The government lost 39 cases and the rest are pending, which means more than 80 cases under the Pre-conception and Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques Act are pending in the state.
Since the Pre-conception and Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, 1994 came into force, the state government registered only 156 cases under the act. Out of these, over 80 cases are pending, while only four accused were imprisoned.
The above data, acquired from the department of health services of the state government, brings out the half-hearted efforts of the state government in implementing the act.
Interestingly, Maharashtra was the first state to make a law to prevent sex determination tests. It was called Maharashtra Regulation of Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques Act, 1988. It was later that the Central government enacted the Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (PNDT) Act, 1994 which was amended to cover selection of sex of the child before conception. After amendment, it became the PCPNDT Act.
Though Maharashtra was the first state to initiate action against sex selective abortion, the law is almost unused the state.
Additional director of health services, Maharashtra, Suresh Gupta said 14 people were fined under the act since its inception, while four were sentenced to rigorous imprisonment. The government lost 39 cases and the rest are pending, which means more than 80 cases under the PCPNDT Act are pending in the state.
Varsha Deshpande, who conducted a sting operation in Parali Vaijanath to expose Dr Sudam Munde, who was allegedly involved in sex determination and sex selective abortions, questioned the state government's seriousness in dealing with the issue.
"Since a section of the doctors are involved in such illegal tests, the state government does not want to act against them. The pressure from the doctors is huge," she alleged.
A member of the national inspection and monitoring committee (NIMC) of the Central government, responsible for effective implementation of laws against female foeticide, Deshpande also questioned why the state government had lost the cases. "It means that the state government could not put up a strong case against the suspects," she said.
As a member of the NIMC and of the central supervisory board under the PCPNDT Act, she was intervened in many cases.
"The state government has been lenient towards the culprits, mostly doctors," she said.
Interestingly, health minister, Suresh Shetty, who visited Beed (Parali Vaijanath falls in Beed district) on June 24, gave time to the private practitioners and had a discussion with them, but he conveniently avoided meeting the women's organisations that had waited for hours to meet him, she complained.
"Why aren't the doctors accused in cases under PCPNDT being de-registered? Only 7,800 sonography machines in the state are registered, while thousands are illegally purchased. How many cases has the government filed?" she asked.
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