Bhubaneswar: The Health and Family Welfare Department has issued an advisory to all districts to strictly implement the Informers’ Incentive Scheme in letter and spirit. The scheme is an attempt to recognize and reward good Samaritans who share information about illegal sex determination in his/her area with the district administration.
The first installment of Rs. 10,000 after sharing confirmed information, second installment of Rs 10,000 on filing of the Prosecution Report, if the court has taken cognizance and framed charges against the accused person/s, and the third installment of Rs. 5,000 on finalization of the court case and conviction of the accused.
Declining number of girls in the population is a great concern for the state and country as a whole. The population census data indicate that the child sex ratio is adverse for girls.
As per NFHS-5 report sex ratio at birth(SRB) is 894 in Odisha.In order to curb the abhorrent practice of sex determination and sex selection, a legislation called the pre-Conception and pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibilition of Sex Selection) Act, 1994, in short the PC & PNDT Act is being implemented in India.
This is the first major attempt to regulate medical technology in India. Determining sex of the foetus and misuse of technology is one of the important reasons for declining sex ratio. To prevent the malpractice and misuse of the technology, it is essential to receive information from the public regarding this and therefore incentivizing the informer is crucial.
Therefore, Government of Odisha on September 16th, 2022 has come up with the Guidelines on Informers’ Incentive Scheme to act as a deterrent to Gender biased Sex Selection. The H&FW has issued the following directives for districts in this regard:
- Create awareness among the community and ensure their active participation in the scheme;
- Set up a reliable network of informers for giving information related to sex selection;
- Designate an officer and a contact number to receive complaints;
- Maintain a separate confidential file and Complaint Register at the district level;
- Undertake fact finding visits with the help of District Task Force members, after a complaint is received.
