Health and Family Welfare Minister Dinesh Gundu in the Legislative Council in Bengaluru on Monday. | Photo Credit: K. MURALI KUMAR
The State government will not only strengthen the Pre-conception and Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act to prevent female foeticide but also invoke provisions of the Act to ensure that the accused do not get bail.
“We will invoke provisions of the PCPNDT Act to ensure the accused do not come out on bail. In a recent case found in Bengaluru, we realised that the accused got bail because the provisions of the Act had not been invoked. We will also strengthen the Act,” Health and Family Welfare Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao told the Legislative Council responding to a question by BJP member C.T. Ravi. “We are discussing with the Advocate-General on strengthening the Act. Cases are being registered through district health officers to ensure the accused are punished.”
Mr. Rao said: “We have booked cases against 23 hospitals this year alone. In fact, the past 21 years, not more than 100 case were registered.”
Dengue
Meanwhile, answering another question posed by BJP member D.S. Arun on behalf of Dhananjay Sarji, the Health Minister said that it is expected that the dengue threat would remain till September. “This year about 68,000 dengue cases have been reported compared to 25,000 last year. Higher number is being reported due to increased surveillance. The dengue cases are also high in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.” He said dengue has been declared as a notifiable disease.
