Log on to file online complaint against sex determination…..Anuradha Mascarenhas
The State Family Welfare Bureau in Pune on Wednesday launched a website www.amchimulgi.gov.in that urges people to help stop sex determination and report complaints online.
The website, designed by the NIC in English, Marathi and Hindi, does not reveal the identity of the person filing the complaint. Additional Director of State Family Welfare Bureau Dr Suresh Gupta said a person need not disclose his/her name while registering the complaint on the website.
No doctor, clinic or hospital will be declared guilty without a thorough investigation and sufficient proof about violation of the Pre Conception and Pre Natal Diagnostics Techniques Act, said Assistant Director of Health at the Family Welfare Bureau Dr A Khade.
Gupta said the Act can be properly implemented if community members come forward to report such cases where female foeticide was rampant.
As per 2001 census, child sex ratio of the country was 927 girls per 1,000 boys in 0-6 years age group. In Maharashtra, it was 913 with districts of Kolhapur, Satara and Sangli reporting less than 878 girls per 1,000 boys. The recent Sample Registration System data for Maharashtra from 2006-08 showed that sex selection was rampant in Maharashtra as the number of girls came down to 869 per 1,000 boys.
Another initiative to help curb female foeticide was the launch of a helpline with a toll free number 18002334475. According to Khade, the helpline received 163 calls, out of which 27 pertained to specific complaints about sex determination. Two were from Pune while a majority were from Nanded, Beed and Jalgaon. The complaints have been sent to appropriate local authorities implementing the PC-PNDT Act in their regions.