PMC revives PC-PNDT cell to monitor sonography centres in Pune
The PC-PNDT Cell at PMC had been set up with a team of four doctors and infrastructure with dedicated vehicles to visit sonography centres.
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PC-PNDT office at PMC. (Sandeep Daundkar)
AFTER BEING shut down in 2012, the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PC-PNDT) cell has been restarted at the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) a month ago. This was done after a national inspection monitoring committee pulled up civic authorities for not taking enough efforts to check records at sonography centres for misuse of machines towards illegal sex determination of the foetus.
When the cell was set up in 2010-11, a total of 16 cases were filed in the Judicial Magistrate First Class court against sonography centres that had violated provisions of the PC-PNDT Act. Complaints were mostly regarding incorrect filling up of Form F that records the medical history of pregnant women, and non-maintenance of records. However, it was shut down in January 2012 citing lack of doctors for conducting inspections. Some corporators had then claimed that the administration was unhappy with some officials of the PC-PNDT cell and had gradually stopped its functioning.
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However, records show that in 2012, five cases were filed in court against errant sonography centres, while no case was filed in 2013. From August 2014, five cases were filed in court, and it was in April this year that a national inspection monitoring committee visited PMC to take stock of the situation.
The Act is an important tool to help improve the skewed sex ratio in the country. The aim is to ban use of sex selection techniques before or after conception and check the misuse of prenatal diagnostic techniques for sex determination.
The PC-PNDT Cell at PMC had been set up with a team of four doctors and infrastructure with dedicated vehicles to visit sonography centres and check whether illegal sex determination was being conducted and whether medical records were maintained properly. Court cases have been filed after wrong practices have been observed, and in Pune, a total of 58 cases have been filed against sonography centres since 2002. A total of 29 cases have been decided upon.
When contacted Dr Vaishali Jadhav, in-charge of the PC-PNDT Cell, said that the municipal commissioner had issued an order in May to restart the cell, but it could be fully activated only a month ago. “We have in place a team of four doctors, 12 food inspectors, data entry operators and vehicles to conduct inspections. There are 430 sonography centres in the city and now genetic clinics and In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) centres are also under the ambit of PC-PNDT Act. However, punitive measures and awareness generated in the last couple of years have helped shoot up the sex ratio at birth in Pune city.
For instance, the number of girls born per 1000 boys in 2010 was 879. In 2011 it was 884; in 2012 it was 939; in 2013 it was 933; and in 2014 it was 937. Our role becomes even more vital to ensure that there is no misuse of sonography machines and there is a check on foetal sex determination,” says Jadhav.
Centre to issue revised guidelines on graded punishment for doctors.
A high-powered committee comprising the Maharashtra Medical Council chairman Dr Kishor Taori, noted cardiologist Dr Devi Shetty and Indian Medical Association president Dr M Pillay have strongly recommended to Union Health Minister J P Nadda to bring in graded punishment for doctors. “We have got a positive response from the Centre, which is keen on issuing revised guidelines on the issue. We also want culprits behind sex-selective abortions to be caught. But why should even the honest doctors be punished for clerical mistakes?” asks Taori.
The delegation, which met Nadda a fortnight ago, has urged him to consider levying fines from doctors who have made clerical mistakes and then take stern action like cancelling his/her registration license if found with same errors the third time.
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