Govt to launch crusade against female foeticide

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab government has decided to tackle the skewed sex ratio by ensuring proper implementation of a total ban on pre-diagnostic tests in the state.

The health department has issued a set of strict instructions to put all the ultrasound centres under 24x7 online surveillance and make police verification of doctors and other staff posted at such centres mandatory, health and family welfare minister Brahm Mohindra said in a statement on Monday.

The minister termed the sex ratio of 891 girls per 1,000 boys, as per civil registration system in January 2017 and the failure to improve it as per the set targets, a matter of serious concern. “The government considers the ever-decreasing sex ratio a blot on the face of the state,” he said.

Mohindra said the department had decided to start a consistent campaign to enforce the Pre-Conception (PC) and PreNatal Diagnostic Test (PNDT) Act with iron hand.