Low Sex Ratio at Birth have been scaled up: Azad

NEW DELHI, July 21: Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has said the issue of low Sex Ratio at Birth (SRB) in the country have been scaled up at all levels.

Addressing the 19th meeting of the Central Supervisory Board (CSB) held here yesterday Mr Azad said, “The issue of low SRB in our country have been scaled up at national, state, district and sub-district levels.”

“We have been successful in securing the commitment of all  the state governments to effectively address the issue of low child sex ratio,” he said, adding “Now we need to focus on  turning these commitments into reality so that we have a secure nation for women and girls – across all class, regional and cultural divides.”

“We have stepped up action in districts that have revealed a low child sex ratio based on 2011 Census data to discourage the process of sex determination,” he added.

Inspections by the National Inspection and Monitoring Committee have been scaled up, he said.

He added that in the past one year, inspections have been undertaken in 10 states leading to sealing of 22 clinics and  62 machines.

Mr Azad said various measures ranging from sudden inspections of diagnostic clinics to medical audit of Form-F  have been undertaken to strengthen enforcement of the law.  (UNI)