With the sex ratio decreasing, the state has filed 627 cases and widened sting operations to control illicit prenatal sex determination.
As Maharashtra stepped up decoy operations to nab those involved in illegal pre-natal sex determination, the state has reported 627 cases under the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act from March 2024 to March 2026, 127 of which resulted in convictions, Director of Public Health Dr Vijay Khandewad .
“Under action against illegal sex determination rackets, the state conducted 118 decoy (sting) operations during 2025-26 of which 13 were successful and 82 in 2024-25 of which 11 were successful,” Dr Khandewad stated.
The Maharashtra Public Health and Family Welfare department’s dossier on the execution of the PCPNDT Act reveals that authorities visited almost all of its 11,837 registered sonography institutes.
The renewed crackdown comes at a time when the sex ratio at birth in Maharashtra stands at 899 girls for every 1,000 boys, according to the latest Sample Registration System (SRS) report, raising concern that illegal prenatal sex determination continues despite nearly three decades of enforcement of the PCPNDT Act.
The paper further mentions that to February 2025, 492 makers and distributors of sonography and imaging devices had been registered with the State Appropriate Authority. Since June 2012, 219 doctors have been sent to medical bodies for disciplinary action. The registration of 62 doctors was suspended by the Maharashtra Medical Council, of 10 by the Maharashtra Council of Homoeopathy and of four by the Medical Council of India.
The sex ratio of children (0-6 years) in the state declined from 946 girls per 1,000 boys in 1991 to 913 in 2001 and 894 in 2011. According to the study, the projected biological sex ratio at birth suggests that more than 4.06 lakh female foetuses may have been lost in the decade before the 2011 Census in Maharashtra.
“The challenge cannot be solved by policing alone, even with increased enforcement,” said Dr Khandewad. “It is really a question of mindset… The difficulty is that there is still a need in society. The more we look into the more we see there’s demand. This is not an education issue, it’s how people think about gender,” he said.
“The department will continue to expand decoy operations across the state,” he added. “We send pregnant women to the sonography centres during the decoy operations. We will conduct more such sting operations in every district,” Dr Khandewad stated. He claimed that the operational details are kept hidden so as not to jeopardise investigations.
“The state has introduced an informer reward scheme to encourage whistleblowers, whereby a reward of Rs 1 lakh is given to an informer on successful action against illegal prenatal sex determination,” he added.
Dr Khandewad on the state’s diminishing sex ratio at birth remarked, reflecting deep-rooted societal beliefs. “Social pressure, insecurity and a preference for sons are among the reasons. This is not simply the health department’s duty. “Society as a whole has to change its way of thinking.”
The paper also states that the courts have disposed of 462 out of the 625 cases submitted to February 2025. Of these, 127 led to convictions, 332 to acquittals or dismissals, three were withdrawn and 163 were still before the courts.
Instead of licensed sonography centers, unlawful prenatal sex determination is increasingly being done through networks of phoney physicians and intermediaries, officials added. The government said portable ultrasound scanners are “allegedly being used to perform scans at women’s homes and then refer women to other locations for illegal abortions.”
The administration has also expanded channels for public reporting. Till February 2025, a total of 1,124 complaints had been received on the toll-free helplines 104 and 1800-233-4475 and 1,102 of those had been addressed.
The authorities also answered to 30,202 public enquiries pertaining to PCPNDT and MTP Acts. The online complaint site, inaugurated on 15 March 2024, received 103 complaints, of which 82 were handled by February 2025.
