Lok Sabha Question No. 77 (STARRED), answered on 2015-07-24
Subject: Surrogacy
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: SUNIL KUMAR SINGH, P.K.SREEMATHI TEACHER

**GOVERNMENT OF INDIA**

**MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE**

**DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH RESEARCH**

**LOK SABHA**

**STARRED QUESTION NO. 77**

**TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 24** **TH** **JULY, 2015**

**Surrogacy**

**†*77. SHRI SUNIL KUMAR SINGH:**

**SHRIMATI P.K. SREEMATHI TEACHER:**

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

(a) whether the Government has taken cognizance of the surge in the cases of uneducated and indigent women being lured into renting out their wombs for financial gains without being explained the risk involved in surrogacy;

(b) if so, the details thereof including number of cases reported during each of the last three years and the current year, State/UT-wise and the corrective steps taken/being taken to alleviate the problems posed to aforesaid group of women;

(c) whether the burgeoning cases of unethical surrogacy involving unscrupulous healthcare officials have come to the notice of the Government and if so, the details thereof along with the remedial steps taken/ being taken by the Government in this regard;

(d) whether there has been a rise in the number of complaints regarding pre-natal sex determination tests being carried out in the country; and

(e) if so, the number of such complaints received during each of the last three years and the current year along with the remedial measures taken/being taken by the Government in this regard State/UT-wise?

**ANSWER**

**THE MINISTER OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE**

**(SHRI JAGAT PRAKASH NADDA)**

1. to (e):  A statement is laid on the Table of the House

**STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO LOK SABHA**

**STARRED QUESTION NO. 77 FOR 24** **TH** **JULY, 2015**

(a),(b) & (c)  No cases/complaints of uneducated and indigent women being lured into renting out their wombs for financial gains without being explained the risk involved in surrogacy have been reported by the State Governments. However considering the various issues raised in different forms of media on this matter, the Government of India have formulated and issued the guidelines titled “National Guidelines for Accreditation, Supervision and Regulation of ART Clinics in India” to regulate and supervise the functioning of ART clinics. These guidelines also have the provisions for setting up of State Accreditation Authorities, Appropriate Authorities for regulation of ART procedures and ART Clinics in the States/UTs and appointment of State Nodal Officers in order to prevent unethical surrogacy by unscrupulous healthcare officials.  Health being a state subject, these guidelines have been further re-iterated in the year 2015 to the State/UT Governments asking them to regulate the ART Clinics in their respective state jurisdiction.

(d) & (e)	Government of India is implementing the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act, 1994 for prohibition of sex selection before or after conception and for prevention of misuse of pre-conception and pre-natal diagnostic techniques for sex determination including in the ART Clinics.

The available information pertaining to complaints/cases filed in the courts, States/UT’s wise in respect of violation of the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act, 1994 received is Annexed. As per figures available for various States/UTs for the past 3 years; there appears be no trend (rising/declining) in terms of number of complaints (cases filed in the courts). Though the primary responsibility for implementing the PC & PNDT Act rests with the states, the major steps taken by the Government of India in this regard are:

1.	Reconstitution of Central Supervisory Board (CSB) under the PNDT Act;

2.	 Launching of National campaign for “Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao” in collaboration with the Ministries of Women & Child Development and Human Resources Development;

3.	Rendering financial support to strengthen implementation structures under NHM which include setting up dedicated PNDT cells, apart from capacity building, monitoring advocacy campaign etc in the States.

4.	Medical Council of India has also accepted the proposal to include a chapter on the issue of declining Child Sex Ratio in the MBBS curriculum for the sensitizations of MBBS doctors.

5.	Expansion of National Inspection and Monitoring Committee pools from 5 inspections in 2012-13 to 24 in 2014-15. Out of the 24 visits in the year 2014-15, a total of 19 visits have been carried out from the national level covering 19 States/UTs.

6.	Review of the implementation of PC & PNDT Act at the state level has been intensified. Five regional review workshops for North, West, Central, North East and Southern regions were carried out at Chandigarh, Ahmadabad, Mumbai, Imphal and Bhubneshwar

**Annexure**

Year-wise complaint cases filed in the court in the States under PC&PNDT Act (2011-2012 to 2014-2015)

| Sl No   | State             | Year wise cases Filed   | Year wise cases Filed   | Year wise cases Filed   | Year wise cases Filed   |
|---------|-------------------|-------------------------|-------------------------|-------------------------|-------------------------|
|         |                   | 2011-12                 | 2012-13                 | 2013-14                 | 2014-15                 |
| 1       | 2                 | 3                       | 4                       | 5                       | 6                       |
| 1       | Andhra Pradesh    | 2                       | 14                      | 17                      | 0                       |
| 2       | Arunachal Pradesh | 0                       | 0                       | 0                       | 0                       |
| 3       | Assam             | 1                       | 4                       | 0                       | 0                       |
| 4       | Bihar             | 0                       | 0                       | 0                       | 0                       |
| 5       | Chhattisgarh      | 2                       | 0                       | 0                       | 0                       |
| 6       | Goa               | 7                       | 11                      | 0                       | 0                       |
| 7       | Gujarat           | 18                      | 16                      | 14                      | 0                       |
| 8       | Haryana           | 13                      | 20                      | 7                       | 20                      |
| 9       | Himachal Pradesh  | 0                       | 0                       | 0                       | 0                       |
| 10      | Jammu & Kashmir   | 1                       | 0                       | 5                       | 0                       |
| 11      | Jharkhand         | 0                       | 18                      | 1                       | 1                       |
| 12      | Karnataka         | 32                      | 0                       | 0                       | 0                       |
| 13      | Kerala            | 0                       | 0                       | 0                       | 0                       |
| 14      | Madhya Pradesh    | 6                       | 0                       | 0                       | 23                      |
| 15      | Maharashtra       | 169                     | 210                     | 0                       | 31                      |
| 16      | Manipur           | 0                       | 0                       | 0                       | 0                       |
| 17      | Meghalaya         | 0                       | 0                       | 0                       | 0                       |
| 18      | Mizoram           | 0                       | 0                       | 0                       | 0                       |
| 19      | Nagaland          | 0                       | 0                       | 0                       | 0                       |
| 20      | Odisha            | 4                       | 13                      | 0                       | 11                      |
| 21      | Punjab            | 6                       | 4                       | 4                       | 5                       |
| 22      | Rajasthan         | 97                      | 0                       | 304                     | 28                      |
| 23      | Sikkim            | 0                       | 0                       | 0                       | 0                       |
| 24      | Tamil Nadu        | 0                       | 0                       | 0                       | 1                       |
| 25      | Tripura           | 0                       | 0                       | 0                       | 0                       |
| 26      | Uttarakhand       | 0                       | 5                       | 13                      | 12                      |
| 27      | Uttar Pradesh     | 0                       | 0                       | 99                      | 0                       |
| 28      | West Bengal       | 0                       | 1                       | 10                      | 0                       |
| 29      | A & N. Island     | 0                       | 0                       | 0                       | 0                       |
| 30      | Chandigarh        | 0                       | 0                       | 0                       | 0                       |
| 31      | D. &N. Haveli     | 0                       | 0                       | 0                       | 0                       |
| 32      | Daman & Diu       | 0                       | 0                       | 0                       | 0                       |
| 33      | Delhi             | 1                       | 0                       | 0                       | 0                       |
| 34      | Lakshadweep       | 0                       | 0                       | 0                       | 0                       |
| 35      | Puducherry        | 0                       | 0                       | 0                       | 0                       |
|         | Total             | 359                     | 317                     | 474                     | 132                     |

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