The Union Health Ministry held a national workshop on 1 October to strengthen implementation of the Pre-conception and Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act, 1994. Representatives from all States and Union Territories took part, along with central officials and the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre.
The PC&PNDT Act regulates diagnostic techniques and prohibits their use for sex selection. Enforcement includes registration and inspection of facilities, record compliance and action against illegal sex determination. The workshop also highlighted digital governance and online dimensions of enforcement.
Officials paired regulation with sustained information and behaviour-change communication, arguing that enforcement alone cannot address social preferences that drive sex selection. The ministry cited an improvement in the national sex ratio at birth from 898 to 918 females per 1,000 males, but such aggregate data should be interpreted alongside state variation and data-quality considerations.
For civil-services preparation, the development connects health regulation, gender justice and implementation capacity. The Act targets misuse of technology for sex selection; it is not a general ban on prenatal diagnostic services that are legally used for medical purposes.
