A joint meeting of the State Advisory Committee (SAC), State Appropriate Authority (SAA), and State PC-PNDT Cell, Manipur, was convened at the Directorate of Family Welfare Services, Manipur, to address gender discrimination and assess the role of the Preconception and Prenatal Diagnostics Techniques (PC-PNDT) programme in improving the sex ratio in the state.

Chairing the meeting, Dr. N. Hemantakumar Singh, Director of Family Welfare Services, Manipur, emphasized the necessity of monitoring violations of the PCPNDT Act on e-commerce platforms and social networking sites. He stressed the need for an advisory or regulation to curb such violations, highlighting that Section 22 of the PCPNDT Act, 1994, strictly prohibits advertisements related to sex determination. He also underscored the importance of collaborative efforts with other departments providing benefits or incentives for the girl child.

Dr. Sujata Huidrom, State Nodal Officer, PC & PNDT, presented an overview of activities conducted across districts in the past three months. These included district-level meetings, awareness workshops on PC & PNDT Act/Rules and gender discrimination, sensitization programmes, and state-level training for public prosecutors.

Speaking at the meeting, Tenshubam Sangeeta, MCS, Joint Director, DIPR, and Member, SAC, stated that District Information Offices have been actively disseminating information through press releases, promoting awareness of the PC & PNDT Act/Rules and gender discrimination issues.

The PC-PNDT Act aims to protect the girl child by penalizing those engaging in sex determination and acting as a deterrent against such practices.