To launch website, helpline to get tip-offs on rogue sonography centres
To launch website, helpline to get tip-offs on rogue sonography centres
Under fire for the dropping sex ratio in the state, officials from the family welfare bureau as well as the health department have stepped up surveillance on sonography and abortion clinics. After the first successful sting operation in the city, where two doctors were caught doing sex determination tests on a pregnant woman, the state government has come up with an action plan to get voluntary information from public on such centres.
Representation Pic
Speaking to MiD DAY, Additional Director (Family Welfare) Dr Suresh Gupta said that the website www.aamchimulgi.com would be launched by the Health Minister on World Population Day (July 11). "The website is ready for public use now. It will serve as a platform where people can not only find correct information about pregnancy, state-run schemes as well as an appeal to save the girl child, but also report any misdoing if they wish to. This website is just the initial step, many aggressive measures are in the pipeline," said Gupta.
He added that a helpline was also being started for anonymous reporting of crook clinics and doctors.
"We have applied for a three-digit toll free number. If it doesn't come in time, we will identify one of our office phones and keep that dedicatedly for this work. This helpline will be announced in the next couple of days. It may be payable initially, but we will make it a toll free number soon," he said.
Tie-ups with NGOs
Even as the state health department recorded its first major victory by registering 19 cases against the two accused doctors in the city and gathering credible evidence against them, officials also recognise the efforts of the non-governmental organisation that helped them cracked the case.
"Right from giving tip-offs to arranging for a pregnant woman to act as decoy and recording evidence, it was not possible for us to carry out effectively the operation without the assistance of an NGO. And we prefer NGOs to be there as they are trained in this area and can act as a better decoy than the general public. That's why we are thinking of a strategy to identify key NGOs. We are having consultations to come up with a plan where we can work together," said Gupta.
(Part II of series on female foeticide prevention)
Crackdown
IN the past 11 days, 2,738 sonography machines at 1,071 sonography clinics across the state have been inspected. Of these, 158 have been sealed, most of them from Beed district. Of these, 14 machines were sealed in Pune district, nine of them within Pune Municipal Corporation limits and five from Pimpri-Chinchwad.
902 Number of girls per 1,000 boys in 2001 Census
873 Number of girls per 1,000 boys in 2011 Census
29 Number of girls missing per 1,000 boys in the past 10 years
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