Chandigarh, Sep 21 (KNN) The Haryana Government has asked all manufacturers, retailers, importers, distributers, traders of medical equipment capable of detecting sex of the foetus to get registered for free in the Haryana health department website.

The move aims at curbing illegal transaction of such equipments and to prevent sex determination of foetus.

In a notification, Haryana Health Department said, “To stop illegal transactions of ultrasound machine or imaging machine or scanner or any other equipment capable of detecting sex of the foetus in Haryana, State Appropriate Authority Haryana is implementing free registration of all the manufacturers, retailer, distributers, importers, dealers, refubrishers and technicians etc who deals in sale, distribution, rent, buyback, repair or authorize the use of ultrasound machine or scanner or any other equipment capable of detecting sex of the foetus.”

The Haryana Government has warned that any non-compliance of the instructions will be liable for prosecution by the concerned Appropriate Authority.

The department has asked the manufacturers and traders to download guidelines and get themselves registered for free by September 30, 2016.

As many as 2,296 cases have been filed across India for illegal sex-determination tests as of March 2016, according to a reply in the Parliament in the recent session.

Sex selection cases are filed under the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act, 1994.

Rajasthan leads, with 626 on-going court/police cases for sex determination, followed by Maharashtra (554), Punjab (192), Haryana (165) and Uttar Pradesh (139).

Madhya Pradesh reported the most (15) female foeticide cases in 2014, followed by Rajasthan (11), Punjab (7), Uttar Pradesh (4) and Haryana (4), according to an August 5, 2016 reply to the Lok Sabha. Provisional data for 2015 reported 52 female foeticides, with Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra reporting more than other states, 12 each. (KNN Bureau)