No female foeticide case in state, says govt

No female foeticide case in state, says govt
Archit Watts
Tribune News Service

Jammu, March 26
Health Minister Sham Lal Sharma has said that no case of female foeticide has come to the notice of the state government so far and the sex ratio in the state is 925 females to 1,000 males.

Replying to a question by Mohammed Yousuf Taing of the NC in the Legislative Council here today, Sham Lal said, “No case of female foeticide has come to the notice of the government so far and the functioning of all nursing homes and ultrasound centres is being monitored regularly”.

He added that, “To check incidents of female foeticide, the J&K Pre-Natal Sex Selection/Determination (Prohibition and Regulation Act) 2002 is already in force in the state”.

The minister said there were standing instructions to all district health authorities to supervise the activities of the ultrasound centres. While providing the details of the total number of nursing homes and ultrasound centres across the state, Sham Lal said a total of 75 registered private nursing homes and 218 approved ultrasound centres were functioning in the state. “Besides, the cases of 30 private nursing homes for registration were under consideration,” he added. Interestingly, no one from opposition or treasury benches asked any supplementary question.

While discussing other health-related issues, the minister admitted that there was lack of work culture in the health sector. “Yes, there is lack of work culture in the health sector and we are responsible for it,” said Sham Lal.