13 docs among 131 held under PC-PNDT Act in Ambala

Tribune News Service

Ambala, January 6

As many as 131 persons, including 13 doctors, were arrested under the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PC-PNDT) Act in Ambala in 2019, officials said here on Monday.

Under the district-wide crackdown against illegal sex determination and female foeticide, the district administration had conducted 38 raids, following which the licences of 31 USG centres were cancelled and 21 USG machines were sealed from January to November last year.

Sharing details, Ambala district nodal officer for the implementation of PC-PNDT Act, Dr Balwinder Kaur told The Tribune that five persons had been convicted for two years each under the PC-PNDT Act in the district so far. The registration of one of the convicted radiologists was suspended for five years.

Besides filing 14 fresh cases before the competent courts of law, two old cases were revised with fresh charges in the district.

After the cancellation of 31 USG centres, 76 registered centres were functional in the district, of which 74 were in private sector. Of total 38 raids conducted in the district, 21 were conducted by the inter-state teams, while the rest were carried out at the district level with the help of decoy pregnant women.

Under the drive to implement MTP Act, a total of 18 raids were conducted in the district from January to November 2019. Five persons, including two midwives, were convicted for two years for carrying out illegal medical termination of pregnancy.

Besides, the registration of a MD (gynecology and obstetrician) doctor was cancelled and 2,200 MTP kits were seized by the FDA and CIA staff under their separate raids in the district.