Govt may make prenatal sex tests compulsory to curb female foeticide

New Delhi: In an attempt to curb female foeticide, Union Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi said the Central government was mulling to lift the ban on sex determination of the foetus.

While addressing All India Regional Editors Conference in Jaipur on Monday, the Minister said, a proposal is with the Cabinet which is contemplating on setting up a system that can track people, who try to kill the girl child before birth.

The government is deliberating to formulate a policy, under which the pregnant woman and her unborn child would be registered. This would help the authorities to keep a track on the baby as well the parents.

"My personal view is for a change in the present policy. Every pregnant woman should be compulsorily told whether it is a boy or girl," Maneka Gandhi said.

"When a woman becomes pregnant that should be registered and that way you will be able to monitor right until the end whether she gave birth or not and what happened."

If a couple undergoes abortion, they would have to produce a medical certificate to cite the reason for termination of pregnancy.

The Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act which came into force in 1994 bans identification of sex of the foetus.

The 2011 Census reports says that sex ratio in India 19 943 females per 1000 males.

Child sex ratio in Haryana is 889 girls per 1,000 boys.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who took upon himself the task of eradicating the menace of female foeticide and setting right the skewed sex ratio in the country, had launched the 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao' (BBBP) Programme from Panipat on January 22 last year.