The State Health Department’s proposal to enhance penal clauses under the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, 1994, remains on paper as the Centre is yet to take a call on it.
Following the unearthing of a prenatal sex determination racket across Bengaluru, Mandya, and Mysuru districts in December, 2023, the State PCPNDT Supervisory Board had in January recommended enhancing the penal clauses under the Act from three years imprisonment and ₹10,000 fine to five years and ₹5 lakh and making the offence non-bailable. However, as PCPNDT is a Central Act, the State Health Department cannot act on the proposed recommendations unless the Centre amends the Act.
“We had written to the Centre in January this year and are awaiting to hear on this front. As PCPNDT is a Central Act, States do not have the authority to amend the Act locally. The Centre has to discuss the proposal and take a call on it,” Vivek Dorai, State Deputy Director (Medical Acts) told The Hindu on Friday.
