Pune: A pregnant woman walks into a clinic in the city. The deal is whispered, coded, and expensive. No records. No witnesses. A few minutes later, a life-changing truth is revealed illegally—boy or girl. Days later, the clinic is sealed in a dramatic raid by authorities. Headlines follow. Arrests are made. However, months later, the accused walk free.This is the paradox at the heart of Maharashtra’s battle against illegal sex determination under the PCPNDT Act.In 2025-26, state govt conducted 286 successful sting operations, of which only 12 were successful with cases filed under the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) (PCPNDT) Act of 1994 against illegal sex determination. The low conviction rate and fear of social ostracization following informing the authorities remains a major challenge in tackling this problem head-on.Maharashtra’s health department last year intensified its crackdown on illegal sex determination under the PCPNDT Act, signaling a tougher stance against female foeticide. In March 2026, the health department directed medical councils to cancel licenses of 34 doctors within a week for alleged violations of the Act. Govt is also considering invoking stringent laws like Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), 1999, against repeat offenders and increasing punishment to up to 10 years. This thought came about after a high-level meeting chaired under state health minister Prakashrao Abitkar last month.But meanwhile, courts have dismissed such cases over incomplete charge sheets or technical errors, while even decade-long trials have ended in acquittals due to jurisdictional flaws or poor documentation. Dr Vaishali Badade, assistant director, PCPNDT, state health services, said, “This is a social problem and the process to get hold of perpetrators is difficult. The crime is largely consensual. In most cases, we do not get any direct evidence to prove the crime as communication is covert, making it difficult to prove in the court of law. Despite its illegality, the use of portable ultrasound machines and unregistered facilities has complicated surveillance.”Conviction rates remain low due to weak evidence chains, procedural lapses, and delays. Badade added, “Since the inception of the Act in 1994, we have had 627 cases under trial at the Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) court of which 129 ended in convictions. Around 160 are pending to be filed.”Rampant sex determination is among factors leading to visible social damage. The sex ratio in Maharashtra, according to the state economic survey report of 2025, was reported as 926 in 2016 and went down to 921 in 2021 and 922 in 2026. The report predicted a further decline to 921 in 2031.Dr Sandeep Sangale, joint director of the state’s family welfare and health services, said, ”To encourage people to come forward and tip us off about perpetrators, govt pays Rs1 lakh to informers in case of a successful decoy after the case is filed. In the past three years, we have awarded 14 such whistleblowers. In Feb last year, govt announced that decoys who participate in the sting operations along with department officials will also be paid Rs1 lakh as an award, which we will start executing from this year. We hope these two schemes will make it easier for us to crack down on networks.”Despite govt’s offers of rewards, the problem persists. Experts suggest further reforms—better digital tracking of ultrasound machines, fast-track courts, stronger evidence protocols, and targeting organised networks rather than individual doctors.Socio-legal activist Varsha Deshpande said, “The health department can easily review the birth registrations of all hospitals and check for skewed sex ratios, then backtrack to radiologists and gynaecologists providing services to these hospitals and patients. It is not difficult to get a decoy. My organisation has conducted 60 decoy operations, of which 18 were successful. We never faced any problem. But we cannot be doing what govt must do. Asha workers and anganwadi workers can be incentivised to track down pregnant women and provide information. Giving out large sums of award to decoys and informers is problematic instead of a solution, as the accused use this scheme to defend themselves and claim they are being falsely accused for the money.”
