Haryana: Strict measures to check sex determination tests

Chandigarh  :   The Haryana Government decided to take more stringent measures to curb the menace of sex determination after a discussion with officials of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.

"Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has appreciated the efforts of all Deputy Commissioners, Superintendents of Police and health department officials for the strict implementation of the PCPNDT Act and the MTP Act, which has resulted in improvement of sex ratio," Additional Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister Rakesh Gupta said after the meeting with the officials through video-conferencing in Kaithal district.

He discussed plans with the officials to better the implementation of the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act and the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act under the 'Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao' campaign.

"During the Haryana Swarna Jayanti Utsav function in Gurugram on November 1, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had appreciated Haryana for the good work done under Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao campaign," he said.

In compliance with the orders of the Supreme Court, work is in progress of collecting village and municipal area-wise data of sex ratio in Jind and Panipat districts under a pilot project which would be made online soon, Gupta said.

He directed the officials to upload data by the 15th of every month.

"The ideal sex ratio should be 950 females per 1,000 males. Therefore officials of each district should make efforts to achieve this target," Gupta said.

The state government has been running a special campaign since May 2015 for strict implementation of the Acts, he said.

It was informed that recently the Delhi Government had assured the Haryana chief minister of its full support in improving sex ratio and eliminating female foeticide.