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| CURRENT AFFAIRS |
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JAMMU & KASHMIR |
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J&K govt shuts down 69 ultrasound clinics to fight female foeticide
A year after the female to male ratio nosedived to 859 girls to 1000 boys, the state has started a crackdown
Riyaz Wani
Srinagar
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Illustration: Anand Naorem |
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Around 69 ultrasound clinics allegedly known to have been involved in sex determination tests in the Valley have been sealed over the past one year. An award of Rs 50,000 has been announced for any whistleblower, who bring forth information of sex determination tests being carried out by doctors. Religious leaders too have been enlisted to spread awareness. One-and-a-half year after the sex ratio in the age-group of one and six years nosedived to 859 females per 1000 males, Jammu and Kashmir's battle for saving the girl-child is being waged on many fronts.
"It has been a difficult year for us but we are trying to make a difference," says Director of Health Dr Saleem-ur-Rehman. Talking about difficulties, Saleem says, "We are working on two-pronged strategy of acting against the clinics indulging in sex determination tests and educating people to protect the girl child."
First step to prevent the sex determination tests, says Saleem, was to keep an eye on the Valley's hundreds of private testing laboratories that are suspected to covertly perform sex determination tests. "We sent decoy customers to the laboratories and clinics to check if sex determination tests are performed. And wherever we found this is the case, we sealed them right away," says the doctor. "Similarly, awards for acts of whistleblowing and creating alertness have worked wonders. People are coming with information. This has helped us to take a better control of the situation."
The government has also moved against the proliferating illegal clinics. Directions have been issued by the health department to all clinics to register under J&K Pre-Conception & Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act (PCPNDT), 2002. Under the Act, all the clinics and imaging centres are strictly barred from performing sex determination tests. So far, there are only 21 establishments registered under the Act in the Valley and applications for 114 are under process. Around 157 USG (ultrasonography) clinics are established under Clinical Establishment Act. The health department, on the other hand, has 57 ultrasound clinics.
The PCPNDT Act was enacted in J&K in 2006. Any violation of the PCPNDT Act is punishable with imprisonment for three years and Rs 10,000 to 50,000 as fine and the subsequent conviction is punishable with imprisonment of 5 years and Rs 50,000 as fine. The offence is "cognizable, non-bailable and non-compoundable".
Last year, the department sealed an illegally run clinic at Srinagar's Hari Singh High Street. The doctor there was caught "conducting tubectomy on a woman". The clinic was sealed and the doctor was arrested, the first such arrest under J&K PCPNDT Act. The health department filed a criminal complaint under section 28 of the J&K Pre-conception and Pre-natal Sex Selection/Determination (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 2002. The court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Srinagar, took cognizance and directed the police to investigate and submit a detailed report.
Another nursing home at Khayyam Road in downtown Srinagar was sealed for operating illegally. The nursing home had not registered its USG machine under the PCPNDT Act.
"Our objective is not only to arrest the trend but also change the values and perceptions to create a positive image of the girl child," says Saleem.
However, the owners of the private diagnostic centres, on the other hand, complain of being unfairly targeted. "I will tell you with full certainty that no sex determination tests or female foeticide takes place at the clinics manned by qualified doctors," says Dr Omar Kirmani, a radiologist at Srinagar's multi-speciality Sri Maharaja Hari Singh hospital. He, however, can't vouch for the scores of ultrasound clinics that seem to be mushrooming in the Valley. "May be it is the practice in clinics which don't have sufficiently qualified doctors and hence need to look for business," he adds.
Omar Iqbal, president of Private Diagnostic Centres Association, insists that no sex determination tests or female foeticide takes place in the Valley. He blames the government for conjuring up the imaginative census figures on sex ratio. "True, everybody would like to have a son but people will not kill their daughters. I can tell you from my experience in the field that far fewer people are interested in female foeticide in the Valley," asserts Iqbal.
Last year, his association had filed an RTI with the health department to collect the information on the number of doctors booked for performing sex determination tests or female foeticide in Kashmir. "The government reply says that no doctor or clinic in the Valley has ever been found involved in the practice," says Iqbal.
Dr Shabir, a sonologist, accuses the government of "character assassination". "No case has been reported, not to speak of being accused or convicted. The government started raiding our clinics for no reason," says Dr Shabir who owns a private hospital. "But we are ready to cooperate and even help fight female foeticide if it exists in the Valley. Government should not victimise us but seek our support," he adds.
There are virtually no non-governmental organisations in Kashmir who are campaigning against sex determination tests. This has made the state government the only agency engaged in arresting the trend.
Riyaz Wani is a Special Correspondent with Tehelka.
riyaz@tehelka.com
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