DCs told to act against fetus scanning centres

BELAGAVI: Taking cognizance of the falling sex birth ratio, the state government on Monday ordered a crackdown against diagnostic and scanning centres that reveal the sex of the fetus or use sex selection technologies. Health minister K R Ramesh Kumar told the legislative council deputy commissioners have been instructed to take action against scanning centres that indulge in gender revelation.
The directive comes in the backdrop of The Times of India report (‘Nobody is responsible for falling sex ratio in Karnataka’, Nov.20). The report pointed out that the sex ratio at birth had dropped from 917 in 2014-15 to 898 in 2016-17, and that not a single person had been convicted so far under the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act.
Raising the issue in the council, BJP member Ganesh Karnik sought to know what action was being taken by the government to check the drop in sex ratio. Kumar said the government was serious in its commitment to improve the ratio. “Around 10 such cases were reported from Kalaburagi region recently. We made it clear that scanning centres should not conduct tests without authorization from gynaecologists. But some do not follow ethical practices and resort to illegal acts,” Kumar added.