Proceedings of the National Workshop for
State Appropriate Authorities and Nodal Officers
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India with
United Nations Population Fund, UNFPA
Manesar, 27-28 February 2012
Background
Discrimination against women and girls is widespread in India and manifests itself in many ways,
including gender-biased sex selection. The practice of sex selection is evident in the severe decline in
the Child Sex Ratio (CSR) from 976 girls per 1000 boys in 1961 to 914 in 2011. One of the major
reasons for the decline in CSR is attributed to the introduction and proliferation of modern
technology such as ultrasound that enables sex determination, thereby reinforcing societal mindsets
for son preference.
In order to prohibit sex selection and prevent misuse of technology for preconception and prenatal
sex determination, the Government of India enacted the Pre-conception and Pre-natal Diagnostics
Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act, 1994 (PCPNDTAct).
Although the Act came into force in 1996 and was subsequently amended in 2003, implementation
of the provisions of the Act has been a challenge for State Governments. Since the enactment of the
Act there have been few prosecutions registered and few convictions under the Act. Effective
implementation of this significant social legislation requires commitment to the ideal of gender
equality and entails capacity building of all stakeholders involved in implementation of the PCPNDT
Act. Given this background, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), Government of
India (GoI) in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) India, organized a twoday national workshop for State Appropriate Authorities and Nodal Officers(PNDT) at ‘The Heritage’,
Manesar on 27-28 February, 2012, to sensitise implementing agencies under the statute and ena ble
effective implementation of the PCPNDT Act.
Objectives
The specific objectives of the workshop were as follows:
ß To re-orient Appropriate Authorities and Nodal Officers on the issue of sex selection and
enhance their understanding of the provisions of the PCPNDT Act
ß To build capacities and develop clarity on the roles and responsibilities of Appropriate
Authorities and Nodal Officerswith specific regard to:Workshop Proceedings 2 | P a g e
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¸ Constitution of statutory bodies under the Act including State Supervisory Board,
State/D istrict Advisory Committees/State Inspection and Monitoring Committees
and their effective functioning
¸ Identification of gaps in implementation of the statute in states and development of
action plans to address such gaps especially in terms of activities such a s registration
of clinics/facilities and timely renewal of registration
¸ Maintenance of records mandated under the Act including associated monitoring
and reporting formats
¸ Conduct of clinic inspections and regular scrutiny of recordstowards building
stronger cases for prosecution
¸ Recent amendments to the PCPNDT Act and decisions pertaining to the 18
t h
meeting
of Central Supervisory Board
¸ Use of communication tools for advocacy and awareness generation on the issue
Proceedings
Day I- February 27, 2012
Ms. Anuradha Vemuri, Director (PNDT), MoHFW welcomed all participants and outlined the
objectives of the workshop for effective implementation of the PCPNDT Act. She thanked UNFPA for
facilitating the workshop and expressed appreciation for their efforts. Ms. Vemuri also conveyed her
gratitude to the resource persons for making it possible to share their experiences and insightful
inputs in the campaign against sex selection and enforcement of the law.Reiterating the resolve of
the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for intensifying the drive against sex determination and
for initiating strict action against violations of the law,Ms. Vemuri requested the participants to use
this opportunity to improve their understanding of the Act and to learn from important
interventions undertaken by a number of States. She also referred to the self-learning CD circulated
to all participants and thanked the officers for completion of the learning capsule.
Shethen presented a status report on Act implementation, highlighting major issues pertaining to
lack of regular meetings of the State Supervisory Board (SSB) and the state advisory committees,
negligible inspection drives of ultrasound diagnostic centres, irregularity in submission of Quarterly
Progress Reports by states and absence of any monitoring mechanism for scrutiny of quarterly sales
reports by ultrasound machine manufacturers. In conclusion, Ms. Vemuri thanked the officers for
their participation and urged them to implement key learnings from the workshop for ensuring
compliance of the provisions of the Act.
The next part of the inaugural session was facilitated by Ms. Ena Singh, Assistant Representative,
UNFPA who expanded upon the perceived role of the Act, from that of mere regulation to prevent
the misuse of technology for sex selection, to a much larger role that servesthree major purposes: 1.
To present a warning and provide a deterrent mechanism against sex selection, 2. To establish
consequences for those adopting/practising sex determination and sex selection and 3. To provide
support to women who are pressurized by their families to go in for sex determination and sex
selection. Ms. Singh asserted that in the times to come as India’s fertility rate dropped the pressures
for sex determination and selection would accelerate with more and more people wanting small
families but with a preference for boys. This could instigate new manifestations of old practices such Workshop Proceedings 3 | P a g e
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as dowry and violence against women which would further undermine the status of women in
society. She also held that the Act’s successful implementation depended on joint and coordinated
action across the different actors and states, as ad-hoc initiatives or initiatives by a few states alone
would be defeated by cross border activities leading toAct violation. Shefurther emphasized that
while working on sex selection, precaution should be taken to ensure that women’s access to safe
and legal abortion services is not compromised.
The first session of the workshop chaired by Ms. Anuradha Vemuri was devoted to building an
understanding of the PCPNDTAct through open discussion and interactive ‘Question and Answer’
exercises. The session helped establish clarity on the role of Appropriate Authorities and nodal
officers concerning registration, clinic inspection, and review of F forms and reporting.
Dr. V. K.Goyal, former-Nodal officer (PNDT), Government of Punjab, made a presentation on the
implementation of the PCPNDT Act and Rulesand exhorted the participants to address key
challenges with regard to effective monitoring of facilities andclinic records and on taking stringent
action against violators of the Act. Ms. Anuradha Vemuri then discussed the recent Amendments in
the PCPNDT Act and Rules. These are as given in Box 1and 2 below:
Box 1: Amended Rule 11(2) substituted by G.S.R. 426(E), dated 31-05-2011 (w.e.f 31-5-2011)
The Appropriate Authority or the officer authorized by it may seal and seize any ultrasound machine,
scanner or any other equipment, capable of detecting sex of foetus, used by any organization if the
organization has not got itself registered under the Act. These machines of such organizations shall
be confiscated and further action taken as per the Section 23 of the Act (Section 23 dictates
imprisonment upto 3 years and fine upto INR 50,000.00).
Box 2: Amendment with regard to regulation of portable Ultrasound equipment
G.S.R. 80(E), dated 07-02-2012
The use of portable machines is to be permitted only in the following conditions:
ß Portable machine being used within the premises it is registered, for providing bedside
services to the patients
ß As part of a mobile medical unit, offering a bouquet of other health and medical services
ß The machine under no circumstances will be used for sex determination of the foetus, as
mentioned under Section 6 of the said ActWorkshop Proceedings 4 | P a g e
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Ms. Vemuri also presented proposed amendments that were deliberated in the Central Supervisory
Board (CSB). These have been summarized as follows:
Ms. Ifat Hamid , Consultant (Gender), MoHFW made a presentation on the monitoring and reporting
formats for reporting by states underthe PCPNDT Act. She highlighted the gaps in submission of
Quarterly Progress Reports by States and the need for furnishing correct and updated information as
per prescribed formats. She also stressed on the need to ensure regular monitoring and scrutiny of
Form Fswhich have to be submitted by clinics/facilities by the 5
t h
of every month under the Act. She
suggested that States could consider digitization of registration records as a step towards
streamlining maintenance of records by Appropriate Authorities.
In the post lunch session, Dr.Neelam Singh, member CSB and the National Inspection and
Monitoring Committee (NIMC) presented field observations from NIMC visits. Some of the main
observations included the following:
ß Form F swerefound to be incomplete with missing entries; in many cases the old format
(pre 2003) was still being used
ß The updated list of operational centres was not available with the Appropriate Authorities,
and in many cases the addresses were not complete; in some cases the centres had been
closed down but the registration certificate had not been submitted to the Appropriate
Authority which reflected poor monitoring by the Appropriate Authorities
ß Inadequate technical knowledge of Appropriate Authorities in many cases prevented them
from effectively monitoring and enforcing the Act. The specific areas where clear
understanding needs to be developed are relatedto evidence collection, procedures for seal
and seizure, recording of evidence/panchnama, issuing show cause notice, and ensuring
compliance with the reporting systems and processes as prescribed
Box 3: Amendments approved by the CSB:
ß Amendment restricting the Registration of a radiologist/ sonologist with ultrasound clinics -
CSB decided that registration of doctors would be allowed for a maximum of 2 centres that
too within the district only. Number of hours for which the Registered Medical Practitioner
would be present in each clinic would be specified clearly in the registration itself.
ß Increase in Registration fee of facilities/clinics registered under the PNDT Act- INR 25,000 for
Genetic Counselling Centre, Genetic Laboratory, Genetic Clinic, Ultrasound Clinic or Imaging
Centre and INR 35,000 for an institute, hospital, nursing home, or any place providing jointly
the service of a Genetic Counselling Centre, Genetic Laboratory and Genetic Clinic,
Ultrasound Clinic or Imaging Centre or any combination thereof
ß Amendment to Rule 13 of the PNDT Rules- Every Genetic Counselling Centre, Genetic
Laboratory, Genetic Clinic, Ultrasound Clinic and Imaging Centre shall intimate every change
of employee, place, address and equipment installed, to the APPROPRIATE AUTHORITY at
least 30 days in advance of the expected date of such change, and seek issuance of a new
certificate with the changes duly incorporatedWorkshop Proceedings 5 | P a g e
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ß In many instances, state and district officials were found to be operating in a denial mode,
refusing to admit that there were instances of Act violation in their jurisdiction.
ß NIMC members also had to contend with information leaks prior to inspection visits that
enabled the ultrasound centre owners to prepare in advance for the visits or to shut down
the clinics.
ß The issue of lack of ownership by the state team was also brought forward to highlight the
need to improve coordination between the state and district officials. Dr. Singh noted that
lack of follow up on violations by the state subsequent to the NIMC visit also resulted in poor
compliance ofthe Act. In a number of instances the state had de-sealed clinic/centres
without filing cases in the court even though NIMC had found prima-facie evidence of
serious irregularities.
Advocate VarshaDeshpande, ex-member CSB and SSB , Maharashtra, member NIMCfacilitated the
session on the ‘how to’ of inspections and locating clinics undertaking illegal sex determination. Ms.
Deshpande referred to the Training Guidebook for Appropriate Authorities on the PCPNDT Act from
the Lek LadkiAbhiyanand emphasized the following key points that must be ensured during
inspection visits:
ß Is a board on display?- Rule 17 (1)
1
The Training guidebook for Appropriate Authorities recommends that the board be displayed at
two places in the clinic, one in a conspicuous location and the other in the ultrasonography room
near the machine.
ß Is a copy of the Act available at the Centre?- Rule 17 (2)
2
The training guidebook recommends that the Act be available in two languages:
· In local language- for visitors
· In English- for doctors
1
Rule 17 (1): Public Information- Every Genetic Counselling Centre, Genetic Laboratory, Genetic Clinic,
Ultrasound Clinic, and Imaging Centres shall prominently display on its premises a notice in English and in the
local language or languages for the information of the public, to the effect that disclosure of the sex of the
foetus is prohibited under law.
2
Rule 17 (2)- Public Information- At least one copy of the Act and these rules shall be available on the premises
of every Genetic Counselling Centre, Genetic Laboratory, Genetic Clinic, Ultrasound Clinic, and Imaging Centres
and shall be made available to the clientele on demand for perusal.
Box 4: Text on the board (As suggested by the Training guidebook for Appropriate
Authorities)
Sex determination is a criminal offence under the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and
Prevention of Misuse) Act. The penalty for doctors performing this test includes rigorous
imprisonment up to 3 years and fine of INR 10,000. For the family members demanding the test the
punishment includes up to five years of rigorous imprisonment and fine of INR 50,000. The pregnant
woman will not be charged with criminal offence.
read more here: http://india.unfpa.org/drive/PCNDTworkshop_report19final.pdf
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