Doctors call for amending PCPNDT Act; to protest

Doctors will shut down their clinics on April 15 to protest the "improper and clerical implementation" of the Pre Conception and Pre Natal Diagnostic Technique (PCPNDT) Act 1994.
"There is no denying that PCPNDT Act has demonstrated misuse of authority to its fullest. Because Government cannot do anything about the social evils of dowry, inheritance, violence against women, it shows arrest of doctors for incomplete filling of form "F" as its achievement towards control of female foeticide and female infanticide.
"We may not all agree with what should be done, how it should be done, but we are all in 100 per cent agreement that PCPNDT Act in its present form has stifled use of ultrasound technology instead of curbing female foeticide. That this Act needs to be repealed and amended is beyond doubt," Medical legal Action Group Convenor, Dr Neeraj Nagpal said.

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) at a meeting yesterday has decided to support the protest.