Lok Sabha Question No. 4751 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-03-23
Subject: Drop in Sex Ratio
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: ANURAG SINGH THAKUR

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTIO N NO. 4751 TO BE ANSWERED ON 23 rd MARCH, 2018

## DROP IN SEX RATIO

## 4751. SHRI ANURAG SINGH THAKUR:

Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether as per NITI Aayog reports the sex ratio at birth in Himachal Pradesh has recorded a substantial drop;
- (b) if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor; and
- (c) the steps taken/being taken by the Government to address this issue?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (SMT. ANUPRIYA PATEL )

(a) & (b): As per the NITI Aayog report, which is based on SRS 2016 nine states including Chhattisgarh,  Karnataka,  Himachal  Pradesh,  Assam,  Maharashtra,  Rajasthan,  Gujarat,  Uttarakha and Haryana recorded substantial drops (10 or more points) in Sex Ratio at Birth between the year(2012 - 14) and reference year (2013 - 15).

However, as per the information received  from the state of Himachal  Pradesh, the sta shown  substantial  improvement  in  sex  ratio  at  birth  from  916  in  2012  to  928  in  2017  as  pe Central Registration of Bir th Data

Sex ratio at birth, imbalances is a manifestation of discriminatory practice of gender b selection leading to pre - birth elimination of females. The most dominant contributory factor includ deeply  entrenched  son  preference  and  misuse  of prenatal  diagnostic  technology  for  illegal  sex selection.

- (c): The  Government  has  enacted  the  Pre - conception  and  Pre - natal  Diagnostic  Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act, 1994, for prohibition of sex selection before or after co and  forprevention  of  misuse  of  pre - conception  and  pre - natal  diagnostic  techniques  for  sex determination.

The Government of India besides enactment of the Pre - conception and Pre - natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act, 1994  has adopted a multi - pronged strategy entailing schemes  and  programmes  for  awareness  generation  and  advocacy  measures  to  build  a  positiv environment for the girl child through gender sensitive policies, provisions and legislation. of important mea sures taken by Government of India are at Annexure.

Further,  various state specific action+ taken by the Govt. of Himachal Pradesh as below:

- Total 11 cases have been filed from 2015 to 2017 for the violations under the Act.
- District Appropriate Authori ties under the PC & PNDT Act have conducted 602 inspections in 2015 - 16, 843 inspections in 2016 - 17 and 730 in 2017 - 8(up to 31/12/2017).
- The state Govt. is giving an incentive on yearly bases of Rs. 5,00,000 (Five Lakh only) t block having best Child sex ratio in each District from state budget .

## Various steps taken by the MOHFW for removing the gap of Child Sex Ratio

- The Government has intensified effective implementation of the Pre - conception and Pre - natal Diagnostic  Techniques (Prohibition  of  Sex  Selection)  Act,  1994  and  amended  various provisions of the Rules.
- The Government of India has notified several important amendments in Rules under the including the Rules for Six Months Training in ultrasound, simplified revised form F, Rules for  Code  of  conduct  for  Appropriate  Authorities,  exemption  of  registration  fee Government Diagnostic Facilities and manner of appeal to the Appellate Authority under Act.
- Inspections by the National Inspection and Monitoring Comm ittee (NIMC) have been scaled up.  During 2015 - 16,  22 NIMC inspections have been undertaken in the States of Punjab, Puducherry,  Tripura,  Sikkim,  Uttar  Pradesh,  Odisha,  Bihar,  Mizoram,  Andhra  Prades Haryana,  Rajasthan,  Maharashtra,  Gujarat,  Telangana,  Ch h ttisgarh,  Jharkhand,  Assam, Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Tamilnadu, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal. During 2016 - 17, 12 NIMC  inspections  have  been  undertaken  in  the  States  of  Arunachal  Pradesh,  Jammu  & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, West Bengal, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu,  Bihar,  Haryana  and  Madhya  Pradesh.  During  2017 - 18,  20  NIMC  visits  has  been conducted  in  States  of  Punjab,  Gujarat,  Uttarakhand,  Kerala,  Andhra  Pradesh,  Manip Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Odisha, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jamm u & Kashmir, Sikkim, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu West Bengal and Chandigarh.
- State/  UTs/  district  Inspection  and  Monitoring  Committees  have  been  constituted  in States/ UTs and are conducting regular inspections on the ground. Up to December 2017, the State of Maharashtra conducted maximum inspections (184354) followed by Punjab (42993) and Uttar Pradesh (24565).
- The  Ministry  of  Health  and  Family  Welfare  is  rendering  financial  support  to  stren implementation stru ct res under National Health Mission (NHM) for setting up of dedicated PNDT Cells, capacity building, monitoring, and advocacy campaigns etc. In 2014 - 15, 2015 16 and 2016 - 17 Rs. 23.11 cores, Rs. 34.71 cores and Rs. Rs. 23.79 cores have been approv respec tively for PNDT cells, monitoring and capacity building and IEC campaigns. Furth in 2017 - 18 total Rs 26.14 cores have been allocated for PNDT activities.
- National Capacity Building Programmes for State Appropriate Authorities and State No Officers have being organized regularly.
- A comprehensive Standard Operating Guidelines (SOGs) for District Appropriate Authori has  been  prepared  by  Ministry  of  Health  &  Family  Welfare  for  better  clarity implementation of the PC&PNDT Act.
- Program review at the State/UTs level has been intensified. During 2014 - 15,  2015 - 16  and 2016- 17 total 14 Regional Review workshops were organized for Northern, Western, Easter Southern and North - Eastern States.
- A  national  level  consultation  meeting  for  the  standardis ation  of  online  Form  F  and  to minimise clerical errors for preventing unwarranted cases against the doctors was cond on 13th January 2017. As an outcome of the consultation an advisory has been sent to a States/UTs specifying common minimum stan dards for developing 'Form F' software.
- Directions given by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the matter of WP(C) 349/2006 (Voluntary Health Association of Punjab vs. UOI & others), were communicated to the States/ UTs/ concerned Ministries/Departments fo r ensuring compliance.
- The Government has also set up a Nodal Agency to regulate and remove the e - advertisements on  internet  relating  to  pre - conception  and  prenatal  determination  of  sex  or  sex  selection prohibited under the PC&PNDT Act, 1994 as per the directions of Hon'ble Supreme Court vide order dated 16.11.2016 in Writ Petition (Civil) No. 341 of 2008.
- The orientation and sensitisation of judiciary has been conducted through National J Academy. A two day orientation and sensitisation of ju diciary  was  organised  by  National Judicial  Academy  on  4th  &  5th  February  2017  in  Bhopal.  Further  the  National  Judic Academy also conducted special PC & PNDT Act session in two orientation programmes for High Court Judges in the current financial year 20 17- 18.
- States have been advised to focus on Districts/Blocks/Villages with low Child Sex Rat ascertain  the  causes,  plan  appropriate  behaviour  change  communication  campaigns  a effectively implement provisions of the PC & PNDT Act.