Punjab has seen a significant improvement in gender ratio in the past one decade - 907 girls for every 1,000 boys (2017-2018), up from 878 in 2009-10.

Facts :

• Once labelled as the land of “female foeticide”, Punjab has seen a significant improvement in gender ratio in the past one decade — 907 girls for every 1,000 boys, up from 878 in 2009-10.
• As per the 2001 Census, Fatehgarh Sahib had the worst gender ratio in the country of 766, which now stands at 908 live female births per 1,000 male births.
• District-wise, Barnala tops the chart with 938 girls, followed by Mohali at 933, Ludhiana 929, Patiala 922 and Kapurthala 921.
• At 870, Nawanshahr is at the bottom of the ladder.
• Among the worst-performing districts are Pathankot (877), Rupnagar (879), Gurdaspur (884) and Tarn Taran (887).

Analysis :

• Alarmed at the skewed figures in the 2001 Census (798 girls per 1,000 boys), the state government had launched special initiatives, which paid off.
• As per a study by the Health Department, steps such as GIS mapping of registered ultrasound centres —1,589 in all — and free treatment to the girlchild in government hospitals up to age five have paid dividends, with 50,000 girls benefiting from the scheme every year.
• Experts attribute the success to strict implementation of the PCPNDT Act, 1994. “Serious efforts were made to strictly implement the PNDT Act.
• Now people are going to neighbouring states for sex-determination tests. There is a need for better inter-state coordination.
• Interestingly, it is for the first time that Haryana has performed better than Punjab with 914 female live births for every 1,000 boys.

Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, 1994 :

• Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, 1994 is an Act of the Parliament of India enacted to stop female feticides and arrest the declining sex ratio in India. The act banned prenatal sex determination.
• The main purpose of enacting the act is to ban the use of sex selection techniques after conception and prevent the misuse of prenatal diagnostic technique for sex selective abortions.
• Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act, 1994 (PNDT), was amended in 2003 to The Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition Of Sex Selection) Act (PCPNDT Act) to improve the regulation of the technology used in sex selection.

Implications of the amendment are :

• Amendment of the act mainly covered bringing the technique of pre conception sex selection within the ambit of the act.
• Bringing ultrasound within its ambit.
• Empowering the central supervisory board, constitution of state level supervisory board.
• Provision for more stringent punishments.
• Empowering appropriate authorities with the power of civil court for search, seizure and sealing the machines and equipments of the violators.
• Regulating the sale of the ultrasound machines only to registered bodies.