to effectively tackle the pervasive adoption of pre-natal sex
selection.
The most important achievement from WPC’s implementation experience was the clear understanding of the need to
employ a multi-pronged strategy in order to effectively
tackle the spread of sex selection. This involved the delineating of clear-cut roles for the stakeholders associated
and ensuring that a collaborative approach is undertaken
by all.
In order to address the rampant practice of sex selection,
Government of India enacted the Pre-Natal Diagnostic
Techniques (PNDT) Act in 1994, which prohibits sex selection and sex determination for non-medical reasons. However, despite this legislation and the ongoing work by civil
society organisations to foster mindset change, the 2001
Census revealed the CSR to have substantially worsened.
This was followed by an amendment of the PNDT Act in
2004, to Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, in order to provide for the prohibition
of sex selection before or after conception and for the
regulation of pre-natal diagnostic techniques. Nevertheless, the 2011 Census has revealed glaring gaps in the
Act’s implementation, as CSR figures continue to decrease
at an unnerving rate. Moreover, the Census data
emphasises the severity of the matter as pre-natal sex
selection has spread to areas of the country historically not
as affected by son preference.
It was seen that stakeholders can generally be divided into
three groups (with possible instances of overlap and/or
subgroups) – community members, civil society
organisations and governmental bodies/representatives.
Community members are the ones who are most familiar
with the nuances of their area; hence they can play an
instrumental role in monitoring sex selection in families
within their vicinity, the nature of services being offered by
ultrasound clinics (and whether they are within the jurisdiction of both the MTP Act and PCPNDT Act), registration of
births and deaths and ensuring that implementation of
programmes/schemes favouring the girl child are effectively implemented within the community. Civil society
organisations, on the other hand, can act as a resource
group to both the community and the local government,
provide capacity building initiatives for stakeholders and
undertake advocacy with governmental bodies for effective
implementation of existing laws, such as PCPNDT Act and
for the formulation of additional legislations promoting the
gender equality. The government (at local, state and national levels) is responsible for implementing the PCPNDT
Act, ensuring that adequate budgetary allocations are provided and trainings are undertaken for staff associated with
implementation of the PCPNDT Act. Despite roles being
distinct for the stakeholder groups, it is important to work
in a collaborative manner, whereby networks/alliances are
formed of diverse people associated with the issue.
Civil society organizations across the nation have been
rigorously working towards bringing to light the deeply-ingrained and systemic discrimination against women that is
responsible for sex selection and the resulting grave shift
in population demographics. WomenPowerConnect (WPC)
is one such national-level advocacy body that focuses on
holistic women’s empowerment and which has undertaken
the tackling of pre-natal sex selection with utmost priority.
WPC has been working on effectively addressing sex selection through a synerg