A board displays notice to enforce ban on sex determination test at a nursing home in Bhubaneswar. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, June 18: The declining sex ratio in the state has prompted the Orissa government to strictly enforce laws banning pre-natal sex determination tests.

According to figures available with the state health department, the male-female ratio has declined in the state by 101 points over the last 50 years against the national figure of 55 points. While the sex ratio was 1,035 in Orissa 50 years ago, it has now come down to 934.

According to the 2001 census, the male-female ratio has declined by 19 point in Orissa against 13 at the national level.

Though the sex ratio has improved during 2001-11, the number of female children in comparison to boys has come down, sources said.

Dhenkanal district has recorded the highest decline rate of 55 per cent, while three other districts — Boudh, Jagatsinghpur and Nuapada — registered a decline of nine, three and two points, respectively.

“We have decided to strictly enforce relevant laws to prevent the decline in female childbirths,” said health minister Prasanna Acharya.

The state government would also recommend to the Union health ministry to make laws more stringent, said the minister. “Awareness-generation campaigns on the girl child will be taken up more vigorously,” he added.

The decision to strictly enforce laws banning pre-natal sex determination tests was taken at the meeting of the state-level supervisory board, chaired by the health minister yesterday.

The state government had set up this supervisory board and a task force at the state and district levels in the wake of the finding of dead female foetuses dumped near hospitals and clinics in Nayagarh and some other districts a few years ago.

Following these discoveries, the health department had enforced the laws banning pre-natal sex determination tests. Most of the total 545 registered ultrasound clinics were raided across the state. A regular inspection of ultrasound clinics is being taken up every year. During 2010-11, the district-level task forces had inspected as many as 423 ultrasound clinics, while another 34 such clinics had been checked by the state-level task force.

Two clinics found to be indulging in pre-natal sex determination tests were sealed while 92 others had been issued show-cause notices and 32 were issued warnings.

A total of 70 ultrasound machines found to be used for sex determination tests were seized, sources added.