Sex determination test must to check female foeticide: Maneka

Jaipur, February 2

Union Minister Maneka Gandhi has suggested that sex determination test should be made compulsory to track women pregnant with a girl child as a measure to check female foeticide.

"In my personal view, the woman should be compulsorily told that whether it is a boy or girl child whom she is going to give birth. It should be registered to be able to check whether they have given the births or not," the minister for Women and Child Development said.

"I am just putting out this idea. It is being discussed though there is no conclusion yet," she said at the All India Regional Editors Conference here.

It is a different way to look at this problem (female foeticide), which could be solved with this idea, she said.

"We cannot keep catching people doing (illegal) ultrasound," she said, adding that arrest of such people was not a permanent solution.

Congress not in tune with Maneka's suggestion to control female foeticide 

Meanwhile, the Congress on Tuesday said Women and Child Development (WCD) Minister Maneka Gandhi's suggestion of sex determination tests to be made compulsory to check the rising cases of female foeticide could prove to be counter-productive.

“In this country today, women are unsafe, girl child is unsafe and if by sex determination the information is registered whether the female foeticide can be stopped, this is her idea or imagination. Whether it will be counter-productive, whether it will have positive effect is something to be seen,” said Congress leader PC Chacko.

He asserted that sex determination and making it known to the mother and to the family members may lead to even bigger problems.

“I don't know whether the minister has made the statement in a confidence. I am not very sure whether it's a well thought-out formula.  This can be counter-productive as well,” he said. —PTI