Haryana’s efforts to save its daughters bear fruit : The Tribune India

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Haryana’s efforts to save its daughters bear fruit

Kamlesh (name changed), an accredited social health activist (ASHA) posted in Ambala, was returning home from work on September 10 when someone tipped her off about a local woman tout, who was helping pregnant women from Ambala get sex determination tests done in Punjab for a fee.

Haryana’s efforts to save its daughters bear fruit


Sushil Manav in Chandigarh

Kamlesh (name changed), an accredited social health activist (ASHA) posted in Ambala, was returning home from work on September 10 when someone tipped her off about a local woman tout, who was helping pregnant women from Ambala get sex determination tests done in Punjab for a fee.

In the past, too, Kamlesh has helped the authorities nab a few culprits red-handed who used to perform sex determination tests. On the pretext of getting such a test done on a relative, Kamlesh contacted the tout and struck a deal for Rs 25,000. Kamlesh then immediately informed the health department. A team under Deputy Commissioner Sharandeep Kaur planned to raid this Punjab hospital the next day.

Kamlesh asked a pregnant woman of her acquaintance to act as a decoy and accompany the raiding team.

Next morning, Kamlesh and the decoy, along with another woman who could bear witness, met the tout at Kalka Chowk, Ambala. From there they drove towards the Ludhiana-Jalandhar highway.

A team of health officials and a police party followed their car with the help of live location shared by the witness. Their destination was a scanning centre in Jalandhar city, where the sex determination tests were done.  

Though this particular raid did not go the way the health authorities in Ambala had planned, allegedly due to non-cooperation by health department officials in Jalandhar, an FIR was lodged in Ambala and action against the erring doctor initiated.

Ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao campaign in 2015 in Panipat, Haryana, has launched a massive crackdown on sex determination centres in the state to save its girls.

 A Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao cell in the Chief Minister’s Office, led by his Additional Principal Secretary Dr Rakesh Gupta, has conducted more than 600 raids,  till date. Of these, 150 have been in the neighbouring states. The inter-state raids are conducted to prevent touts from helping women in the state from accessing sex detection facilities in bordering states. 

“To ensure stringent implementation of the Pre-Conception and the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PC&PNDT) Act and the Medical Terminal of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, 638 FIRs have been lodged since May 2015,” says Dr Gupta.

Raids involving decoy patients are conducted regularly to catch the culprits red-handed. More than 2,000 culprits, including doctors, quacks, touts, patients and their relatives have been arrested. Many have been denied bail, adds Dr Gupta.

Besides the raids, Haryana has also framed Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and guidelines for  investigation of cases under the PC & PNDT Act as well as the MTP Act. These have been circulated to all District Magistrates, SPs and district attorneys to ensure effective, speedy and fair investigation. 

Training-cum-sensitisation workshops have been convened for around 1,000 police officers and public prosecutors regarding various legal issues involved and are continuing. 

An exclusive social media group, moderated by Dr Gupta, has been created for exchange of information and success stories in different districts of Haryana. 

This forum has enabled healthy competition among different districts in the state, says an official of the department.

The use of any kind of drugs for the purpose of sex selection is prohibited under the PC & the PNDT Act. Studies in Haryana by Indian Institute of Public Health have shown significant association between intake of sex selection drugs (SSDs) and congenital malformation/ stillbirths. 

More than 60 cases of sale and use of SSDs in the state have been identified, raids conducted and culprits booked under the provisions of PC-PNDT Act and IPC. Haryana is, perhaps, the first state in the country to have successful conviction in the case of online sale of gender selection kits. 

Concerted efforts by the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao team have started showing results. 

The sex ratio at birth (SRB), which was 834 girls against 1000 boys in the 2011 census, touched the 900 mark for the first time in December 2015. In 2017, this sex ratio at birth was 914 against 871 of 2014 (an increase of 43 points).

Seventeen out of 21 districts have sex ratio at birth of 900+ and none is below 890, barring Narnaul, which is at 881. 

“These gains have emboldened the political leadership and all deputy commissioners to aim for 950+ SRB in near future which is considered ideal by international public health experts. Improved SRB from 2016 to 2020 will automatically result in higher Child Sex Ratio (sex ratio of children under five) in census 2021. Taking sex ratio at birth of 871 in 2014 as baseline, the state could save as many as 11,600 girls during 2015, 2016 and 2017 after launch of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign in the State,” adds Dr Gupta.

However, despite Haryana’s colossal efforts, it cannot be said that sex determination tests are no more being held in the state.

Though these concerted efforts have proved to be a deterrent for qualified radiologists and doctors, the unholy nexus in the state is still in operation through quacks, untrained health workers, laboratory or x-ray technicians or operation theatre assistants. 

The use of portable, affordable, ultrasound machines by these quacks or untrained paramedics for sex detection purposes has been found rampant during raids in various parts of the state as well as in the interstate raids. 

The police has also arrested some unqualified personnel who have been conning pregnant women and their families even without using ultrasound machines just by using jelly, scanned images, TV screens and rubbing objects like mobile phones calling these ultrasound probes.  

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