New method to determine sex ratio soon?

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The women and child development (WCD) ministry is seeking to calculate sex ratio from birth, instead of existing method of calculating it from 0-6 years.

This has been decided after the latest census showed a sharp decline in sex ratio and after the UPA chairperson-led National Advisory Council (NAC) recommended the ministry for the same.

The WCD is also considering to recommend stricter penal action against the family opting for sex selective abortion. With an aim to arrest declining child sex ratio, the NAC, in their recommendations, suggested to formulate a national policy for improving the sex ratio at birth, among other recommendations.

WCD secretary Prem Narain said the recommendations will be deliberated upon in an inter- ministerial coordination committee meeting this month.

“The NAC suggested that we should prepare a national policy on child sex ratio. They have also made other recommendation, like that the counting of birth should be done at the age of birth and not from the age of 0 to 6 years,” he said.

Earlier, the number of girls from the age group 0 to 6 years was compared with the number of boys in the same age group. Mr Narain said that it was felt that there was a substantial difference between the number of girls being born vis-à-vis the number of boys and the NAC had in one of their recommendations suggested this criterion.

During the NAC meeting, the experts also cited strengthening the current legal regime to prevent misuse of medical technology for sex selection and develop a legislative framework for the future.

According to NAC, it should focus on the Pre-Conception & Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act, 1994 (PC&PNDT Act) as well as consider the implications from the perspective of sex selection of new legislation such as the Draft Assisted Reproductive Technologies (Regulation) Bill, 2010.

The experts also suggested evaluating current conditional cash incentives and other schemes and plan schematic interventions for poor as well as middle and high income families. “This was recommended as it was felt that the problem was not linked to poverty,” Mr Narain added.

It was also recommended to review other genderrelated laws and policies, including the dowry prohibition law, amendments to laws related to rape and connected provisions, among others, in order to propose amendments or ways to strengthen implementation; and sensitise frontline health workers, public officials, elected representatives, the judiciary and the police.