Crackdown on abortions, 13 centres sealed in a week

The weekly meeting of the Special Task Force (STF) for Improving Sex Ratio in Haryana was held under the chairmanship of Additional Chief Secretary (ACS), Health and Family Welfare, Sudhir Rajpal here today. The meeting focused on intensifying efforts to curb illegal abortions and improve the sex ratio under the Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao campaign.

The ACS emphasised a zero-tolerance approach toward illegal abortion practices and directed officials to enhance monitoring and supervision at all levels.

The meeting was informed that in the past week (May 6 to 12), 19 raids had been conducted across the state over the illegal sale of MTP kits and 17 FIRs were registered. In addition, 13 centres had been sealed for illegal practices and 145 MTP kits were seized.

The departments were directed to follow up vigorously on all registered cases and coordinate with the police to track and trace those involved in the illegal practice.

The officials were directed to ensure that no MTP kit was sold without Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) identification number. To ensure better accuracy in birth registration figures, the officials were told to visit slum areas every week and organise birth registration camps to ensure that no newborn was left unregistered.

The meeting was informed that the number of abortions at 12 weeks or more dropped from 425 to 226 within a week, marking a major step forward in the fight against foeticide.

The meeting was also informed that the Women and Child Development Department had started running mobile vans to spread awareness.