First Edition

Second Edition

 

Theme for the Contest:

Pre-birth sex determination is a crime under the PCPNDT Act

• Pre-birth sex determination is a crime under the PCPNDT Act.
• Squealing is good if it is to protect the Girl Child from discrimination.
• You can make a difference by being vigilant and lodging complaints on www.hamaribeti.nic.in.

A short write-up on the issue is given below: The last date of submitting entries is 30th March 2011.

 

Click here to download Brochure and Entry Form

 

CALL FOR ENTRIES for THE-LAADLI-NATIONAL CREATIVE EXCELLENCE AWARDS FOR SOCIAL CHANGE 2010-2011

India is facing a silent calamity of mass disappearance of girls from the population especially in the age group 0-6 years, due to the widespread and blatant misuse of pre-conception and pre-natal diagnostic techniques for Gender Selection. Pre-birth gender selection refers to determining the sex of the unborn child and eliminating it if found to be a girl. It is also popularly known as Female Foeticide. A study published by Lancet (2006) reveals that in India, 10 million girls went missing in the past 20 years because of this practice.   According to the Census 2001, the sex ratio in the age group 0-6 years is 927 girls to 1000 boys in the country.

Patriarchal values, son preference, desire for smaller families etc. are the most important factors influencing the practice of pre-birth gender selection. The easy availability of pre-natal diagnostic techniques combined with the lack of professional ethics/regulation has been responsible for the large scale elimination of girls before conception and birth in the last two decades.

The Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act, 1994, was enacted and brought into operation from 1st January, 1996, in order to curtail the practice of sex selection. The Act prohibits determination and disclosure of the sex of the foetus. However, poor implementation of the Act and the arrival of advanced technologies to determine the sex of the foetus before conception foiled the attempts to get the desired results. Hence on further directions of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in 2003, the PNDT Act and Rules were amended with provisions to prevent pre-birth gender selection through the emerging reproductive technologies in the pre-conception stage as well and tightening some of the provisions of the Act.

Not just sex determination or the disclosure of the sex of the foetus but violation of any of the provisions of the Act attracts penal action. The following are some of the requirements to be fulfilled by the clinics/hospitals under the law to be compliant with the PCPNDT Act.

1. Display prominently a board in reception area and where ultrasound is kept in English and local language stating that disclosure of sex of foetus is prohibited under the law and the clinic does not indulge in the practice.
2. At least one copy of the PCPNDT Act and rules shall be available on the premises of every clinic and shall be made available on demand for perusal.
3. Display of registration certificate of facility and machine / machines (every facility where a mobile machine is used has to be registered).
4. Maintain all records including Form “F” signed by pregnant woman declaring that she does not want to know the sex of the foetus and by the doctor stating that sex of the foetus was not disclosed.
5. Preserve records for up to two years to be made available at the time of inspection.

Offences and Penalties - Every offence under this Act is cognizable, non-bailable and non-compoundable

• Any medical professional who contravenes any of the provisions of this Act or rules shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term up to 3 years and with fine up to Rs. 10, 000 and on any subsequent conviction, with imprisonment which may extend to 5 years and with fine which may extend to Rs. 50, 000.
• Any person who seeks Pre Natal Diagnostic facilities for purposes of sex selection is liable to 3 years imprisonment and fine of Rs.50,000 for first offence and on any subsequent offence imprisonment  which may extend up to 5 years and fine up to Rs. One lakh (pregnant women complied to undergo sex determination is exempted from punishment under the Act unless proved otherwise).
• Any person advertising about sex selection services is liable for imprisonment up to 3 years and fine up to Rs. 10,000

Under the law anyone noticing any violation of the above can file a complaint with the Appropriate Authority (Appropriate Authorities are authorities designated by the state government for the implementation of the Act. They are usually district/corporation level officers of the health department. The role of the Appropriate Authorities is crucial in addressing this issue but there can be no logical solution without the active involvement of the different stakeholders considering the complexity of the issue. Solidarity amongst the violators of this Act and the principles of privacy of doctor-patient interaction has made it extremely difficult to check the problem. Large proportions of the community either are unaware or have a vague knowledge of the Act or do not have any idea of taking action against the wrong doers.

The Department of Medical, Health and Family Welfare (Government of Rajasthan) has launched the website www.hamaribeti.nic.in for online reporting of the PCPNDT Act violation and bring a more transparent complaint process that is directly linked to action at the monitoring level. This website is to encourage online registration of complaints which allows anonymity for the complainant and accountability on the part of the Appropriate Authorities in-charge of monitoring those clinics against whom complaints were lodged. The site is bilingual i.e. in Hindi and English. However the online complain has to be typed in English. The website has three major sections:

1. The basic information section on the issue; how to use the reporting site and contact addresses of the key officials to whom the complaint can be addressed.
2. The complaint registration section with user friendly options. The complainant has the option of not revealing her/his identity but mandatorily has to provide the details of the clinics/hospital for further action. All compulsory information to be provided is marked in asterisk. Information varying from photographs, scanned documents etc up to 5 MB can be uploaded.
3. The official use section consists of provisions of logging in for the district for managing complaints, state level for monitoring the actions taken by the district Appropriate Authorities and national level which is optional and may be useful for national monitoring when more states launch online reporting mechanisms. Provision for the management of the site is also incorporated.

The website can help unearth many cases of violation of PCPNDT Act and facilitate action against the offenders.  Frustration amongst women due to pressure by family and society to practice pre-natal sex selection; clandestine abortion facilities offered by quacks/ unregistered practitioners leading to medical complications; botheration to go across and complain about such clinics / offenders; banishment incase of registering complaint against own family members or relatives; fear of involvement in legal case or backlash from the perpetrators of the illegal practice are some of the reasons for not filing complaints. The website would help people overcome these barriers and  provide an opportunity to transform a large number of the passive citizens into active advocates, increase the efficiency of monitoring and bring pressure on the medical professions to stop the unethical practices.

In order to maximize the impact of the website, communication-led solutions need to be found to address the issue referred above:

The objective of the NCEA Campaign:

To create communication material that can be used by different stakeholder groups undertaking campaigns against pre-birth gender selection to create mass awareness and motivate action against the guilty.   

The major challenges in communication are:

• There is very little awareness about the PCPNDT Act and its provisions among people. Some people see sex selection as a social issue. Many of those who know that it is a CRIME under the law feel that they cannot do anything to address this, or that it is not their problem. There is hesitation to file complaints. Common people consider it a personal, private family matter while doctors refuse to complain about their fellow practitioners because of confidentiality norms and professional ethics. The website needs to be popularized as a way to complain anonymously.
• There is no awareness about the complaint registering procedures and very few people come forward to lodge complaints due to the protracted legal processes, fear of harassment by the doctors and authorities.

The campaign will aim at:

• Promoting sense of being a responsible citizen and encourage people to report if they came to know about erring   clinics/providers.
• Website would be popularized/promoted as a way to complain/report anonymously.
• Reassure people that there will be no harassment if they use the website for reporting about offenders/seekers of prenatal sex selection.