(a) whether the Government have asked the State Governments to implement the provisions of the Pre-Natal Diagnostic
Techniques 9Regulation and Prevention of Misused) Act, strictly;
(b) if so, the response of the State Governments in this regard ;
(c) whether various hospitals in the country are still doing sex determnation and sex selection tests ; and
(d) if so, the steps taken by the Government to check this practice?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE ( SHRI. A. RAJA )
(a) to (d): The implementation of the Pre-conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of
Sex Selection) Act rest with the States and Union Territories. They have been advised to implement the provisions
of the Act and Rules in letter and spirit including wide publicity thereof. The States/UTs are implementing
the same. As per the reports received from various States/UTs more than 20700 clinics have been registered, 397
complaints have been filed in the Court/Police against violators of the law and 198 ultrasound machines have been
seized/sealed. However, since the detection/disclosure of the sex of foetus of pregnant women as well selection
of sex before conception are secretly resorted to by parities in collusion with each other, it is very difficult
to unearth such cases. Funds have been released to States/UTs for implementation of the Act including use of decoys
for unearthing the cases of violations of the Act, So that the offenders can be booked. Consequently certain cases
relating to detection/disclosure of sex of foetus have been booked in Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and other
states/UTs.