Andhra Pradesh - Guntur   

ZP chief talks tough on pre natal tests

GUNTUR: Zilla Parishad Chairperson Kuchipudi Vijaya has called for stringent action against those hospitals that conduct pre natal diagnostic tests on foetus for determining sex. Addressing a district-level workshop held here on Monday, she said that awareness on the issue should be spread at the village level.

District Collector Mohammed Ali Rafath said that though there were many laws against the tests, awareness should be brought among people and efforts made to educate people at the mandal and village level about the various acts against the tests. Young people can act as agents of change and called for eradicating the scourge of dowry.

Mayor Kanna Naga Raju said the State Government had been providing financial assistance through many schemes to eradicate the menace and called for public display of boards at all the scanning centres.

Member of Legislative Council Rayapati Srinivas said that advances in technology should be rather used for alleviating the pain of the patients, than determining the sex of the foetus. Government General Hospital Head of Department of Gynaecology Vasanth Kumar said that the Central Government had banned pre-natal tests and those who violated the Act would be handed down a sentence of three months imprisonment besides payment of Rs.10,000 as penalty. In Guntur, the male-female sex ratio was 984 women per 1,000 men, the highest number of women against 1,000 men in the State.

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