BJP slams UP government over Shankhlal Majhi's remark on PCPNDT Act

LUCKNOW: BJP today slammed Uttar Pradesh government over Minister Shankhlal Majhi's statement in state Assembly that people booked under Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act get off easy as the regulation is "flexible" and "complex".

The matter was raised during Question Hour by BJP member Shyamdeo Roy Chowdhury and Congress member Akhilesh Pratap Singh.

In his reply, Minister of State of Health and Family Welfare, Majhi said that as PNDT Act was "flexible" and "complex", those booked under it get off lightly.

BJP member Radhamohan Das Agarwal then asked the minister whether the UP government had taken any initiative if it considered the Act "flexible" and "complex".

"Has the minister written to the Centre regarding this? The same Act is applicable throughout the country and none of the state had made this observation. The state could also act in this regard, if it feels so about the Act," Agarwal said.

The minister later clarified that he did not intend to create controversy over the Act.

"The state government is serious in dealing with the menace of pre natal diagnosis of gender. The gender ratio has increased in UP from 943 in 2010-11 to 946 in 2012-13," he said.

When Congress member Akhilesh Pratap Singh pointed out that in 15 districts the gender ratio remains low, the minister assured that a special campaign would be launched in these districts in this regard.