The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Vijayawada News : Is pre-natal sex determination test going undetected?

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jun 23, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Vijayawada

Is pre-natal sex determination test going undetected?

P. Sujatha Varma

The PNDT Act was promulgated to discourage female foeticide

VIJAYAWADA: Gender equality reigns supreme in Krishna district. Or, so it seems. If the records available with the District Medical and Health Office, A Ramprasad, are to be believed, not a single complaint has been lodged against any scan centre across the district for misuse of the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Technique (PNDT) in the last nine years.

The PNDT Act was promulgated in 1994 and came into effect two years later with an objective of discouraging female foeticide.

People across the district have either grown extremely sensitive to the slogan of gender equality or have become smart enough to violate laws and get away with it.

What else can explain the reason behind the "failure'' of the authorities concerned to detect even a single case of sex determination in the last several years in a row?

The district has a total number of 140 scan centres of which, nearly 105 are in Vijayawada city. "We have been giving warnings at regular intervals against misuse of the Act, but have not received any complaint so far from any side," says Dr. Ramprasad.

The PNDT Act is aimed at preventing disclosure of the sex of the foetus, since it has been found to be encouraging female foeticide.

If a scanning centre is found to be conducting sex determination test without any valid medical reason, for the first time, the persons responsible are liable to three years of rigorous imprisonment with a fine of Rs 10,000.

And, if a centre is found committing the offence for the second time, the persons concerned could be sentenced to a 5-year rigorous imprisonment along with a fine of Rs. 50,000.

Registration must

It is mandatory for all scan centres to get themselves registered with the DMHO's office and the PNDT technique can be utilized only under certain medical conditions like chromosomal abnormalities, sex-linked diseases or haemoglobinopathy and congenital anomaly.

The PNDT can also be made use of for pregnant women above the age of 35 since they are prone to the ailments mentioned above.

"Besides conducting awareness programmes, we also ensure surprise check-ups at the scan centres to keep a check on this obnoxious practice.

All scan centres have been asked to display boards declaring that PNDT cases would not be entertained by them, barring under exceptional circumstances.

Those who refuse to toe the line, would have to face action," says Dr. Ramprasad.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Andhra Pradesh

News Update

Stories in this Section

Telugu Desam Party continues protest against fuel price hike

Is pre-natal sex determination test going undetected?

Civic polls: list of BC voters out

Release Krishna water or face stir: MLA

Pastors seek house sites

Meeting on development of region at Bhimavaram

Novel protest

Around The City