Jhajjar health officials bust sex determination racket in UP, 3 held

Anganwadi and ASHA workers, who have a crucial role in curbing female foeticide, were found involved in pre-natal sex determination when a team of Jhajjar health authorities conducted a raid at Bulandshahr (Uttar Pradesh).

Two workers belonging to UP along with a tout have been booked under the PC-PNDT Act. The ultrasound test of expectant mothers were being conducted at a house in the Shikarpur area through a portable machine.

“We got a tip-off that sex determination of an unborn baby is being done in Shikarpur (Bulandshahr) and pregnant women are being taken there for this test. Acting swiftly, a decoy customer was taken to Shikarpur by a team of local health officials on Wednesday,” said Dr Brahamdeep Singh, Civil Surgeon, Jhajjar.

He informed that an anganwadi worker – Geeta -- took the decoy customer to a house in Shikarpur where an ultrasound test was illegally performed on the customer by a one Subodh using a portable ultrasound machine. After the test, he disclosed the gender of the unborn baby to the decoy customer who then signaled the raiding team standing outside the house.

“Thereafter, the team raided the house. Subodh, in an attempt to flee, got his leg fractured and was nabbed by the team. Two touts - Geeta and ASHA worker Sangeeta -- were also detained. On checking, Rs 3500 were recovered from Geeta and Rs 6,000 from Sangeeta,” said Brahamdeep, adding that an FIR was registered against the trio in the Shikarpur Police Station.

The inter-state sex determination racket is one of the major reasons behind dismal gender ratio in Haryana. The state witnessed an 11-point dip in the average sex ratio at birth (SRB) in the past 10 months (January to October) this year as compared to the previous year. In 2023, the SRB as per the Civil Registration System was 916, which slipped to 905 at the end of October this year. As many as 11 districts recorded the SRB below the state average during this period.