Decoy Detectives
State clampdown on illegal pre-natal tests may improve the child sex ratio
Rajasthan, where the child sex ratio plunged from 954 in 1981 to just 888 in 2011, may be witnessing a happy turnaround, thanks to the collective efforts of the state’s health authorities and police supported by the courts.
The first to establish an exclusive police station to implement the PreConception and PreNatal Diagnostic Technique (PCPNDT) Act in 2012, the state now has a fullfledged investigation bureau consisting of a team of police officers and prosecutors working alongside a network of volunteers and activists. The entire operation hinges on successfully motivating pregnant women to act as decoys to trap unscrupulous medical practitioners suspected of being engaged in conducting sex determination tests and female foeticide.
Monitored closely by Naveen Jain, an IAS officer who is chairman of the PCPNDT Bureau of Investigations, the decoy campaign employs digital devices to document conversations, images and medical reports as evidence in cases. Of the 119 decoy operations since the authority was established, 89 have been conducted since 2016.
And through a number of judgments handed down over the past year, the Rajasthan High Court has upheld the bureau’s right to raid, search and seize in other states as well. This has allowed the bureau to initiate prosecution in 33 cases pertaining to illegal sex determination in Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat.
As many as 274 people, including 70 doctors, have been arrested.
Jain attributes the success of the operation to the enhanced reward of Rs 2.5 lakh announced by the Centre. The informant and the decoy get a lakh each, the assistant escorting the decoy Rs 50,000. The cash is disbursed in three instalments—the first on entrapment, the second after filing of chargesheet, and the third on conviction. This has helped procure convictions in 206 instances so far.
The campaign has seen the cost of ultrasound sex determination tests soar from Rs 20,000 three years ago to more than Rs 1.3 lakh now. The lucrative profits have, however, drawn many established doctors, including in government service, to the illicit racket. Raghuveer Singh, director (projects) and additional SP of the bureau, says he is “shocked at how easily doctors are prepared to violate their oath”.
“We salute our decoys,” says Jain. “They undergo trouble just because they trust us,” says Jain. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje says she expects “considerable improvement in the sex ratio in the 2021 census”.