Public Health Minister Dr. Deepak Sawant told the Assembly on Friday that the State’s sex ratio had increased from 878 in 2013-2015 to 904 in 2016. Dr. Sawant was responding to a query raised by Shiv Sena MLA Sunil Shinde during the Question Hour on the measures taken by the State to prevent female foeticide.
Dr. Sawant said that the sex ratio was 878 girls per thousand boys during 2013-15, but a survey conducted in 2016 showed that there were 904 girls per thousand boys in the State. He said, “As per the NITI Aayog, Maharashtra ranked fifth among 17 States where the sex ratio had dipped. The ratio was 896 in Maharashtra during 2012-2014. It declined by further 18 points to 878 in 2013-15. But in 2016, the ratio increased to 904.”
Nationalist Congress Party leader Dilip Walse-Patil asked the Minister to mention the steps taken to increase the girl child population in the State between 2011 and 2017. Dr. Sawant said measures such as setting up a toll-free helpline number to lodge complaints about sex-selective abortions had been taken.
He said, “A website, Amchi Mulgi [Our Girl], was launched as part of an awareness campaign. So far, 8,073 complaints have been registered against sex determination facilities and action has been taken in 876 cases. Eighty-five sonography machines were seized during the drive and punishment was handed down in 110 cases. Shivaji Sanap, a doctor from Beed, was sentenced to rigorous imprisonment by a local court on Thursday for conducting sex selective abortion.
