Sirsa doctors rally behind Maneka

Jaswinder Singh Baidwan

Akhran da mureed
Staff member
The statement of Union Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi suggesting introduction of mandatory tests to determine the gender of an unborn child has triggered a debate in the state.
While doctors’ bodies have welcomed Maneka’s suggestions, women organisation have condemned it. “We strongly condemn the proposal made by the minister to make gender determination compulsory to curb sex selection. The move has been made to absolve doctors and shift the blame on pregnant women,” said Jagmati Sangwan, national general secretary of the All-India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA).
Sangwan said the new proposal would result in a 24-hour surveillance of pregnant women both by their families and the state authorities. “This is against the dignity of a woman,” said Sangwan.
She said if implemented, it would fuel a proliferation of illegal facilities for getting rid of unwanted female foetuses.
On the other hand, Dr DS Jaspal, former national vice-president of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) and a member of its PNDT Act monitoring committee, welcomed Maneka’s suggestions and said the doctors had been demanding it for long.
Dr Pankaj Vats, president of Doctors Save Daughters, an NGO, said what Maneka said today had been demanded by his NGO at a seminar in Gurgaon two years ago. The minister’s statement has come at a time when PM Narendra Modi praised Haryana’s efforts to curb female foeticide in his “Mann ki Baat”.
 
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