Shiv Sena MLC Neelam Gorhe acknowledged that strong political will to stop female foeticide was lacking among all political parties, which is the main reason for dip in the sex ratio in the state.
She was speaking at a seminar organised by the Pune Union of Working Journalists Association on Wednesday.“When we talk about it in the lobby after the legislature session many political leaders, particularly the male members, laugh it off. No firm stand is taken by politicians on such a grave problem,” stated Gorhe.
Stating that killing of girl child is going on since years in the state, she said no government took it up until the recent sting operations caught the doctors red-handed.
“The government and officials have appealed to social activists and NGOs for help to tackle the issue, but what is it doing about laws against sex determination,which have been there for so many years,” she asked.
Social activist Kiran Moghe also questioned the silence of political parties on the issue for so many years. She said even in Parli Vaijanath, in Beed district, where a doctor was arrested after a sting operation, no political party came forward to raise the issue.
“So many of the accused in the case are still in service.Mohan Nagne, radiologist in Aundh General Hospital, was caught red-handed in 2006. He was suspended in April 2006,but is now working as a medical officer in a primary health centre in Shikrapur,” she said citing an example.
The committees formed to curb female foeticide do not meet regularly.They hesitate to take social activists who raise ‘difficult questions’ for the government, she regretted. “Action has been taken only against 10% of total sonography centres, so they cannot call it harassment, because strict implementation is must,” she said.
