Osmanabad admn pulls up its socks to check dwindling sex ratio

The sex-ratio has reached alarmingly low levels in Osmanabad, following which the district administration officials have increased their efforts to protect the girl child, Collector Prashant Narnaware said today.
Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act task force committee, headed by Narnaware, collected sex ratio statistics in 618 villages between April 1, 2015 and March 31, 2016, Narnaware told PTI.
Out of the eight talukas in the district, Kalamb, Tuljapur, Paranda and Washi have registered a major fall in the sex ratio, he said, citing official data.
While Kalamb with a sex ratio of 791 (number of girls per 1000 boys) has been consequently marked 'red', Washi (848), Tuljapur (875) and Paranda (896) have shown worrisome data, the Collector said.

"With the sex ratio in 391 of the 618 surveyed villages being very low, we have decided to initiate 'Shame' programmes in the district. The gram panchayats here are now displaying respective sex ratios in their premises. Villages with sex ratio below 800 are being given a red card.
"Under the 'Shame' programme, we would conduct workshops of gram panchayats and NGOs. We would continue to raid sonography centres of the district and would also be carrying out decoy investigations. A helpline would also be started, besides institution of village level task forces," he apprised.

He said the administration is keeping a close eye on the 67 registered sonography centres of the district, out of which 52 are operational, to check sex determination.

Dr Smita Shahapurkar, member of the PCPNDT task force committee, said, "Sex determination rackets are present in Osmanabad, which falls near the border of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh states. The administration must carry out decoy investigation in those areas,"adding that awareness among youths is very important and it can be brought about with the help of NGOs and common people.
The district's highest sex ratio has been observed in Umarga taluka (945), followed by Osmanabad (942), Bhoom (933) and Lohara (906) talukas, as per official data.
It may be noted that Maharashtra Health Minister Dr Deepak Sawant is the Guardian Minister of Osmanabad district. He could not be contacted for a response.

The average sex ratio in Osmanabad district stands at 892.