Report by Orissadiary correspondent; Bhubaneswar: To strengthen the monitoring of the implementation of the Pre-Conception Prenatal Diagnostics Techniques (PC PNDT) Act in Orissa, a PC PNDT cell has been established in the Directorate of Family Welfare here. The cell was inaugurated by health and family welfare minister Prasanna Acharya here on Wednesday.

Speaking on the occasion, the minister said that the PC PNDT Act enacted in 1994 and amended in 2003 was being implemented in the State for preventing sex selection and to address the declining sex ratio.

The health department has decided to strengthen monitoring of the implementation of the PC PNDT Act for regulating and prohibiting misuse of technology. The department has ensured regular meetings of different committees to oversee implementation of the law.

The establishment of the cell to provide focused attention on the implementation of the Act in order to curb misuse of technology for sex selection shows the high level of commitment of the state government, Acharya added.

The cell, established with the support of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), will support the State Appropriate Authority for regular monitoring of the implementation of the Act and capacity building of key stakeholders, including communication programmes.

The cell will soon establish a helpline for lodging complaints by any person sensing misuse of technology.

Among others, director family welfare Dusashan Muduli, state programme coordinator Hamanta Dwibedi, state programme officer of UNFPA Deepa Prasad, representatives of civil society organizations and development partners were present at the inaugural function.