Violators of PCPNDT Act will be booked: Gaur

Srikakulam: Cases can be booked against those who permit ultra sound scanning to determine the sex of the foetus, warned District Collector Saurabh Gaur. A district-level advisory committee meeting on the Pre-conception and Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques PCPNDT (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act, 1994, was held here on Tuesday, under the chairmanship of the Collector. On this occasion, the Collector said that cases can be booked against the husband or parents-in-law or any other person who encourages such tests. The cases may be nonbailable. Arrests can be made in such cases without warrant, he said. He expressed anxiety over the reduction in the ratio of girls in the district. Not only the PCPNDT Act, even the stipulations under Indian Penal Code (IPC) apply to such cases, he added. Every pregnant lady should have proper protection, he said. Medical tests have to be conducted and the ANM has to get them personally for the tests, he said. If abortion has taken place the medical officer concerned and the ANM have to present the reasons for the abortion and take a signature. If the ratio of girls comes down in the society, it will lead to unimaginable consequences, he said. Women can work in a planned manner in various fields, he said. In north eastern countries, women are good at business and trade, he informed. But in some states, the ratio of women has come down and such societies are facing social changes, he added. Stating that women are good at working, he said that in the district out of the 4.5 lakh wage earners under MGNREGS majority are women. Stating that he believed that the doctors and medical staff are not involved in determining of the sex of the foetus, he said that they should ensure that their subordinates too should stick to the rules and maintain ethics. When told that sex determining tests are usually done during the second pregnancy, he said that focus should be made on such cases. Even voluntary organisations should be involved in this campaign. Flexis should be put up near PHCs on the medical issues. Plans should be made at PHC level, he said. The Collector said that he was determined to speak on sex diagnostic tests at every meeting. This will be one of the subjects in Palleku Podam programme. It is necessary to create awareness from Anganwadi centres. District Medical and Health officer Dr Geetanjali said that as per the 2011 census, for every 1,000 men there were only 953 women. In Amudalavalasa, Palasa and Sompeta clusters, there were below 900, he said. Project director of District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) P Rajanikantha Rao, RIMS supervisor Dr R Aravind, Medical and Health officials Dr Menda Praveen, Dr B Jagganadha Rao, Dr Y Shyamala, Dr Rathnakumari, representatives of voluntary organisations, medical officials, ANMs and others spoke.