The Times of India | TNN | Apr 26, 2018, 21:52 IST.
Nashik: The civic body has served show cause notices to two sonography centres in the city for not properly maintaining documents.
These two centres were identified during the inspection of sonography centres that was conducted by the Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC).
The NMC has formed different squads involving 60 officials to scrutinise the functioning and checking the records of the sonography centres that are operating in the city.
There are a total 268 sonography centres and 124 abortion centres in the limits of municipal corporation.
“We have started inspection of sonography centres and abortion centres in the limits of municipal corporation. We have involved squads of 60 officials to conduct inspection. So far, inspection of 175 sonography centres and 88 abortion centres have been conducted,” said the sources from NMC.
During the survey, the squads of officials are checking whether these sonography centres keeping their records and are there any defects in maintaining the documents of the patients who undergo sonography. The officials are also checking whether any centre is involved in conducting sex determination test, which is prohibited under the law.
“It will take over a week around to complete inspection of the centres. As of now, we have found two sonography centres that do not comply to norms pertaining to registration of patients and even the documents are not in order. We have slapped show cause notices to them seeking explanation about the laxity,” said an NMC official.
The official added that, so far, none of the squads have found any case of sex determination test being conducted in any of the centres.
Around 60 officials involved in the squads are from various hospitals that are run by the municipal corporation.
In August last year, the NMC had also conducted inspection of city hospitals and sonography centres to check any illegal activities being conducted there following two incidents of abortions and sex determination tests.
In an incident that took place in February 2017, Nashik Road police had arrested a city doctor Dr Baliram Shinde for allegedly conducting abortions and sex determination of fetus in his clinic. There were complaints that he used to resort to such illegal practices in his hospitals in Ozar town of Niphad tehsil and in Nashik city. The NMC officials had also sealed his sonography clinic. He later died following a cardiac arrest in Nashik Road jail.
In an another incident, a doctor of the Nashik Civil Hospital Dr Varsha Lahade was suspended by the state government in March last year after it was found that the doctor had allegedly violated Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act and the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act as well as forging documents. She had carried out medical termination of a 24-week-old foetus at the hospital on March 22 last year.
