Retired cops roped in to save girl child

Adding more teeth to the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regular & Prevention of Misuse) Act, the Government has roped in former police chi...

Adding more teeth to the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regular & Prevention of Misuse) Act, the Government has roped in former police chiefs to form a special cell to fight female foeticide.

The cell will act as a watchdog in the states of Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi, where the nose-diving sex ratio is a matter of grave concern. The members will not only go on undercover operations but have prosecution powers too. The Health Ministry will form the cell, which will be headed by a retired Director-General of Police and the state branches will be led by a former officer of the rank of Deputy Inspector-General or an Inspector-General.

‘‘We are shortlisting the names and the cell will be functional by March this year,’’ said Health and Family Welfare Secretary P.K Hota.

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The Government is showing special interest in the four endemic states — Haryana, Gujarat, Himachal and Punjab — as all of them have a sex ratio of less than 800 girls. Delhi has also been included in the list because of its proximity to these areas and as the Municipal Corporation figures have shown a drop in the Capital’s sex ratio to 819 girls. The ratio is worse in upmarket South Delhi, where the number has gone down to 762.

Government officials blame the decline in the sex ratio on pre-natal sex determination tests, as the girl child is killed in the womb. Official figures, based on the Census 2001, show that 70 districts in 16 states and Union Territories recorded more than a 50 point decline in the sex ratio in the past one decade.

According to Hota, the special cell was set up to give more teeth to the PNDT Act. As per the Act, each district has a nodal officer in charge of checking ultrasound clinics. The Chief Medical Officer of the district often double up as this nodal officer.

The Government now feels that the responsibility should be given to a police officer. ‘‘Doctors are fine but police officers are better equipped to handle investigations and tracing the wrong-doer. As the local police has too many other duties to perform, we decided on retired officials,’’ said Hota. The retired officers will have necessary powers, he said.