Haryana Constitutes STF, Cancels Registration of 300 MTP Centres

Chandigarh: The Additional Chief Secretary of Haryana Health Department has constituted a Special Task Force (STF) to strictly implement the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act in the state. As a result, registrations of 300 erring Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) centres have been revoked in a bid to improve the state's sex ratio at birth.

The Haryana health department has issued show-cause notices to senior medical officer in-charges of 12 community health centres from areas that reported low sex ratio, officials said.

The move is part of the government's efforts to crack down on female foeticide in the state.

According to Director of National Health Mission in Haryana Virender Yadav, who is also convenor of the State Task Force (STF) set up to take action against people involved in female foeticide, "We have been strictly implementing the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act in the state. As a result, registrations of 300 erring Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) centres have been cancelled or voluntarily withdrawn", news agency PTI reported.

Other members of the STF include mission director, National Health Mission; director generals of health services, women and child development, AYUSH and PCPNDT; health and police departments, and the state drug controller.

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The STF conducts reviews and makes field visits every Tuesday, according to an official statement.

Yadav said the STF has issued notices to 23 MTP centres this week, and registered FIRs against 17 online MTP kit sellers in the last two months.

He said the PNDT nodal officer in Hisar district has been suspended and show-cause notices have been issued to senior medical officer in-charges of 12 community health centres at Nahar in Rewari district, Tosham in Bhiwani district, Danoda in Jind, Kunjpura in Karnal, Tauru in Nuh, Tigaonin in Faridabad, Bhattu Kalan in Fatehabad, Ateli in Mahendergarh, Ukalana in Hisar, Badopal in Fatehabad, Nissing in Karnal and Ladwa in Kurukshetra over low sex ratio.

The SMOs will be charge-sheeted if their replies are found unsatisfactory, Yadav said.

Further, the PNDT nodal officers of five districts with the lowest sex ratio in the state -- Charkhi Dadri, Rewari, Rohtak, Gurugram and Faridabad -- have been changed with immediate effect.

Yadav added that the civil surgeon in Hisar is preparing to lodge criminal case against a tout involved in illegal abortion.

Notably, the crackdown comes as Haryana recorded a dip in sex ratio at birth. In 2024, the ratio was 910 female births per 1,000 male births, against 916 female births in 2023.

Virender Yadav said, "Additional health chief secretary has directed that all MTP centres doing medical termination of pregnancy of women with two girl children should be inspected and monitored regularly, and closed if they are found indulging in female foeticide."

The additional health chief secretary has further directed that decision on the show-cause notices issued to MTP centres should be taken immediately and licenses of gynaecologists involved in female foeticide should be cancelled, Yadav said, reports PTI.

He has also directed that all non-registered IVF (in-vitro fertilisation) centres should be closed, and the IVF centres with skewed sex ratio should be checked thoroughly and shut down if malpractice was found, Yadav added.

"Data collection to record male and female child births of all wards in urban areas will be allocated to ASHAs (accredited social health activists) and ANMs (auxiliary nurse midwives) of the concerned Urban Primary Health Centres or Urban Ayushman Arogya Mandir. This will facilitate improvement in sex ratio," he said.

Various government departments, such as the women and child and Panchayati Raj, are spreading the message to save and educate daughters.

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