Scrutiny on scan centres to be enhanced to curb female foeticide in Tamil Nadu

KRISHNAGIRI: There will be more scrutiny on scan centres in Tamil Nadu as the health authorities have decided to double down on illegal sex determination and abortion rackets. The Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine recently sent a circular to all District Health Officers (DHOs) to hold surprise checks at at least three scan centres in a month to curb sex-selective abortion in the State. They also have to visit all scan centres. However, health officials claimed DHOs can effectively function only if they are empowered to lodge police complaints on their own and are included in the District-Level Advisory Committee by gazette notification. As per the circular issued in the first week of April, the raids have to be carried out in coordination with the Joint Director of Health Services to strengthen the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act. "In recent days, sex-selective abortion, especially of girl's foetus, are found to be common in a few areas in the State. In order to strengthen the PCPNDT Act, the DHOs in coordination with the Joint Director of Health Services (JDHS) of the districts are instructed to conduct a surprise visit at scan centres at least three centres a month," stated the circular of the Director of Public Health and Preventive Medicine TS Selvavinayagam. The circular further added, "All DHOs, in coordination with the JDHS of the respective districts, are requested to visit all scan centres in their Health Unit Districts (HUD) and submit the inspection report upon completion of the visit. And the reports of inspection and surprise check should be sent to the Directorate on the sixth of every month."