Pune: State chief secretary Jayanth Kumar Banthia has directed municipal commissioners and district collectors to carry out surprise inspection drives at sonography centres in their respective areas. The order issued on Monday, comes in view of the rising number of cases of female foeticide in the state.

Barely a day after two female foetuses were found dumped near a bridge in Beed, state officials on Sunday recovered two more foetuses, including one from Beed itself. The other was found dumped near a residential pocket in Solapur. Also, an undisposed body of a stillborn girl child was recovered from a farm near Udgir in Latur district. On Monday, the Beed police found a male foetus at Antarvan Pimpri, a village about eight km from Beed. The foetus has been sent for post-mortem.

Around the same time last year, three female foetuses were found dumped in Beed, following which state health officials sealed 273 sonography centres across state. Recognition of 75 MTP (medical termination of pregnancy) centres was withdrawn for breaching norms of the MTP Act, 1971.

“Banthia issued the order during a meeting of district collectors and municipal commissioners, which was held via video conferencing on Monday. The aim is to ensure that all centres follow the Pre-conception and Pre-natal Diagnostics Techniques Act in letter and spirit and strengthen the monitoring mechanism,” said V D Khanande, joint director of state health services.

Asaram Khade, assistant director, family welfare, and in charge of PCPNDT cases, said, “The decision to conduct inspection drives was taken to ensure that strict action is taken against those centres and doctors who indulge in sex determination tests and selective abortions.”

Pune municipal commissioner Mahesh Pathak said, “We will start the drive immediately. Our officials have been periodically inspecting sonography centres and the monitoring system is well in place”.

State president of Akhil Bharatiya Janwadi Mahila Sanghata, Kiran Moghe, said sonography and MTP centres as well as maternity homes falling in state's sensitive areas should be inspected to prevent cases of female foeticide.

Provisional figures of the 2011 census have come as a shock for the state as the child sex ratio declined by 30 points from 913 in 2001 to 883. The status of child sex ratio was a cause of concern for the entire state in general and all districts in Marathwada in particular. The child sex ratio has declined by 30 or more points in 14 districts, of which 7 districts — Jalgaon, Jalna, Parbhani, Hingoli, Washim, Buldhana and Beed — have shown a decline of more than 50 points.

Citizens have been requested to inform the state’s appropriate authority if they know of any illegal sex determination practices. Complaints can be lodged on the toll free number 18002334475, officials said.

Now, male foetus found dumped in Beed
Aurangabad: The Beed police on Monday found a male foetus in a village located about 140 km from here. “The foetus has been sent for post-mortem, and we have deployed our men to look for suspects who dumped the foetus in that village,” said Shrikant Dhivare, additional superintendent of police.

Police sources said around 11 am on Monday, residents of the Antarvan Pimpri village, about eight km from Beed, spotted about a dozen dogs running to a specific place in a dry nullah soon after two unidentified persons had left the place. The farmers rushed to the spot to find a half-buried male foetus.

A police official said, “It appeared to be a fully-grown newborn boy of nine months, who might have died at birth, and was dumped by relatives at the nullah.” The police also said it appeared that the boy was delivered at a well-equipped hospital as the umbilical cord was duly clamped.

Beed district continued to be in the news since the death of a sugarcane harvester Vijaymala Pattekar, at the hospital owned by Sudam and Saraswati Munde in Parli Vaijanath on May 18.

Both the divisions of the health department in Marathwada have launched a campaign to check sonography centres and nursing homes with an aim to discourage female foeticide.

Speaking to TOI, S S Patil, deputy director of health services, Latur, said all sonography centres and the centres doing medical termination of pregnancies (MTP) are being scanned in four districts under the Latur division – Beed, Osmanabad, Latur and Nanded.

Patil said the special drive was launched jointly by the health department, revenue and the police departments. Similarly, health authorities in Aurangabad division have also decided to launch a campaign to check MTP and sonography centres. TNN

Provisional figures of the 2011 census have come as a shock for the state as the child sex ratio declined by 30 points from 913 in 2001 to 883. The status of child sex ratio was a cause of concern for the entire state in general and all districts in Marathwada in particular. The child sex ratio has declined by 30 or more points in 14 districts