Soon, all ultrasound machines to become GPS-enabled

In a bid to curb the menace of illegal sex determination, devices like an active tracker or silent observers would be installed in sonography machines in all private, government and civicrun hospitals. The chairperson of women’s commission said that the tracker installed will enable the health department to ascertain when and which machine was misused for detection of sex.

According to the state health department, the government likely to start with the pilot project of installing GPS-enabled active tracking devices in ultrasound machines.

“Once the tracker is installed in the machines, the data procured through these will be handed over to the state health department. The device is supposed to record all images that an ultrasound machine generates in real time and issue alerts to the health department

if it is tampered with or dislodged from the machine,” said a senior official.

As per the report, the ratio of newborn girls per 1,000 boys has decreased to 907 in 2015 to 899 in 2016. The PreConception

and Pre-Natal Diagnostics Testing (PCPNDT) Act, 1994, prohibits doctors from revealing the sex of a foetus.

The officials said that women’s commission took this decision after the illegal racket was unravelled in Mhaisal village on March 5 and 19 aborted female foetuses were found in the sewer next to Khidrapure’s private clinic.

“Installation of the tracking devices in the machines is compulsory for detecting who has misused the machine. I had visited the project in Indore and saw how the tracker devices were working. It will be very helpful due to which I recommended it to the state government,” added Vijay Rahatkar, chairperson of State Women’s Commission.