In 1994, to prohibit sex selection by pre-natal diagnostic techniques (DETERMINATION OF GENDER OF A BABY IN MOTHERS WOMB)this act was formed. Later it was amended in 1996.The aim behind the act was to curb the alarming number of female foeticide in the country.
However, now it has acquired a new shape because of the misinterpretation of the legislation at the state level and a few damaging clauses in the Act have resulted in harassment of sonologists (radiologists who practice ultrasonography).
Now, it is nothing but the pre-requisition to purchase ultrasound machine and it is keeping check over the US machine rather than pre-natal sex determination.
While purchasing the machine, the radiologist and/or ultrasonologist has to declare that he won?t perform prenatal sex determination in any form. I?m morally agree that female feticide is responsible for altered sex ratio in the society. But just by imposing shallow improperly framed laws, how can we prohibit it? You just check the sex ratio after and before imposing this law-you?ll get the answer.
During my practice I?ve seen that every lady wants to know the sex of her child. Every influential person tries to know the same by hook and crook. It is the morality and greediness of the ultrasonologist which decides, whether it will be disclosed or not, not these shallow laws.
Here, I just want to raise few questions:
1.Everywhere we may find crowd and congestion. Whether it is career or street-every thing is crowded. Even a well-educated person is not getting his place or job in this country. Why it is so? Obviously the answer is ever increasing population! Government is propagating the message of limiting families by two children. But in Indian context the reason behind the third child is often a desire to get a son and I personally feel that in our society it is a genuine desire.
Ask honestly to yourself, whether you?ll allow your young daughter to sought out a doctor in the night hours while you have a pain in chest? Can you answer who will take care of your shaking legs in your old age? You may get its honest answer from the desire of tinsel town celebrity Mr. and Mrs. Ajay Devgan, who visited Ajmer Dargah in the year 2003 Aug to get a son! And unfortunately it was their first baby!!
2.Think about an educated middle class clerk working in govt sector and hardly fulfilling his need. He genuinely wants to limit his family by two children and wants to plan his family (for which society has given him the rights also). Now, what if unfortunately he is not in position to plan his second child due to the above-mentioned laws and gets second female child!
Who will take responsibility and support him mentally or financially when he plans third child in the desire of getting a male progeny? Even if the third child is male, what will be the future of that family? On the worst side think about the situation where the third child is again a female one! Doesn?t it mean we are increasing our population or domestic instability in the middle class segment (Yes it is only the middle class who is suffering-Others will surely & smartly plan their families) by imposing PND act?
3.It is really surprising that feticide or ?Fetal Murder? done in the name of family planning is nowhere is a crime! A couple not mentally prepared for the conception may legally abort the fetus. But same thing done for the desire of male child or social security is taken as crime! Actually speaking both are Murders-nothing else! Who has given this right of murder to the mother? I think the mother should be hanged till death before any body else is penalized for such act.
4.One more interesting thing in this act is the penalization or punishment of the least responsible person for the act of fetecide. If, I tell you a story; Mr. A gave the contract of Killing to Mr. B for a person about which Mr. C provided the information. Now, if I ask, who is responsible for the killing? You?ll surely say it is the brain behind the plan Mr. A and partly the professional killer Mr. B and they should be punished most. But the contrary is happening in case of feticide. The brain behind the killing act (Mother) and the professional killer (Gynecologist performing abortion) are not sought after for punishment but it is the informer (Ultrasonologist) who is the target of this act!!
5.In the present context, even the concerned authorities are not aware of the implementation and its target. Say for example a person doing mobile ultrasound practice and has registered his machine and himself and taken a Moral/legalized oath not to detect fetal sex, is often directed by the authorities to perform ultrasounds only at registered centers! I don?t know whether they are regularizing the ultrasound machines or the ultrasonologist and their practice or the pre natal sex determination? Once the radiologist has declared that he will send information of all the pregnancy cases to the authorities then how does the place will affect the pre natal sex determination?
6.This law is formed in such a way that any influential person can violate it in any govt center and any body can trap an ultrasonologist any time even without performing the prenatal sex determination. Say for the example one may not keep a machine at a place for which the same machine is not registered. One may easily trap an ultrasonologist in this act just by getting his machine from his vehicle, while in transportation. It is appearing that either this law should be called as ?Professional Rivalry act for Radiolologist/Ultrasonologist? or ? Ultrasound machine regulation act?.
7.In the present situation either the act should be amended in such a way that it should give some relief to a person already having one female child or it should be implemented so strongly along with the family planning rules that no body (Including top celebrities and politicians) should have more than two children. The person having more than two children should not be allowed to get any govt post or contest any election. In addition it should target the gynecologists and couples seeking prenatal sex determination and abortions before the ultrasonologist is punished. All the foolish clauses regulating ultrasound machines instead of regulating the sex determination should be deleted from the act.