Two laws in india that are enforced to prohibit the sex selection of a fetus are the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971 (MTP), as amended in 2002, and the Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act, 1994 (PNDT), as amended in 2002. Any act causing the termination of the pregnancy of a normal fetus would amount to feticide, and in addition to rendering the physician criminal liable, is considered professional misconduct on his part, leading to his penal erasure, These Acts prohibit abortion except only in certain qualified situations and the sex selection of a fetus with a view towards aborting it.
BUT a complete reversal of the government strategy to fight female feticide, Union women and child development minister Menaka Gandhi said The Center was considering lifting the two-decade-old ban on sex determination of the fetus and making the process mandatory.
“A proposal is under discussion in the Cabinet to evolve a system that can easily track attempts at female feticide (by parents) instead of punishing the fraternity involved in the medical processes,” Maneka said at a conference here on Monday. “Those registering the sex of the fetus will have to produce a medical certificate or cite the reason for termination of pregnancy.”
On the government’s Khoya Paya scheme, which is a citizen based website to exchange information on missing and found children. It has been developed by the Ministry of Women and Child Development and the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY). which involves putting up photographs of missing children and those of criminals involved in such cases on a dedicated website, the Union minister said it was yielding results. “This suggestion was made by the Prime Minister and it resulted in 500 children being found within two months (July and August) last year against recovery of 40 children over a span of a few months prior to that (scheme),” she said.
“The Center has proposed 660 Centers across the country, with each of them having a woman police officer, doctor, nurse, and an advocate,” she said.
