Haryana News : Acting on the directions of Health and Family Welfare Minister Arti Singh Rao, the weekly meeting of Haryana’s State Task Force (STF) for Improving Sex Ratio was chaired today by Additional Chief Secretary (Health) Sh. Sudhir Rajpal, focusing on strengthening measures to curb illegal abortions and further boost the sex ratio under the ‘Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao’ campaign.
The meeting noted that consistent government efforts have brought positive results, with the sex ratio improving to 907 between January 1 and July 31 this year, compared to 899 in the same period last year.
Emphasizing strict action against illegal abortions, the Additional Chief Secretary instructed officials to revoke the licences of any doctors found guilty. He said all Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) and abortion cases beyond 12 weeks are being reverse-tracked, especially where the woman already has one or more daughters. In July alone, 32 FIRs were filed in such suspected cases, resulting in 32 arrests, with four more FIRs under process and 38 notices issued to private hospitals and clinics.
In an inclusive step, he directed that the transgender community be involved in celebrating the birth of girls across Haryana. Under this initiative, transgenders will visit families of newborn girls—similar to traditional visits for boys—and present a certificate of Rs 21,000 invested under the ‘Aapki Beti Hamari Beti’ scheme. The government will also provide them an incentive of at least Rs 1,100 for each such visit. This campaign will be supervised by the district’s Chief Medical Officer (CMO).
The meeting also decided on a crackdown against IVF centres engaged in sex determination or illegal abortions, with all implantations through IVF to be mandatorily registered under Antenatal Care (ANC) for closer monitoring. The police department was tasked with working closely with the Health Department to track and shut down illegal abortion centres, arrest culprits, and report progress on FIRs by next week.
The Woman and Child Development Department informed that a new awareness advertisement for the ‘Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao’ campaign will soon be released in cinema halls across the state.
Secretary, Health Department & Mission Director, National Health Mission, Sh. Rippudaman Singh Dhillon, along with senior officials from various departments, attended the meeting.