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| Health minister Dinesh Sarangi addesses the seminar. Picture by Prashant Mitra |
Ranchi, June 18: Female foeticide is on the rise in the country and Jharkhand is no exception.
Barring Koderma, where there are 101 women for every 100 men, all the other districts in the state have a low male-female ratio, said Neelam Singh, a gynaecologist, at a seminar here today. The seminar was organised by Nav Bharat Jagriti Kendra in association with Plan India.
Singh, who works with an NGO in Lucknow, said earlier female foeticide was confined to only urban areas but now such incidents are reported from rural areas. According to Singh, the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PNDT) Act, 1994, was being misused. “The Act is aimed at regulating sex determination tests. But there have been instances where the Act has been misused. We need to generate awareness among the people about female foeticide,” said Singh.
Singh said there were loopholes in the previous Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act as according to the Act, abortion till 20 weeks was legal whereas sex of the foetus can be determined in 12 weeks.
Health minister Dinesh Sarangi said though cases of female foeticide were fewer in number in Jharkhand than in other states, the government would crackdown on clinics which conduct sex determination tests.