PCPNDT ACT

The sex ratio in India dropped very fast. This was 972 in 1901, which came down to 927 when it was decreasing. To prevent this, the Pre-conception and Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques Act-1994 PCPNDT Act, 1994 was enacted in 1994. The main purpose of implementing this Act is to ban the use of sex selection techniques before or after conception and to prevent the misuse of prenatal diagnostic technique for sex selective abortion.

Under this Act, conducting or helping to conduct prenatal diagnostic technique in Unregistered units, PND test for any purpose other than as mentioned in the Act, sex selection on a man or woman. , Sale, distribution, supply, rental of any ultra sound machine or any other device capable of detecting the sex of the fetus is an offense under the Act.

Provisions

• The Act provides for a ban on gender selection before or after conception.
• It controls the use of pre natal diagnostic techniques, such as ultrasound and amniocentesis. This allows them to use them to detect only a few cases.
• No laboratory or center or clinic shall conduct any test, including ultrasonography, for the purpose of determining the sex of the fetus.
• A person, who is conducting the procedure in accordance with the law, will not tell the pregnant woman or her relatives about the sex of the fetus by words, signs or any other method.
• Any person who advertises for prenatal and pre-conception sex determination facilities in the form of a notice, circular, label, wrapper or any document, or in an electronic or print form through internal or other media May be done through hoarding, wall painting, signal, light, sound, smoke or gas for up to three years of imprisonment and a fine of Rs 10,000.
• The Act mandates compulsory registration of all diagnostic laboratories, all genetic counseling centers, genetic laboratories, genetic clinics and ultrasound clinics.

Amendments

• The Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act, 1994 (PNDT), 2003 amended the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act (PCPNDT Act) so that sex selection Regulation of the technique used could be improved.
• The Act was amended to bring the technology of pre-conception sex selection and ultrasound techniques within the purview of the Act.
• The amendment also empowered the central supervisory board and a state-level supervisory board was formed.