies and births will help in ensuring that unwarranted abortions do not take place.
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Participants