16 DISTRICTS DO WELL IN SEX RATIO

CHANDIGARH: Of the 22 districts, 16 have shown improvement in sex ratio. Jind leads others.

CHANDIGARH: Of the 21 Haryana districts, 16 have shown improvement in sex ratio with Jind leading the pack at 962 women per 1,000 men.

Jind is followed by Yamunanagar with 928 women, Navraj Sandhu, principal secretary, health department, said at a state-level workshop on stronger implementation of the Pre- Conception and PreNatal Diagnostic Techniques (PC-PNDT) Act in Panchkula on Saturday.

The data pertains to one-year period starting from January 2012. Rohtak district has witnessed the maximum increase in sex ratio in a year, improving from 739 women per 1,000 men to 902 - a jump of 163 points. It is followed by Jind that has seen the improvement of 158 points - from 804 women last year to 962 this year.

Regarding the implementation of the PC-PNDT Act, Sandhu said 20 cases were filed in 201213, while 30 people, including 24 doctors, were convicted between 2001 and March 2013. “Several official agencies have worked hard to implement the Act, resulting in the increase in the child sex ratio (0-6 years) from 839 girls per 1,000 boys to 877,” she said.

Dr NK Arora, director general, health services, said supervisory field visits were being intensified and identity of people, who registered complaints at tollfree number 102, were kept secret. “A village with the highest sex ratio is awarded with Rs 1 lakh to motivate panchayats,” he said.

Dr Vishesh from the WHO, Dr Neelam from Luckow, Priyanka Ghosh and Shobhana Boyle from the United Naiton for Population Fund were present.