Female foeticide: PCPNDT Bureau trying to pull Rajasthan out of its abyss

That Rajasthan has its own PCPNDT Bureau of Investigation is a fact not known to many. The desert state happens to be the first and only state in the country where the bureau was formed as per a Home ministry notification. It operates and has powers similar to a police station. And of late, it has been trying to pull the state out of the abyss when it comes to the menace of female foeticide, sex selective abortions and sex determination.

"PCPNDT Bureau of Investigation was formed by a notification of the Home department and its main target was to look at integration of reports and the problems that occur in investigation in different stations with regard to offences in connection with the PCPNDT. This was formed as a police station and the chairperson of the state appropriate authority was made the head of this bureau. And it has the same power as does a police station, of IPC and CrPC. And in this along with PCPNDT, MTP and Magical Drugs Remedies Act, they were empowered in connection with that," says Naveen Jain, MD, National Health Mission.

Sex selective abortion -- a lucrative business

Sex determination and sex selective abortion have been a lucrative business in several parts of Rajasthan for at least the last couple of decades now. Hundreds of registered and unregistered practitioners, touts, midwives, ANMs have allegedly been chipping away at parents only too willing to go to any length in their preference for the male child. As per 2011 figures available with India Today, in 18 districts of Rajasthan, the Child Sex Ratio (CSR) was less than 900. That includes Jaisalmer, Tonk, Jodhpur, Bharatpur, Karauli and even the state capital, Jaipur.

In two districts, Sikar and Jhunjhunu, which fall in the red zone as per 2011 figures, the CSR was less than 850. The crisis - like situation in several parts necessitated the formation of such a bureau with powers to conduct investigations and make arrests in any part of the country as a part of its continuous investigations.

Also read: Law to curb female foeticide turns into farce

"The biggest benefit we have now is that we are not letting the people get out on bail for a long time or when the charge sheets are getting made, they are being formed very well. And we have been able to defend our case very well. And the conviction rate is also very good. Conviction is happening in old cases as well and my belief is in the cases now as well, conviction will be very high. Rajasthan is the only state where this initiative has been taken, where a bureau has been formed, where the entire modalities have been worked out and with the help of judiciary, the way good conviction rate is happening today and we have been successful in keeping people in for a long time, my belief is Rajasthan is unique in itself," adds Jain.

In its initial years, it had very little achievement to boast about. But, in the current financial year, it has taken some good strides in an attempt to curb the menace of sex determination and sex selective abortions. The Bureau, formed as per the notification of Home Department of Rajasthan Government in 2012, has been facing the challenges posed by deceptive touts and an intricate web of doctors and middlemen. It has the authority to carry out investigations, to make arrests in states other than Rajasthan as well. In financial year 2016-17, it carried out 30 successful operations. Out of that, 20 were in Rajasthan whereas the remaining 10 involved inter- state investigations including those in UP, Haryana and Gujarat. The powers vested in the Bureau have allowed it to take good strides recently in the fight against sex selective abortions and sex determination.

Also read: SC accuses Google, Microsoft, Yahoo for posting foetal-sex test ads

The task of this Bureau is not just to catch hold of doctors, nurses, ANMs, touts, brokers involved in the criminal act of sex determination and sex selective abortion but to also prepare a tight case against them, to produce them in Court and also secure conviction against them.

"See, in Rajasthan, when an informer gives us information that sex determination or sex selective abortion is happening, we slowly approach the person whose reference we get and we convince that person that we are interested in sex determination or sex selective abortion. That person investigates us fully for which we are already prepared. After that, wherever that person calls us, we prepare a decoy pregnant woman. Along with her, an assistant is also sent. After that, as soon as we get the hint that there actually is a machine, there is a registered or unregistered practitioner who is doing this work, our team immediately raids them and arrests them, and the machine is sealed and the entire procedure is carried out as it should happen under an Act or Criminal Act. If we get information that any act is happening outside our state, then we directly inform the people there, that such act is happening at a centre of yours, people keep on sending such information to us through letters. But, where a decoy planted by me or the tout whom my team is chasing, then if our team is chasing that person and if that person goes to another state, then, our team will, with the information of local authority, do this act. And this has benefitted us. In Mathura and Agra in particular, in Gujarat and Haryana, in Narnaul etc., we met some people who are doing this work crossborder," says Naveen Jain, secretary and MD, NHM.

How PCPNDT Bureau of Investigation works

However, while the decoy operations are underway, officers of the Bureau are well aware of the risks involved, including that to their lives. On several occasions, those allegedly involved in illegal practices tried attacking those involved in the operations.

"After going to other states, the problem that is sometimes faced is, the PCPNDT Bureau of Investigation station has been established in Rajasthan only, its nowhere else. So, there is a situation of confusion amongst people there. There all medical people work, arrests do not happen. Do not arrest. They say, produce before the local magistrate here. There, disagreement happens. Had to face lot of protest at two places in Gujarat. Had to do that in Agra as well. Had to do that in Haryana as well. They say that produce before our magistrate. Whereas, this being a continuous offence, where the offence originated in Rajasthan, we produce there before the magistrate or before the PCPNDT Judge.

"In Gujarat, what happened was, they held us and our team for around six hours inside the station. The state government here made efforts and our officials made efforts," says Raghuveer Singh, incharge, State PCPNDT Cell.

The creation of the bureau and a robust team on the tail of conniving culprits has been giving sleepless nights to unscrupulous doctors, tours, middlemen and brokers not just in Rajasthan, but also in adjoining states such as Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat. Whether it makes a substantial difference in the long run or not is something time can tell.