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Fearing action under PCPNDT Act, 112 Sonography centres in city close the shutter

By Vikas Vaidya

IN last few days, a large number of Sonography centres within city have stopped functioning, after authorities slapped notices and directed them to submit bonds and furnish mandatory information. In Nagpur, 112 such Sonography Centres have temporarily been closed down. These centres have been closed under Rule 17 (3) of rule 1996 of Pre conception and Pre Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex selection) Act -1994. NMC has sealed four centres namely Dr Rajendra Prakashe, Dr M K Khanduja, Dr Vilas Kanikdale, Dr Raju Deshmukh. Out of these four, Dr Prakashe and Dr Deshmukh’s centres were opened after they submitted the bond.
Additional Director, Health Services, (Family Welfare, mother and child development and school health), Pune had directed Nagpur Municipal Corporation to publish the list of closed Sonography centres, genes laboratory and genes counselling centre. NMC has released the list of closed 112 centres and 301 working centres.

Male-female sex ratio worsens

The female sex ratio in city went down if one compares the statistics of March 2011 with March 2012. Last year it was 946 while this year it has come down to 932. According to NMC Health Department, most of the doctors do not submit the F form which compels them to provide minute information including how many Ultra Sonographies were conducted? How many Medical Termination against Pregnancy (MTP) performed? Number of male and girl child born? Most of the doctors are reluctant to provide answers to these questions, authorities claim.
If zone-wise male-female ratio is taken into consideration then Lakadganj recorded highest number of girl child (111), Gandhibag (106) and Mangalwari recorded exactly 100 number of girl child for equal number of baby boy. Nehrunagar registered lowest number of girls among all zones that is 67.

More efforts needed

The awareness among society and doctors is still lacking, it seems. Recently in a bizarre case out of three foetus found near Bhandewadi, two of them were girls. A social worker on condition of anonymity alleged that it is doctor at least in countries like India who is committing crime of female foeticide. There are some doctors who are doing only MTP and sex determination. Even at some of the infertility centres male embryo is created to get the male baby, pointed a social worker. This social worker also said that gynaecologists should not be allowed to perform Ultra Sound. They do a course of six months duration and then get the permission to perform USG. Indian Radiological and Imaging Association has also been opposing such a practice and lamented that they are unfairly targetted.
Dr Ashok Adhao had mooted the idea of forming Doctors Against Sex Selection (DASS) when he was National President of Indian Medical Association (IMA). He had asked all the branches of IMA to implement Save Girl project and also form DASS committee. Barring few, no branch of IMA formed such a committee. IMA, Nagpur though formed such a committee, but it hardly did any work. Dr Adhao too has admitted this fact. DASS committee was expected to take stock of incidents where MTP and sex selection takes place. The committee was also expected to take measures and suggest steps to curb this menace.


Radiologists flay the action


Radiologists have flayed the action against them and claimed that this was an attempt to
defame radiologists who are rendering extremely useful service to society and using their
expertise to diagnose ailments. The Radiologists stated that through their expertise they analyse various ailments, which cannot be diagnosed by a physician and some of the tests like MRI, CT Scan, interventional radiology, Ultra Sound, colour Doppler, X-ray have been proved useful to medical sciences.
Even the much maligned Ultra Sound technology is used in diverse fields like Obstetrics, infant brain, chest, brain, liver, gall-bladder, pancreas, spleen, adrenal glands, kidneys and uterus, scrotum, breast, urinary bladder, prostate, uterus to facilitate proper medical care, attention, diagnosis and curative measures. Besides the USG is easily available, no radiation is involved, non biological risk and is cost effective.
According to Vidarbha Chapter of Indian Radiological and Imaging Association, the action of authorities to restrict their practice and now to shut down their clinic to protect girl child has infact cast an aspersion on their professional integrity and stigmatised them.


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What is sex selection?

Sex Selection is the practice of determining the sex of the unborn foetus and eliminating it, if found to be female. Sex Selection is commonly referred to as Female Foeticide. The root cause of Sex Selection is the low status of women and girls in a male-dominated society which discriminates against girls. The culture of son-preference has led to ultrasound technology being used for sex determination, often followed by elimination of the female. Some try to justify sex selection by saying that fewer girls in a society will eventually enhance the status of girls. On the contrary, with fewer girls as compared to boys, it could lead further restrictions on girls and women, increased violence against them, rape, abduction, trafficking and a resurgence of practices such as polyandry (more than one man marrying one woman).

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Now Kit is in the offing

Even though authorities and some of the associations are trying their best to curb the menace of female foeticide, a new tool is coming which may increase this activity. According to a source, a kit has been prepared and it may enter in market soon. With the help of the tools in the kit, one can detect the sex of foetus.

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Zone-wise gender ratio

Zone                   male      female         ratio
Laxminagar         211         198     94
Dharampeth        108          94     87
Hanuman Nagar  244        213              87
Dhantoli             120        116              97
Nehrunagar        86            58              67
Gandhibag         163         172            106
Satranjipura        26           20              77
Lakadganj         118         131             111
Asinagar            82           69               84
Mangalwari      138         138             100

Closed Sonography centres
Amarjyoti Sonography Clinic; Dhantoli, Dr. Pushpa Kamle’s centre; Sakardara Chowk, Shakuntala Ultrasound; Sakardara Sqr.,
Dr. Archana Somani; Gandhibagh, Om X’ray - Sonography Center; Indora, Amarjyoti Sonography Clinic; Indora, Dr. Rajeev Nagi; Sadar, Dr. Mukkawar (Dean) : Govt. Ayurvedic College & Hospital  Sakardara Sqr., Dr. Rajesh Singhania; Shubham Nursing Home; Chaoni, Dhawale Hospital; Wardha Road, Dr. Pankaj Pashine; Orange City Hospital Pvt. Ltd.; Khamla, Dr. Pramod Agrawal; Dhantoli, Dr. Sirmukadam Multispeciality Hospital; Suyog Nagar, Ashvini Sonography Clinic; Deendayal Nagar, Dr. R.R. Khandelwar’s Sonography Clinic; Medical Square,
Dr. Ulhas Kelkar : Ekvira Heart Institute; North Ambzari Road, Dr. Atul Dakhole; Hill Top Ambazari Layout, Dr. Nirmala Mukadam; Amravati Road,
Siddarth Nursing Home, Ring Road, Ankur Sonography; Khamla Road, Shatayu Hospital; Wardha Road, Dr. Varsha Deosthale : Indira Gandhi Rughnalaya; Gandhi Nagar,
Mure Memorial Hospital, Sanjeevani Maternity Hospital; Hill Road, Mother Care Hospital; Ramdaspeth, Akhuj Ultrasound Clinic; Panchsheel Square, Dr. Dhananjay Ghodke: Vidarbha MRI Centre; Advance Scanning  & Research Centre; Ramdaspeth, Diagnostic Imaging Center; Ramdaspeth, Vidarbha Scan  Centre; Ramdaspeth, Om Imaging Center; Khamla, Avanti Institute of  Cardiology; Dhantoli, Ashvini Kidney Dialysis; Ramdaspeth, Smt. N. Tirpude Hospital;Kamptee Road, Dr. Mangala Ketkar: Nagpur Test Tube Baby Centre, Tulsi Diagnostic Centre;Malagi Nagar Sq. Ring Road, Turaskar Sonography Clinic; Central Avenue, Deole Nursing Home; Chandan Nagar, Shree Maternity &  Nursing Home; Reshimbagh, Mamta Hospital; Wardha Road, Akruti Ultrasound Clinic; Abhyankar Nagar, Ansari Nursing Home; Indora, Jeswani Multispeciality Hospital; Gandhibagh, Shipha Clinic, Gandhibagh, Gillurkar Speciality Hospital; Reshimbagh, Khobragade Children Hospital, Central Avenue, Dr. Jsishree Suryawanshi (Jain) : Paraschikkitsa Kendra; Bhandara Road, Amar Jyoti Nursing Home; Mahal, Dr. Khushal Ghodeshwar: Ultrasound Clinic; Trimurti Nagar, Bhagyalaxmi Diagnostics; Central Avenue, Shri Krishna Heart Care Hospital;Dhantoli, Lakshariya Imaging Centre;Ajni, Dr. Shilpa Chaudhari: Ultra Sound Clinic; Chatrapati Nagar, Dr. Shilpa Chaudhari: Ultra Sound Clinic; Sakardara, Abhinav  Hospital; Kamal Chowk, K.K. Neralaya; Kadbi Chowk, Dr. Nagrale Multispeciality Hospital; Manewada Road, Central India Cancer Research Institute; Shankar Nagar, Tanna Heart Diabetes Hospital; Central Avenue, Deshmukh Polyclinic; Shankar Nagar, Mavli Clinic; Seminary Hills, Deshmukh Hospital;Umred Road, Dr. Ratna Kandhari: Khamla, Dr. Vinod Hudiya : Health Care 009;Lakadganj, Dr. Sud’s Gayatri Nursing Home- Chandralok Building; Central Avenue,
Nian X ray & Sonography Centre; Bhagwan Nagar, Workhardt Heart Institute; North Ambazhari Road, Rahate Surgical Hospital; Juni Mangalwari, Durga Child & Nursing Home;Ramdaspeth, Abhinao Nursing Home & Sonography Centre; Ashirwad Nagar, Barad Hospital; Sakardara Square, Milind Naik Hospital; Bhagwan Nagar, Vineet Maternity &  Surgical Home; Nari Ring Road, Harshal Maternity & Nursing Home; Kamptee Road, Om Multispeciality Hospital; Queta Colony, Hope Multispeciality Hospital,
Dr. Smita Jain : T-Point opp. Morris College, Godani Hospital; Indora, Tulsi Diagnostic Centre; Ashirwad Nagar Ring Road, Vinayakrao Golhar Memorial Hospital; Ramdaspeth, Nimbunabai Tirpude Hospital, Anand  Nursing Home; Badkas Chowk, Akruti Hospital; Jaytala Square, Bhagyalaxmi Multispeciality Hospital, Central Avenue,
Wellspring NPIL Laboratory & Diag. Limited; Canal  Road, Dr. Yashoda  Purohit; Kunal Hospital, Aniket Nursing Home, South Eastern Railway Polyclinic; Motibagh,
NRI Heart Center; Wardha Rd,  Dr. Pushpa Kamle: Pallavi Hospital; Ramdaspeth, Dr. Radhika Chikhale: Gurudeo Clinic; Manewada Cement Road, Sanjeevani Hospital; Jaripatka, Medicare Sonography Clinic; Manewada Road, Manerao Sonoclinic; Mankapur Ring Road, Dr. Rutuja Fuke:  Polyclinic & Diagnostic Centre; Ambazari Hill Top Layout, Arogya Sampada Health Care Clinic Centre; Vaishali Nagar, Dr. Rajeshree Pande Clinic; Manish Nagar, Noble Womens Health Care Centre; Indora, Shri Prasad Multispeciality Clinic; Manish Nagar, Ameya Child Care & Non Invasive Diagnostic Centre Ultrasound; Mahalaxmi Nagar, Manewada Road, Evista Eye Care Biochemical Centre; near Dhantoli Park, Sakardara Diagnostic Centre, Aharmish Hospital; Rani Durgawati Chowk.
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