From strict abandonment of the sex determination tests to ensuring tight surveillance for checking the same, Rajasthan has put in an ultra strong system to evade the practice of child sex determination.
Fearing from the state’s legal repercussions, expecting parents flocked to near by states for identifying the sex of the child who is still in the womb. 99% of such parents are those who are desirous of a male child.
As people went to neighboring states of Rajasthan like Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, Rajasthan stared conducting interstate decoy operations, thereby catching many parents red-handed while committing the indecorous act, or say it crime.
After strict enforcement of Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Technique (PCPNDT) Act in Rajasthan, the state’s model of busting this crime has become a landmark model which all other states intend to emulate.
Recently, Uttar Pradesh had sent a five-member team from inculding an IAS officer to Rajasthan for studying this staellar model. Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh have also come to Rajasthan to study the model.
“We have come to study the good practices and innovative work done in PCPNDT and implement the same in our state,” said senior IAS officer Ram Kewal, special secretary, woman and child development department with UP.
The stellar work done by PCPNDT bureau and Mukhbir Yojana in last three years has resulted in the increase in sex ratio in Rajasthan to 940 girls per 1000.
State’s PCPNDT cell carried out 69 decoy operations between December 2009 and April 2017, out of which 14 were interstate and carried out between May 2016 and April 2017.
The PCPNDT cell arrested many culprits.
The interstate decoy operations were carried out in Mahendragarh in Haryana; Agra, Mathura, Firozabad in Uttar Pradesh; Himmatnagar (Sabarkantha district), Mehsana, Gandhi Nagar, Raghanbpur (Patan district) and Modasa (Sabarkantha district) in Gujarat; Firozpur and Muktsar in Punjab and Neemuch in Madhya Pradesh.
“Now, those involved in sex determination in neighbouring states are scared and are avoiding people coming from Rajasthan,” said PCPNDT project director Raghuveer Singh.
PCPNDT state appropriate authority Naveen Jain said that sex determination has been taking place in districts (in five neighbouring states) where the child sex ratio is low. It shows that female foeticide is common in these states.
According to 2011 Census, the child sex ratio (CSR) in Mahendragarh is 775; in Punjab’s Firozpur it’s 847, its 861 in Agra, 870 in Mathura; in Sabarkantha it’s 903, 927 in Neemuch; 842 in Mehsana, in Gandhi Nagar it’s 847 and in Patna it’s 890; Muktsar it’s 831 and 881 in Firozabad.
CSR of adjoining districts in Madhya Pradesh–Morena, Shivpuri and Sheopur are is 825, 889 and 888 respectively.
“After the decoy operations, information is pouring in about sex determination tests taking place in various districts of the five states. However, we cannot go to other states if we don’t have a decoy pregnant woman from Rajasthan. Therefore we have suggested that the central government set up a national level PCPNDT Bureau of Investigation (PBI). It will have information on centers and sonologists and also software with all numbers and a centralized system to track pregnant women,” added Singh.
