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Sex Ratio

MISSING GIRL CHILD As law crawls, Maharashtra sex ratio drops more (The Asian Age-21 July
2010)

THE latest data of Maharash tra's health management in formation system (HMIS) has some bad news for
the state. It reveals that the ratio of girls per 1000 boys in the state has dipped from 877 in March 2009 to
869 girls till March this year. According to the Sample Registration System (SRS) data available with the
office of Registrar General, the sex ratio at birth shows that at the national level it has increased from 892
girls per 1000 boys in 2001-03
to 904 in 2006-08. However, the trends and levels of sex ratio at birth vary from state to state. In
Maharashtra, for instance, from 887 girls per 1000 boys in 2001-2003 it went down marginally to 884 in
2006-08.
As per global trends, the child sex ratio should be more than 950 girls per 1000 boys. A sex ratio at birth
of 880-900 implies that 50-70 girls are missingoutoftheexpected952girls for every 1000 boys, says Dr P
M Kulkarni, professor of demography at the Jawaharlal Nehru University,
NewDelhi.Inhisanalysisoftheestimation of missing girls at birth and juvenile ages, Kulkarni says the sex
ratioatbirthinthecountryfor200608 was 904 while the internationally observed normal sex ratio at birth is
952 or more girls per 1000 boys.
Hence, it is estimated that the practice of prenatal sex selection has resultedinanapproximate6lakhgirls
missing annually in the country from 2001-07. This is roughly 1,600 girls per day, he points out.

The Pre-Conception and PreNatalDiagnosticTechniques(ProhibitionofSexSelection) Actwasfirst enacted

in 1994 and amended in 2003. It provides for imprisonment which may extend to three years and a fine up
to Rs 30,000. The law suffers from bottlenecks in implementation, admits Dr Prakash Doke, Executive
Director of MaharashtraStateHealthSystems Resource Centre (SHSRC). Out of the 101 pending cases in
the court till May 2010 in Maharashtra, 18 are regarding non-registration of ultrasound machines, 56 are
against doctors for non-maintenance of forms regarding the history of pregnant women, 17 are decoy
cases, five are regarding misleading advertisements, says advocate Milind Salunkhe who has been
recently appointed as a PCPNDT advocate and advisor to the state government's appropriate authority for
implementing the Act.

Takethiscaseforinstance-"Want ababyboy?Meet`foreignreturned' Dr Chhaya Tated", read an

advertisement in a local magazine. The homeopathfromAurangabadwasa visiting consultant at Dr
Shubhangi Adkar's Shree Nursing Home in Mumbai and claimed to offer specialised treatment to `get' a
boy! This wasn't the first time that such an advertisement was published in the state. But it was for the
first time in Maharashtra that a court took cognizance of the advertisement and pulled up the doctors for
flout ing the provisions of the PC-PNDT Act. They were sentenced to three years rigorous imprisonment
with a fine of Rs 10,000. The metropolitan magistrate's court in Mumbai gave this ruling in August 2009.
Both women are out on bail and have appealed against the verdict in a sessions court. This is just one
instance of how slow the entire process is pertainingtotheimplementationof the PC-PNDT Act in
Maharashtra.

Doke, along with the United NationsPopulationFund,hastakenup the massive task of training judges and
public prosecutors about the PC-PNDT Act. "Beed district has the worst sex ratio at less than 800 girls per
1000 boys. Worse, when casesarefiledagainsttheoffenders, the progress till conviction is very slow. We
need to address this and informthejudgesabouttheseriousness of the issue. So far, we have trained 765
judges and 272 public prosecutors in 19 districts of Maharashtra," says Doke.