Ban on sex determination needed: Centre

[ 27 Mar, 2007 0309hrs ISTTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]

MUMBAI: The Union of India told the Bombay high court (HC) that there was no question of lifting the ban on pre-natal sex determination tests. The government was responding to a public interest litigation filed by a Mumbai couple seeking relaxation of the ban. In an affidavit, Sushma Rath, under secretary, Union ministry of health and family welfare, said that sections of the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act, 2002, that enforced the ban, was in accordance with the law. The Act, the affidavit said, was enacted by Parliament to check the rising incidents of female foeticide. "The government of India, anticipating a catastrophe in the form of severe imbalance in the male-female ratio, has passed the Act," said the affidavit, pointing out that the sex ratio in the country of the population in the 0 to 6 age group was adversely against the girl child. The infant child ratio has come down from 945 (for every 1,000 male children) as per the 1991 census to 927 in 2001. The problem was especially bad in affluent states like Punjab (798), Haryana (819), Chandigarh (845), Delhi (868), Gujarat (883) and Himachal Pradesh (896). The couple, who have two girls and now want a son, have questioned the constitutional validity of the ban. They have sought a relaxation of the ban for couples who already have one child. The affidavit, however, said that the ban was a policy decision of the government. “Balancing the sex ratio in the society is more important than balancing the sex ratio within the family," the affidavit affirmed. "Any imbalance in the sex ratio of the society will adversely affect the overall well-being of women in the society." The PIL is scheduled to come for hearing later this week.