Mangaluru : Deputy Commissioner A.B. Ibrahim has formed 16 teams to keep a tab on the working of scanning centres and maternity hospitals in the district and check whether they are determining the sex of child during pregnancy.

Each team comprising officials from the departments of health and revenue will visit scanning centres twice a month and check whether they are following the statutory requirements. Focus will be on cases of termination of pregnancy and ascertain the centre where the pregnant woman might have undergone sex determination scanning.

The teams would be visiting hospitals where the number of termination of pregnancy is high and then find out where the scanning was done for the women concerned. If any instance of violation of Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act is detected, then action would be initiated against the hospital and the scanning centre concerned, Mr. Ibrahim said.

The decision to form 16 teams was taken following a meeting chaired by Mr. Ibrahim to discuss ways to check skewed sex ratio among children aged up to six years in the district. Experts and officials from health, women and child welfare departments attended the meeting.

Speaking to presspersons here, Mr. Ibrahim said that the ratio of 947 girls for 1,000 boys in the age group of 0-6 in the district as per 2011-12 census was a matter of great concern. The prevailing system had failed to monitor the activities of scanning centres and prevent the sex determination tests being conducted. Therefore, 16 teams had been formed, he said.

The teams had also been empowered to do sting operations to record instances of determination of sex of child in violation of PCPNDT Act, Mr. Ibrahim said.