Haryana’s sex ratio at birth rose to 905 between January 1 to August 18 this year, up from 899 in the same period last year, according to details shared at a weekly State Task Force meeting on Tuesday.
Chaired by Additional Chief Secretary (Health) Sudhir Rajpal, the meeting saw officials review progress on improving the sex ratio and curbing illegal abortions.
The state has intensified its crackdown on illegal abortions, registering 43 First Information Reports (FIRs) this year through reverse tracking of Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) cases, with three more under process.
The meeting, held under the guidance of Health and Family Welfare Minister Arti Singh Rao, focused on enforcing stringent measures, including revoking licences of doctors found complicit in illegal abortions.
Rajpal directed officials to strengthen reverse tracking of MTP and abortion cases beyond 12 weeks, particularly where women have one or more daughters. The state has issued notices to 38 private hospitals and clinics for suspected illegal abortion practices. Additionally, 1,182 more MTP and abortion cases beyond 12 weeks will now be reverse-tracked.
Meanwhile, a quack supplying MTP kits was arrested in Narela by a health department team in Sonipat. Rajpal instructed chief medical officers (CMOs) to coordinate with police and legal teams to ensure convictions in such cases and also called for streamlined staffing to provide CMOs with adequate legal manpower.
Rajpal further directed action against Sahelis (volunteer assistants) linked to pregnant women in cases where female foetuses were aborted, emphasising strict measures if illegalities are found.
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In its previous meeting, the Haryana Health Department had directed the state police to trace phone records and location history of the accused in such cases.
Earlier, the task force had announced that the state’s sex ratio has improved to 907, as per data collected this year till July 31.
In a meeting held in July, the STF had stated that couples in Haryana who have at least one living female child and wish to have another child through in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) must obtain prior permission from the District Appropriate Authority. This requirement, still at the stage of framing modalities, will apply to couples who already have a girl and a boy as children.
