The Hindu : National : Social activist makes history

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Apr 02, 2006

National

National

Social activist makes history

Staff Reporter

Helps secure first conviction under Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act

NEW DELHI: Dr. Baljit Singh Dahiya, social activist and former Director-General of Health Services, Haryana has made history of sorts as his diligence has led to the country's first conviction under the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act. He told The Hindu on Saturday that he had finally put to use an Act that can be listed among "the most powerful and underused in the country.''

Speaking from his Gurgaon residence, he said he was thrilled when on last Tuesday a judge in Palwal sentenced a doctor and his assistant to a two-year prison term and imposed a fine of Rs. 5,000 under the PNDT Act.

It was also a grim reminder of the fact that there lay a challenging task ahead to ensure that "the unborn girl is given a fair chance at life in our country''.

Dr. Dahiya said the conviction was only the first step in the direction and maintained that the gender imbalance in the country was growing at an alarming rate.

Speaking about the cases he is working on now with his core team and the in-built flaws that fail to give the Act its teeth, he said:

"We had brought in enough evidence to ensure conviction in this case but we are working on 25 more cases currently. It is a long-drawn and complicated process. The fact of the matter remains that nobody wants to take prevention of sex-determination and aborting unborn female foetuses as top priority.

``Lack of commitment with respect to monitoring and implementing agencies, half-hearted implementation of the Act and lack of accountability are major loopholes that we need to work around.''

A self-confessed non-believer in round-table discussions and seminars, he said there were various reasons for taking up the violation seriously.

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