Delhi Accounts for 23,000 Female Fetus Abortions Last Year

Around 23,000 female foetuses were aborted in the capital last year with, experts said Wednesday.

"Whereas Denmark had 23,000 births in 2005, the same number of female foetuses were aborted in Delhi alone," said Puneet Bedi, a leading medicine expert, quoting records of the Delhi government.

"In a recent audit on ultrasound clinics based on three months data, we found that only 700 out of the registered 1,800 ultrasound clinics in Delhi are submitting monthly reports mandated under the PNDT (Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques) Act," Bedi told IANS.

He was talking in a conference on prenatal sex selection organised by the Delhi government, Delhi Commission of Women (DCW) and a number of UN-based bodies here.

DCW chairman Kiran Walia said female foeticide is genocide and to increase conviction, "such cases should be handled by special fast track courts".

Walia said portable ultrasound machines were playing a major role in these cases and PNDT authorities should regulate their use in Delhi.

Expressing helplessness of her department, Rashmi Singh, joint director of social welfare said it should be monitored on a monthly basis by the principal secretary and there should be a bi-annual review by the chief minister.

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R.Chand, director (PNDT) in the ministry of health and family welfare informed that the Central Supervisory Board is reviewing a complaint seeking limited use of portable ultrasound machines. An action may be taken in August this year.

(Source: IANS News)