August 6, 2025
CHANDIGARH – Haryana has recorded a notable improvement in its sex ratio, which has risen to 907 girls per 1,000 boys by the end of July 2025, up from 899 during the same period last year. The progress reflects the state’s intensified efforts under the ‘Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao’ campaign to curb illegal abortions and promote gender equality.
Under the direction of Health and Family Welfare Minister Arti Singh Rao, the weekly meeting of the State Task Force (STF) for Improving Sex Ratio in Haryana was held on Tuesday under the chairmanship of Additional Chief Secretary, Health, Sudhir Rajpal.
Rajpal stressed the need for strict enforcement against illegal abortion practices, instructing officials to take punitive actions, including the revocation of licences of doctors found complicit. The state is implementing reverse tracking of all Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) and abortion cases beyond 12 weeks, especially where the woman already has one or more daughters.
In July alone, 32 FIRs were registered in suspected reverse tracking cases, resulting in 32 arrests. FIRs are under process in four additional cases, and 38 notices have been issued to private hospitals and clinics for suspected violations.
In a unique and inclusive initiative, the Additional Chief Secretary directed that the transgender community be actively involved in celebrating the birth of girl children across the state.
As part of this effort, members of the transgender community will visit homes where a girl child is born, just as they traditionally do for boys, and present a certificate of ₹21,000 invested with LIC under the Aapki Beti Hamari Beti scheme to the girl’s family.
The Haryana government will also incentivise transgender persons participating in this initiative, proposing a minimum amount of ₹1,100 per visit. The campaign will be supervised by the respective Chief Medical Officers (CMOs) of the districts.
The Additional Chief Secretary also ordered a crackdown on IVF centres involved in sex-determination tests and illegal abortion practices. It was decided that all implantations through IVF must be registered under Antenatal Care (ANC) to ensure effective surveillance.
He further instructed the police department to actively coordinate with Health Department teams to track illegal abortion centres and arrest offenders. He also sought a progress report on the FIRs filed so far by next week.
The Department of Women and Child Development informed the meeting that a new awareness advertisement on the Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao campaign is being produced and will soon be screened in cinema halls across the state.