Women and Child Development Minister Maya Singh on Saturday warned of cancelling licences of doctors who conducted sex determination test and said that strict action would also be taken against the parents involved in this.
Addressing a seminar ‘Female Foeticide- a Curse’ held here on Saturday to mark the 21st foundation day of the Madhya Pradesh Human Rights Commission, Singh said that social crimes like female foeticide needed to be considered seriously. It was unfortunate that the educated class of society was involved in it.
She said that girls have right to be born. They cannot be deprived of this human right. The Minister said that there was no place for mindset of gender discrimination in the present age. Society should come forward to change this mindset.
Singh asked the Chief Secretary Anthony DeSa to ensure strict implementation of PCC & DT Act in all districts and action should be taken in registered case to set example.
The Woman and Child Development Minister appreciated the Commission for organising this seminar on the sensitive and burning issue and inviting responsible persons to participate. She hoped that conclusions drawn at the seminar will guide the society.
Commission’s acting Chairman Dr Veerendra Mohan Kanwar said that main provisions of PCC & DT Act should be implemented strictly in the State. All sonography machines found to be conducting sex determination tests must be seized. Prosecution in such cases also needs to be accelerated.
He said that more cases would be detected if strict watch was maintained in districts. Doctors take oath to respect life as soon as it is conceived in womb. If they act according to this conduct then infant morality rate can be reduced.
The Chief Secretary said that this issue needed continuous awareness. Human civilisation gave us a unique identity over other living beings. It is the need of the hour to discuss female foeticide. It casts ill effects on mother’s mental and physical health. Female foeticide is the most heinous crime. Important recommendations made by Human Rights Commission have helped the State Government, he added.
Commission’s Secretary Vinod Kumar said that 37,000 cases came up before the commission during last 3 years, of which 35,000 have been disposed of. The commission also organised public awareness programmes for protection of rights in districts.