(a) whether the Government is concerned with the reported decline in sex ratio in various States of the country;
(b) if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;
(c) whether the Government has issued directions to State Governments to ensure strict compliance of sex determination laws;
(d) if so, the details thereof; and
(e) if not, the steps taken by the Government in this regard and the outcome thereof?
THE MINISTER OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (DR. ANBUMANI RAMADOSS)
(a): Yes Sir, the Government is very much concerned with the reported decline in child sex ratio in various states especially Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Gujarat, Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh. The National figures of 927 females per 1000 males in the Census 1991 has moved to 933 in 2001. In contrast, the child sex ratio for the age group of 0-6 years in 2001 is 927 girls per thousand boys against 945recorded in 1991 census.
(b): Some of the reasons put forward for low levels of females sex ratio are son preference, dowry, neglect of the girl child resulting in higher mortality at younger age, female infanticide, female foeticide, male bias in enumeration of population etc. The main problem is that in most of the cases, both the service providers and the service seekers operate in agreement to defeat the provisions of the Pre-Conception & Pre- Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act, 1994 (PC& PNDT Act).
(c) to (e) : Government has been issuing directions from time to time to the States and Union Territories to strictly implement PC & PNDT Act and the Supreme Court Directions in this regard. The State/ UTs have been requested to set up State Inspection and Monitoring Committee (NIMC).
National Inspection & Monitoring Committee, which includes representatives from National Commission for Women, Department of Women and Child Development and NGOs, regularly takes stock of the ground realities by undertaking inspection and monitoring of the clinics in all the States.
A National Support and monitoring Cell has been set up for strengthening the implementation of PC& PNDT Act. The state of Rajasthan has also set up State level Support and Monitoring Cell.
Various activities have also been undertaken to create awareness against the practices of pre-natal determination of sex and female foeticide through Radio, Television and print media units. Workshops and seminars has been organized through Voluntary Organisations at state/region/district/block levels to create awareness against this social evil. Cooperation has been sought from religious leaders, as well as medical fraternity to curb this practice. Funds were provided for organizing Padyatras By Swami Agnivesh. Indian Radiological and Imaging Association (IRIA) have been provided financial support to organize workshops for creating awareness among the radiologists on this issue in the country. Training of judiciary has been done for better implementation of the Act.