The State Health Department’s proposal to enhance penal clauses under the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, 1994, remains on paper as the Centre is yet to take a call on it.
Following the unearthing of a prenatal sex determination racket across Bengaluru, Mandya, and Mysuru districts in December, 2023, the State PCPNDT Supervisory Board had in January recommended enhancing the penal clauses under the Act from three years imprisonment and ₹10,000 fine to five years and ₹5 lakh and making the offence non-bailable. However, as PCPNDT is a Central Act, the State Health Department cannot act on the proposed recommendations unless the Centre amends the Act.
“We had written to the Centre in January this year and are awaiting to hear on this front. As PCPNDT is a Central Act, States do not have the authority to amend the Act locally. The Centre has to discuss the proposal and take a call on it,” Vivek Dorai, State Deputy Director (Medical Acts) told The Hindu on Friday.
The State PCPNDT Supervisory Board had also written to the Home Department to depute an officer of the cadre of Deputy SP or Assistant Commissioner of Police to the State PCPNDT Task Force set up to curb female foeticide on the lines of a similar system being followed in Tamil Nadu. However, this is also under discussion, the official said.
Nearly 25 cases booked
Dr. Dorai said following the CID probe into the illegal sex determination racket in March, nearly 25 female foeticide cases have been booked across the State. Overall, the State has booked only 125 violation cases of PCPNDT (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act, 1994, since 2002, he said.
“One of those arrested by the CID in the previous racket has come out on bail and is now again involved in this month’s new racket unearthed in Mandya. The CID is now considering approaching the court to get his bail cancelled,” Dr. Dorai said.
Activists recommend stringent law
Expressing concern over the increasing number of female foeticide cases in the State, Vasundhara Bhupathi, former member of the State Advisory Committee, said the penalty and bail amount is too low as of now. “The violators know that they can easily pay the penalty and walk out. A stringent law with a hefty penalty and longer imprisonment should be put in place,” she said. Besides, there should be increased awareness and effective implementation of the ban on mobile scanning machines, she added.
