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Couples in Haryana who have at least one living female child and wish to have another child through in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) must now obtain prior permission from the District Appropriate Authority. This requirement also applies to couples who already have a girl and a boy as children.
The decision was made at a meeting Tuesday of the State Task Force (STF) for improving sex ratio, chaired by Sudhir Rajpal, Additional Chief Secretary, Health and Family Welfare. The meeting, held under the direction of Health and Family Welfare Minister Arti Singh Rao, focused on improving the state’s sex ratio under the ‘Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao’ campaign.
“Right now, it is just at the stage of being an idea. We have to formulate the guidelines and modalities. The idea is that people can still use IVF, but it should not be misused,” Rajpal told the Indian Express on Thursday.
Haryana’s sex ratio improved to 904 (903 females per 1,000 males) as of July 7 this year, up from 903 in the corresponding period last year, reflecting the impact of ongoing initiatives, the government claims.
In the meeting, Rajpal directed the chief medical officers to reverse track abortions conducted up to 24 weeks of pregnancy to identify medical practitioners involved and take strict action against violations. A detailed procedure for reverse tracking has been shared with all chief medical officers.
The meeting also reviewed efforts to curb illegal abortions. Rajpal instructed officials to revoke the licenses of doctors found to be complicit and take action against Ayurvedic practitioners and quacks involved in such activities, with weekly reports being mandated.
Two nursing homes in the Nuh district were recently sealed for illegal abortion practices, it was discussed.
Around 500 illegal medical termination of pregnancy (MTP) centres have been shut down statewide, leading to a notable decline in legal MTPs over the past two months, the body observed.
Officials reported a rise in birth registration figures for June compared to May. Rajpal directed senior officers to collaborate with Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) and Anganwadi workers to identify and register unregistered children in slums and low-income areas of Palwal, Nuh, Gurgaon, and Faridabad, with the goal of completing pending registrations within a month.
The Woman and Child Development Department highlighted ongoing awareness campaigns in public parks under the ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ initiative, with telecom companies engaged to spread the message via mobile alerts.
Rippudaman Singh Dhillon, Secretary of the Health Department and Mission Director of the National Health Mission, also attended the meeting.
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