Chandigarh- In a transfer to additional intensify efforts to curb feminine foeticide, Punjab Well being and Household Welfare Minister Dr Balbir Singh on Tuesday set an bold goal for the state to surpass the nationwide common in bettering the intercourse ratio by subsequent 12 months.
The Well being Minister, whereas chairing a state-level capability constructing workshop on Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Methods (Prohibition of Intercourse Choice) Act (PC–PNDT) in Chandigarh, known as upon all Civil Surgeons and healthcare employees proper as much as ASHA employees, for fixed vigilance, to watch pregnancies and forestall this unethical apply. He exhorted well being officers to make sure energetic monitoring of each pregnant lady and mentioned there can’t be a worse crime than killing a lady little one.
Highlighting the importance of the PC-PNDT Act— which was enacted in 1994 and strengthened in 2003 to forestall the misuse of medical expertise for intercourse dedication, the Minister harassed that the legislation is efficient solely when society stands behind it. He reminded members that no particular person is allowed to hunt the intercourse of an unborn little one and no physician or clinic is permitted to reveal it, including that any such act is extreme crime and carries strict penalties, together with imprisonment and cancellation of licences.
Dr Balbir Singh expressed concern that Punjab had traditionally confronted a worrying imbalance between the variety of girls and boys, fuelled by social discrimination, regressive mindsets and the inhuman apply of feminine foeticide. He famous that as a consequence of strict enforcement of the legislation, focused monitoring, raids, registration techniques and sustained consciousness campaigns below the Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann led Punjab Authorities Authorities, the scenario has begun to enhance. Citing the Civil Registration System, he shared that Punjab’s intercourse ratio at beginning improved from 906 females per 1000 males in 2021–22 to 922 in 2023 and 921 in 2024, reflecting a 16-point rise as a consequence of coordinated efforts throughout the state.
The Minister knowledgeable that Punjab at the moment has 2,092 registered ultrasound centres, which have been inspected 2,703 occasions throughout 2025–26, and that show-cause notices have been issued to 13 centres the place discrepancies have been discovered. He shared that 63 conferences of the District Advisory Committees have been held to make sure vigilance and transparency in implementation.
He reiterated that ultrasound centres violating the provisions of the PC–PNDT Act will face strict motion, starting from licence cancellation to authorized penalties. Stressing that maternal diagnostic companies have now been made simply accessible at primary-level establishments corresponding to Aam Aadmi Clinics, he mentioned this enlargement strengthens the state’s means to watch pregnancies extra successfully.
Calling for societal transformation, Dr Balbir Singh mentioned the beginning of a daughter have to be celebrated and her schooling, progress and security have to be handled as collective tasks. He urged communities to showcase lady achievers as function fashions to encourage change. “A woman just isn’t merely a gender—she is the honour of a household, the soul of society and the pleasure of humanity,” he mentioned, including that even considering of harming a lady little one within the womb disturbs not only a household however the steadiness of the whole society.
He emphasised that campaigns like Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao and the PC–PNDT Act type the spine of a socially progressive future and the true objective of at the moment’s workshop is to ignite a change in mindset.Dr Balbir Singh honoured the districts with an improved intercourse ratio and urged everybody current to take a collective pledge that they may neither search nor permit anybody to hunt the intercourse of an unborn little one, that they won’t discriminate between girls and boys in any type, and that they may play an energetic function in spreading consciousness and constructing a folks’s motion to utterly get rid of feminine foeticide from Punjab.
Director PC-PNDT MoHFW GoI Dr Indranil Das, Advocate PC-PNDT Ifat Hamid and Program Administration Specialist UNFPA Anuja Gulati educated the members on varied features of the PC-PNDT act. Particular Secretary cum MD NHM Ghanshyam Thori, Director Well being and Household Welfare Dr Hitinder Kaur, Deputy Director Dr Navjot Kaur, Assistant Director Dr Harpreet Kaur and Program Officer Dr Arti have been additionally current within the workshop.
