Karnataka government announces a slew of measures to end female foeticide

Karnataka government has announced a slew of measures for putting an end to female foeticide, including amending the legislation concerned to make it more effective, formulating a new policy and setting up a State-level task force.

The Karnataka government on Thursday, December 14, announced a slew of measures for putting an end to female foeticide, including amending the legislation concerned to make it more effective, formulating a new policy and setting up a State-level task force.

Announcing this while replying to members cutting across party affiliations who expressed concern over the increasing cases of female foeticide, Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao said the above measures would be in addition to the CID probe that has already been ordered. He said amendments to the legislation concerned would be effected in consultation with the Health and Law Department.

The government would also come out with a policy to prevent female foeticide while the proposed State-level task force would help in swiftly acting against any violations, he noted. He was also considering setting up sub-division level monitoring committees besides deploying an ACP to deal exclusively with cases of female foeticide, he said.

The minister announced that the call centre for the health department which would resume from next month would also cater to instances of female foeticides.

The District Health Officers (DHOs) had been told to take up decoy operations once in three months to identify hospitals involved in female foeticides, he noted.

Describing female foeticide as a social taboo, the minister stressed the need for creating social awareness against this. He argued that all those indulging in it, including doctors as well as the mother, should face punishment as a deterrent.

Earlier, the Opposition members led by Leader of the Opposition R. Ashok demanded an investigation by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) into the episode of female foeticides.