Officials told to keep tabs on female foeticide

PUDUCHERRY: Chief Minister N Rangasamy on Thursday said that he had instructed  officials to make all efforts to check female feticide, which was on the rise in the Union Territory.Addressing a gathering at a Children’s Day function organised by the Department of Women and Child Welfare, he said that private hospitals indulging in such illegal activities would face action.The Child Sex Ratio of 938 girls per 1,000 boys below the age of six years was on the decline, he said and added that this was a cause for concern. Female feticide was on the rise because of the common belief that the girl child was a burden, which was false, he added. Bring Down Infant Mortality Rate: LGSpeaking at the function, Lieutenant Governor Iqbal Singh said the infant mortality rate in Puducherry was 25 per 1,000 live births vis-a-vis 50 per 1,000 live births at the national level, which was comparatively healthier.“While the infant mortality rate is  comparatively less in Puducherry, it is to be noted that there is no visible decline in the infant mortality rate in the past five years,” he said.“This is not comforting and we need to take a relook at our schemes and programmes. We need  to re-assess and re-orient our policies to decrease the infant mortality rate significantly,” Iqbal Singh said.The Lieutenant Governor  suggested evolving a strategy to analyse the ground situation to assess the prevalent health needs. Iqbal Singh also said that holes in providing health care to new borns and children in the 0-6 age group had to be plugged.The Lieutenant Governor  asked the Women and Child Development Department and the Health Department to initiate the study and submit its recommendations to the government to evolve a revised strategy for effective delivery mechanism to ensure health and nutrition of the infants.The department had to rise above its standard working procedures as it would not suffice if the departments mechanically implemented schemes that did not make any incremental contribution to change in socio-economic standards, he added.