Insights

Only 925 girl children are born for every 1000 boys in India as of 2020. (or 108.1 boys for every 100 girls). This skewed ratio contributes to gender violence and discrimination against women. With the advances in technology, sex determination has become simpler from the very early stages of pregnancy.

In order to curb female foeticide and to reverse the declining sex ratio, the Parliament of India passed the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic techniques Act in 1994. And thereafter, the act has been amended a few times with reference to the Pre-conception techniques and also Sonography training courses.

From looking at the graph below, it can be construed that the PC-PNDT Act is indeed working, albeit slowly and we are definitely going towards nature’s average of 952 females for every 1000 males. (Ref: Pew Research Center, August, 2022, “India’s Sex Ratio at Birth Begins To Normalize”).  

As can be seen from the daily media reports, almost all over the country, very stringent action is being taken against all the erring radiologists, sonologists and gynecologists.  The effective implementation of The Act has painted a grim picture of the Act. However, the Act can be easily followed by fulfilling certain mandatory requirements.

BASIC REGULATIONS:

Any new center cannot do any activity which is capable of sex selection, if they are not registered under the act.

Once an application is made to the appropriate authority, the concerned personnel inspect the place and issue/reject the registration.

Ultrasonography machines and instruments used for genetic tests can be sold to only centers registered under this act.

The scan room should be of minimum size 10 x 10 feet, with a restroom within a distance of 3 m. The room should be adequately air-conditioned. 

Renewal is done once in every 5 years. The same procedure as for new registration is repeated, 30 days before the date of expiry.

The certificate is non-transferable. In the event of change of ownership or change of place or on cessation of function, the certificate of registration shall be surrendered to the appropriate authority.

Change of place of scan center, sale / purchase of new machine or change of personnel shall be intimated and appropriate endorsement is required to be obtained.

Certificate of registration shall be displayed in the center in a conspicuous place.

Boards explaining the act against sex selection should be displayed in scan rooms and in waiting areas. A copy of the Act should also be made available in the premises. 

The sex of the fetus should never be disclosed to the patient, relatives, referring doctor, or anyone else, under any circumstance.

Advertisement of any sort regarding sex determination is banned and is punishable under the act.

Options are available for registering mobile units. However, the vehicle used for transport also has to be registered.

CT and MRI machines, if used for imaging pregnant females should also be registered.

A Sonologist can visit only 2 places in one district. However this point is under contention in various high courts with valid stay orders on its execution. 

MAINTENANCE OF RECORDS:

All records, charts, forms, reports, consent letters and all the documents required to be maintained under this act shall be preserved for a period of 2 years. All these records should be made available for inspection, before the appropriate authority, when required.

Form F is maintained for ultrasound scans. Form G is maintained for invasive procedures.

Form F should be duly signed by the doctor doing the scans.

A monthly report giving the details of the scans is sent to the appropriate authority before the 5th of succeeding month.

PROCEDURE FOR SEARCH AND SEIZURE

The appropriate authority or any officer authorized on this behalf may enter and search any center / clinic at all reasonable times.

One should be ready with all paperwork and all the mandatory documents shall be made available during such inspection.

The offences under the act are cognizable, non-bailable and non-compoundable.

Anybody aggrieved by the decision of the appropriate authority may  appeal to the state or UT appropriate authority within 30 days of the order and the appeal has to be disposed by the authorities within 60 days of its receipt.

SIX MONTHS TRAINING IN ULTRASONOGRAPHY:

There is a provision for a six-month training course for MBBS doctors, under this act at centers notified by the State Health Department. A final competency based evaluation is taken at the end of the six months.

CONCLUSION:

The aims and objectives of the PC-PNDT Act are indeed noble and have been reasonably effective. The hassles faced by the practitioners could be largely mitigated by scrupulously following the regulations. There are a few contested areas in the Act and at times local administrative delays for approval & endorsements, which may hopefully be addressed in future amendments. 

“A daughter is one of the best gifts this world has to give” says Laurel Atherton. Let us play our part in nurturing this gift...