As sex ratio at birth falls, Haryana wields the stick
The health department has also booted out the PNDT nodal officers of Charkhi Dadri, Rewari, Rohtak, Gurugram and Faridabad, the districts with the lowest sex ratio at birth in the state.
The Haryana health department on Thursday suspended Hisar district nodal officer of the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Technique (PNDT), slapped show-cause notices on 12 senior medical officers (SMOs) and decided to chargesheet three SMOs who are in-charge of community health centres (CHCs) with the lowest sex ratio at birth (SRB) in the state.
The health department has also booted out the PNDT nodal officers of Charkhi Dadri, Rewari, Rohtak, Gurugram and Faridabad, the districts with the lowest sex ratio at birth in the state.
The crackdown comes in the wake of alarming dip in Haryana’s sex ratio at birth (SRB), which was recorded 910 female births per 1,000 males in 2024—a six-point drop from 916 in 2023.
The cumulative SRB of Haryana in 2015 was 876 and 900 in 2016. It was recorded 914 in 2017, 2018 and 2021. The highest SRB so far 923 was recorded in 2019, while 922 in 2020. It had dropped to 917 in 2022 and 916 in 2023.
Alarmed by its “Beti Bachao Beti Padhao” flagship programme taking a severe hit and Haryana’s sex ratio at birth (SRB) plunging to its lowest in eight years in 2024, the Nayab Singh Saini-led government in January 2024 had identified “lack of enforcement” in several districts as a major “obstruction” in saving the girl child.
On Thursday the health department in a statement said that 300 registered medical termination of pregnancy (MTP) centres have been closed even as show-cause notices were issued to 23 MTP centres in the past few weeks.
The health department said that first information reports (FIR) have been registered against 17 online MTP kit sellers in the past two months also. There are 1,500 MTP centres across the state out of which 300 were closed after their registration was cancelled.
The health department stated that 23 raids were conducted in the last three months at places allegedly involved in the illegal practice of gender detection and that such centres were closed.
“The nodal officer of PNDT in Hisar district has been suspended and show-cause notices issued to senior medical officers (SMOs), who are in-charge of 12 community health centres (CHC),” said Dr Virender Yadav, director ( NHM) and convenor of State Task Force (STF) set up take steps against those involved in female foeticide.
Haryana’s additional chief secretary (ACS-health) Sudhir Rajpal had set up the STF that comprises of mission director (MD) National Health Mission (NHM); director general health services (DGHS); director general women and child development; director general AYUSH; director of Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PC&PNDT); state drug controller and police department.
The health department officials said that nodal officer of PNDT in Hisar district has been suspended for alleged dereliction of duty. The show-cause notices have been issued to 12 SMOs of the CHCs such as Nahar (Rewari district), Tosham (Bhiwani), Danoda (Jind), Kunjpura (Karnal), Tauru (Nuh), Tigaon (Faridabad), Bhattu Kalan (Fatehabad), Ateli (Mahendergarh), Ukalana (Hisar), Badopal (Fatehabad), Nissing (Karnal) and Ladwa in district Kurukshetra
“These SMOs will be chargesheeted if their reply is unsatisfactory,” the state government warned.
The SMOs of three CHCs with lowest sex ratio will be chargesheeted even as the government has transferred the PNDT nodal officers of five districts (Charkhi Dadri, Rewari, Rohtak, Gurugram and Faridabad) with lowest sex ratio in the state with immediate effect.
The health department said that Hisar district civil surgeon will lodge a FIR against the tout Usha allegedly involved in illegal abortion.
“The STF is strictly implementing the PC&PNDT Act in the state and 17 FIRs have been lodged against online MTP kit sellers in the past two months,” Dr Virender Yadav said.
Dr Yadav said that all the wards in urban areas will be allocated to ASHAs and ANMs of the concerned Urban Primary Health Centres (UPHC) / Urban Ayushman Arogya Mandir (UAAM) for the data collection to record male and female child births which will facilitate in improving sex ratio.
The health department has identified 62,000 pregnant women with one or more than one female child and these pregnant women are being informed via helpline number 104 of health department that female foeticide is a crime. “Further, it has been proposed that ASHA worker will be linked with the pregnant women having more than two female children and incentive of ₹1,000 to be given to ASHA concerned by Haryana for successful delivery of female child,” Dr Yadav said.