Docs indulge in female foeticide

TNN / May 20, 2006, 02:33 IST

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Subhashini Ali criticised UP govt for not registering a case against four doctors who were found guilty of violating of the PC PNDT Act in Agra.

LUCKNOW: All India Democratic Womens' Association (AIDWA) national president, Subhashini Ali on Friday criticised UP government for not registering a case against four doctors who were found guilty of violating of the Pre-Conception Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PC PNDT) Act in Agra in a sting operation carried out by a news channel.
She was addressing media persons on ''PC-PNDT Act violations and declining sex ratio in UP." The programme which was telecasted between April 5 - 7 showed how the doctors indulged in sex-determination and selection abortion.
Significantly, Agra's child sex ratio has been fairly alarming at 866. "It's unfortunate that girls, who love their parents most, are unwanted.
It's time that parents should understand that girls are not a liability if they are given an opportunity," she stated.

An activist from Healthwatch, UP-Bihar, Abhijit Das, said, "We have heard that there is an argument on taking the sting operation CDs as evidence.
But, as per Government of India Manual on PC-PNDT Act, evidence collected from hidden cameras or tape recorders can be used against medical practitioners violating PC-PNDT Act."...
...
But action against erring doctors does not appear in the offing, stated, member, State Appropriate Authority (SAA) on PNDT Act, Jashodhara Dasgupta.
"UP has done little to put a mechanism to save the girl child in place," she said. The act recommends setting up of SAA, State Supervisory Board (SSB) and State Advisory Committee (SAC) to jointly see that ultrasound and diagnostic centres are not indulging in sex determination and selective abortion and create awareness. "I am a member but when did the meetings of SAA took place I do not know," she stated.
According to data available at directorate of Family Welfare UP, between 2000-03, eighteen cases were filed under Act (17 unregistered clinics and one advertisement related) from across state.
Not a single has reached a logical conclusion. In a memorandum to the union health ministry, the members demanded, immediate intervention and assurance that cases are filed under the PC-PNDT Act.

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