Lok Sabha Question No. 1039 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-04-29
Subject: Female Foeticides
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: SUSHIL KUMAR SINGH, Dr. BHOLA SINGH, AJAY (TENI) MISRA, K. GOPAL

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED  QUESTION NO. 1039 TO BE ANSWERED ON 29 TH APRIL, 2016

## FEMALE FOETICIDES

## 1039. SHRI SUSHIL KUMAR SINGH:

DR. BHOLA SINGH: SHRI AJAY MISRA TENI: DR. K. GOPAL:

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

- (a) the status of incidence of female foeticide reported during the last three years and current year, State/UT -wise;
- (b) whether the Government has taken note of incidences of pre - natal sex determination done by medicalprofessionals  in  violation  of  Pre - Conception  and  Pre - Natal  Diagnostic Techniques (PC&PNDT);
- (c) if so, the number of cases registered under the PC&PNDT in the country during the last thre e years, State/UT -wise;
- (d)  whether  PC&PNDT  Act  hadimproved  the  sex - ratio  and  curbed incidences  of  female foeticide, if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) if not, the reasons therefor along with the steps taken by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (SHRI JAGAT PRAKASH NADDA)

- (a): As  per  information  received  from  National  Crime  Record  Bureau  (NCRB),  data  on female foeticide has been collected only from 2014 onwards.  As per data collected by N from  States/U Ts,  50  and  52  cases  of  female  foeticide  have  been  reported  in  the  coun respectively  in  the  year  2014  and  2015.  State/UT - wise  number  of  cases  of  female  foeticide registered in 2014 and 2015 is at Annexure -I.
- (b): Government  is  aware  of  the  practice  of  sex  determination  of  foetus  by  medi professionals in violation of different provisions of PC&PNDT Act/Rules in the country.

(c): As per the data received from NCRB, which has started collecting data on cases reported under PC&PNDT Act, 1994, only from 2014 onwards, 25 and 53 cases have been registered under the PC & PNDT Act, 1994 in 2014 and 2015 respectively.   State/UT - wise data in this regard is at Annexure -II.

(d) & (e): The  exact  estimation  of  Child  Sex Ratio  (CSR)  becomes  available  only  in  the Census. As informed by Registrar General of India (RGI), the estimates of Sex ratio, def the number of female birth per 1000 male birth, are derived under Sample Registration S (SRS) by pooling the dat a for three years on moving average basis. As per the data, obtain from RGI the estimated sex ratio at birth for bigger States for the periods 2009 - 11, 2010 - 12 and 2011- 13 given in Annexure -III suggests that the Sex Ratio has improved in most of the bi gger States.

The PC&PNDT Act, 1994 is only one of the measures intended to improve the CSR. The Act and Rules made thereunder, need to be supplemented with socio - economic support systems for correction in the existing social prejudices against girl child /women.

Besides  the  enactment  of  the  PC&PNDT  Act,  1994,  multi - pronged  strategy  entailing schemes  and  programmes  and  awareness  generation/advocacy  measures  has  been  adopted  to build a positive environment for the girl child through gender sensitive policies, provisions and legislation. The details of important measures are enclosed in Annexure -IV.

## Annexure - I

Cases Registered under Female Foeticide during 2014 & 2015

| S. No.   | States/UTs         |   Cases Registered under Female Foeticide* | Cases Registered under Female Foeticide*   |
|----------|--------------------|--------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------|
|          |                    |                                       2014 | 2015 (Provisional)                         |
| 1        | ANDHRA PRADESH     |                                          0 | 0                                          |
| 2        | ARUNACHAL PRADESH  |                                          0 | 0                                          |
| 3        | ASSAM              |                                          0 | 0                                          |
| 4        | BIHAR              |                                          0 | 1                                          |
| 5        | CHHATTISGARH       |                                          2 | 3                                          |
| 6        | GOA                |                                          0 | 0                                          |
| 7        | GUJARAT            |                                          0 | 0                                          |
| 8        | HARYANA            |                                          4 | 3                                          |
| 9        | HIMACHAL PRADESH   |                                          3 | 0                                          |
| 10       | JAMMU & KASHMIR    |                                          0 | 0                                          |
| 11       | JHARKHAND          |                                          0 | 0                                          |
| 12       | KARNATAKA          |                                          0 | 1                                          |
| 13       | KERALA             |                                          0 | 0                                          |
| 14       | MADHYA PRADESH     |                                         15 | 12                                         |
| 15       | MAHARASHTRA        |                                          1 | 12                                         |
| 16       | MANIPUR            |                                          0 | 0                                          |
| 17       | MEGHALAYA          |                                          0 | 0                                          |
| 18       | MIZORAM            |                                          0 | 0                                          |
| 19       | NAGALAND           |                                          0 | 0                                          |
| 20       | ODISHA             |                                          0 | 0                                          |
| 21       | PUNJAB             |                                          7 | 6                                          |
| 22       | RAJASTHAN          |                                         11 | 1                                          |
| 23       | SIKKIM             |                                          0 | 0                                          |
| 24       | TAMIL NADU         |                                          0 | 1                                          |
| 25       | TELANGANA          |                                          2 | 6                                          |
| 26       | TRIPURA            |                                          0 | 0                                          |
| 27       | UTTAR PRADESH      |                                          4 | 5                                          |
| 28       | UTTARAKHAND        |                                          1 | 0                                          |
| 29       | WEST BENGAL        |                                          0 | NR                                         |
|          | TOTAL (STATES)     |                                         50 | 51                                         |
| 30       | A&N ISLANDS        |                                          0 | 0                                          |
| 31       | CHANDIGARH         |                                          0 | 0                                          |
| 32       | D&N HAVELI         |                                          0 | 0                                          |
| 33       | DAMAN & DIU        |                                          0 | 0                                          |
| 34       | DELHI              |                                          0 | 1                                          |
| 35       | LAKSHADWEEP        |                                          0 | 0                                          |
| 36       | PUDUCHERRY         |                                          0 | 0                                          |
|          | TOTAL (UTs)        |                                          0 | 1                                          |
|          | TOTAL (ALL -INDIA) |                                         50 | 52                                         |

Source: Monthly Crime Statistics

*data started collection since 2014; NR: Data not received

Cases Registered under PC & PNDT Act, 1994 during 2014 & 2015

| S. No.   | States/UTs         | Cases Registered under PC & PNDT Act, 1994*   | Cases Registered under PC & PNDT Act, 1994*   |
|----------|--------------------|-----------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------|
| 1        | ANDHRA PRADESH     | 2014                                          | (Provisional) 1                               |
| 2        | ARUNACHAL PRADESH  | 0 0                                           | 0                                             |
| 3        | ASSAM              | 0                                             | 0                                             |
| 4        | BIHAR              | 0                                             | 34                                            |
| 5        | CHHATTISGARH       | 0                                             | 0                                             |
| 6        | GOA                | 0                                             | 0                                             |
| 7        | GUJARAT            | 1                                             | 0                                             |
| 8        | HARYANA            | 21                                            | 10                                            |
| 9        | HIMACHAL PRADESH   | 0                                             | 0                                             |
| 10       | JAMMU & KASHMIR    | 0                                             | 0                                             |
| 11       | JHARKHAND          | 0                                             | 0                                             |
| 13       |                    | 0                                             | 0                                             |
| 14       | KERALA             | 0                                             | 2                                             |
| 15       | MAHARASHTRA        | 1                                             | 3                                             |
|          | MADHYA PRADESH     |                                               |                                               |
| 16 17    | MANIPUR MEGHALAYA  | 0 0                                           | 0 3                                           |
| 18       | MIZORAM            | 0                                             | 0                                             |
| 19 20    | NAGALAND ODISHA    | 0 0                                           | 0 0                                           |
| 21       | PUNJAB             | 0                                             | 0                                             |
| 22       | RAJASTHAN          | 0                                             | 0                                             |
| 23       | SIKKIM             | 0                                             | 0                                             |
|          | TAMIL NADU         | 0                                             | 0                                             |
| 24 25    | TELANGANA          | 1                                             | 0                                             |
| 26       | TRIPURA            | 0                                             | 0                                             |
| 27       | UTTAR PRADESH      | 0                                             | 0                                             |
| 28       | UTTARAKHAND        | 0                                             | 0                                             |
| 29       | WEST BENGAL        | 1                                             | NR                                            |
|          | TOTAL (STATES)     | 25                                            | 53                                            |
| 30       | A&N ISLANDS        | 0                                             | 0                                             |
| 31       | CHANDIGARH         | 0                                             | 0                                             |
| 32       | D&N HAVELI         | 0                                             | 0                                             |
| 33       | DAMAN & DIU        | 0                                             | 0                                             |
| 34       | DELHI              | 0                                             | 0                                             |
| 35       | LAKSHADWEEP        | 0                                             | 0                                             |
| 36       | PUDUCHERRY         | 0                                             | 0                                             |
|          | TOTAL (UTs)        | 0                                             | 0                                             |
|          | TOTAL (ALL -INDIA) | 25                                            | 53                                            |

Source: Monthly Crime Statistics

*data started collection since 2014; NR: Data not received

## Annexure - III

## Sex ratio at birth (female per 1000 male)

## India and bigger States 2009 - 11 to 2011 - 13

| India & bigger States   |   2009 - 11 |   2010 - 12 |   2011 - 13 |
|-------------------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|
| India                   |         906 |         908 |         909 |
| Andhra Pradesh          |         915 |         914 |         916 |
| Assam                   |         926 |         922 |         920 |
| Bihar                   |         910 |         909 |         911 |
| Chhattisgarh            |         991 |         979 |         970 |
| Delhi                   |         880 |         884 |         887 |
| Gujarat                 |         909 |         909 |         911 |
| Haryana                 |         854 |         857 |         864 |
| Himachal Pradesh        |         938 |         939 |         943 |
| Jammu & Kashmir         |         880 |         895 |         902 |
| Jharkhand               |         915 |         918 |         913 |
| Karnataka               |         945 |         950 |         958 |
| Kerala                  |         965 |         966 |         966 |
| Madhya Pradesh          |         920 |         921 |         920 |
| Maharashtra             |         893 |         896 |         902 |
| Odisha                  |         946 |         948 |         956 |
| Punjab                  |         841 |         863 |         867 |
| Rajasthan               |         878 |         893 |         893 |
| Tamil Nadu              |         926 |         928 |         927 |
| Uttar Pradesh           |         875 |         874 |         878 |
| West Bengal             |         941 |         944 |         943 |

Source: -Sample Registration System, Registrar General of India.

## Annexure - IV

- 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 is rendering financial support to the States and UTs for operationalizati PNDT  Cells,  Capacity  Building,  Orientation  &  Sensitisation Workshop,  Information, Education and Communication campaigns and for strengthening structures for the implementation of the PC & PNDT Act under the National Health Mission (NHM).
- A  National  review  under  the  chairmanship  of  Additional  Secretary  and  Missio n  Director, MoHFW was held on 21 st September, 2015 through video conference.
- A National Capacity Building Programme for State Appropriate Authorities and State Noda Officers was organized on 12 th & 13 th April, 2016 at Manesar in collaboration with UNFPA .
- A comprehensive Standard Operating Guidelines (SOGs) for District Appropriate Authority has  been  prepared  by  Ministry  of  Health  &  Family  Welfare  for  better  clarity  f implementation of the PC&PNDT Act.
- Program review at the state level has been intens ified.  Five regional review workshops for North,  West,  Central,  North  East  and  Southern  regions  were  organized  during  2014 - 15. During 2015 - 16 five regional review workshops have been organized for Northern Eastern, Northern, Eastern, Western and Southern States in Imphal, Chandigarh, Bhubaneswar and Hyderabad (two) respectively.
- National campaign 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' was launched in 100 gender critical districts by  Ministry  of  Women  and  Child  Development  in  partnership  with  Ministry  of  Human Recourse Development and Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.
- 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 ti to time for ensuring compliance.
- Inspections by the National Inspection and Monitoring Committee (NIMC) have been scaled up. In year 2014 - 15, 19 inspection visits have been undertaken in different States. During 2015- 16, 22 NIMC inspections have been undertaken in the States of Punjab, Puducherry Tripura,  Sikkim,  Uttar  Pradesh,  Odisha,  Bihar,  Mizoram,  Andhra  Pradesh,  Haryana, Rajasthan, Ma harashtra, Gujarat, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Assam, Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Tamilnadu, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal.
- States have been advised to focus on Districts/Blocks/Villages with low Child Sex Rati ascertain  the  causes,  plan  appropr iate  behaviour  change  communication  campaigns  and effectively implement provisions of the PC & PNDT Act.