TNI Bureau: In a new development to curb pre-natal gender test, Odisha Government has decided to use pregnant women for sting operations in clinics and nursing homes.
State health secretary PK Mohapatra said, “The decoys will pose as 14-22 weeks pregnant women seeking sex determination tests. They will also be encouraged in paying Rs. 5,000 by the government.” He also added, “Sex determination tests and sex selective eliminations are mostly prevailed in central and coastal districts of the state.”
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Last year, a court in Jharsuguda district held three doctors guilty of conducting sex determination tests. This has been the only conviction for the crime so far in the state. The sex ratio in Odisha has declined from 953 females per 1,000 males in 2001 to 934 in 2011.
According to 2011 census, Nayagarh district has the lowest sex ratio of 851 followed by Dhenkanal at 870, Angul 884, Ganjam 899 and Khurda 910. The sex ratio in around five districts has declined by 40 to 50 points. Even tribal districts like Sundargarh, Kalahandi, Rayagada and Koraput have registered an alarming decline in child sex ratio ranging from 37 points in Sundargarh to 23 points in Koraput district from 2001 to 2011.
Waking up to this alarming situation, Government has to implement the Pre-conception and Prenatal Diagnostic Techniques (PC and PNDT) Act 1994 on a serious note.