Journalism of Courage
Not getting a place in the advisory committees that decide the fate of sonography centres under the Pre-conception and Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act was described by radiologists at a workshop in the city as an aberration of law and an injustice to them.
Seeking suitable changes in the law,they also aired other grievances like sealing of a large number of sonography machines in the state on flimsy grounds. Members of the Indian Radiological and Imaging Association (IRIA) also said at the meet that radiologists alone being held responsible for the declining number of girl children was unfair.
Dr Pramod Lonikar,IRIA state secretary,said,Not a single radiologist is on committees that decide the fate of sonography machines. He said that initially it was proposed to include 3-4 radiologists in central PCPNDT committees but now they are only invitees to meetings.
The law should be amended to remove this injustice,IRIA representatives said at the workshop,which had the theme,Are Radiologists Life-savers or Killers. Speakers arrived at a consensus that radiologists cannot be tagged as ‘killers as they are not the ones who terminate pregnancies.
Dr Jignesh Thakkar,National Secretary,IRIA,said the misunderstanding that only radiologists are responsible for the declining sex ratio should be removed. He said that only 20 per cent of sonography machines are in the names of registered and practising radiologists and the rest was in the name of gynaecologists,BAMS and homoeopathy doctors. According to him,shutting down sonography machines is not the solution but a law correction is required.
Dr Meenakshi Gajbhiye,president,IRIA Pune chapter,said radiologists who go wrong must be punished but others should not suffer because of a few rotten eggs.
Dr Suresh Gupta,Additional director,health services,asked radiologists to strictly adhere to rules as even a minor mistake in filling the F form could mean punishment.
Also stressing this point,Dr Vaishali Jadhav,Assistant Medical Officer at PMC,said she has been going through a tough time implementing the Act\. Dr Kamal Yadav,PCMC,said filling the form in every detail was important as a minor mistake could lead to sealing of the sonography machine. The PMC and PCMC officials said they were only carrying out their duties and they neither had any idea that radiologists were feeling discriminated against nor had they any powers to change the law. The IRIA representatives said they would approach MPs to get the law amended so that radiologists are included in advisory panels.
Advocate Milind Salunkhe,legal counsel for the PMC on the PC-PNDT Act reminded that breaking the laws under the Act is a non-bailable offence. Dr Anand Rahalkar,secretary,IRIA,Pune chapter and Dr Dilip Lakhkar former vice-president,IRIA,moderated the panel discussion.
