 bill no 147 of  2014 the pre-conception and pre-natal diagnostic techniques (prohibition of sex selection) amendment bill, 2014 by shri arjun meghwal, mp a billfurther to amend the pre-conception and pre-natal diagnostic techniques (prohibition of sex selection) act, 1994be it enacted by parliament in the sixty-fifth  year of the republic of india as follows:—constitution of district working committee5"16b (1) the state supervisory boards and the union territory supervisory boards constituted under sub-section (1) of section 16a shall constitute district working committees in each district under their respective jurisdiction for the purpose of discharging their functions, particularly those referred to in clauses (i), (iii) and (iv) of sub-section (1) of section 16a, at district level in an efficient manner:provided that the district working committees may perform such other functions as may be assigned to them from time to time by respective state supervisory boards or the union territory boards, as the case may be(2) the district working committee shall consist of,—10(i) an officer not below the rank of additional district magistrate—chairperson, ex-officio;(ii)  chief medical officer of a government hospital—member, ex-officio;(iii)  five eminent women activists representing women's organization—members; and15(iv) ten persons representing reputed social organizations actively working in the district for at least ten years for prevention of determination of sex or female foeticide—members20(3) the district working committee shall meet at least once in every three months and the quorum to constitute a meeting of the committee shall be one-third of the total number of members of the committee(4) for the purpose of performing its functions and activities, the district working committee shall follow such procedures as the state supervisory board or union territory supervisory board, as the case may be, may specify"amendment of section 22253  in section 22 of the principal act, in sub-section (3), for the words "imprisonmentfor a term which may extend to three years and with fine which may extend to ten thousand rupees", the words "imprisonment for a term which may extend to ten years and with fine which may extend to one lakh rupees" shall be substituted4 in section 23 of the principal act,—amendment of section 2330(i) in sub-section (2), for the words "five years", the words "ten years" shall besubstituted35(ii) in sub-section (3), for the words "imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and with fine which may extend to fifty thousand rupees for the first offence and for any subsequent offence with imprisonment which may extend to five years and with fine which may extend to one lakh rupees", the words "imprisonment for a term which may extend to five years and with fine which may extend to one lakh rupees for the first offence and for any subsequent offence with imprisonment which may extend to ten years and with fine which may extend to two lakh rupees" shall be substituted405 for section 25 of the principal act, the following section shall be substituted, namely:—substitution of new section for section 2545"25 whoever contravenes any of the provisions of this act or any rules made thereunder, for which no penalty has been elsewhere provided in this act, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months or with fine, which may extend to ten thousand rupees or with both and in the case of continuing contravention with an additional fine which may extend to five thousand rupees for every day during which such contravention continues after the conviction for the first such contravention" statement  of  objects  and  reasonsthe pre-conception and pre-natal diagnostic techniques (prohibition of sex selection)act, 1994 was enacted with a view to prevent unscrupulous use of ultrasonography scans to determine the sex of the unborn child however, there has been no effective implementation of the provisions of the act to prevent female foeticide across the country one of the prime reasons for it is that there is no effective machinery available at village level to  district level in the state to create awareness among the masses about female foeticide and to check the increasing offences therefore, it is necessary to provide a mechanism in the act itself for constitution of district working committees comprising of social workers and officials of district administration in every district to create awareness among the masses and to implement the provisions of the act there is also a need to provide stringent punishment under the act so as to deter people from committing offencesthe bill seeks to provide for— (a) constitution of district working committees at district level to create awareness among the masses and to check increasing offences of female foeticide in every district; and(b) enhancing the penalty for contravention of the act so as to deter people from committing such offenceshence this billnew delhi;arjun meghwalnovember 12, 2014 financial  memorandumclause 2 of the bill provides for the constitution of district working committees in every district of the states and union territories the district working committee shall consist of representatives of women organizations and social organizations working to prevent determination of sex or female foeticide in the district the state governments have to bear the expenditure in respect of travelling allowance, etc to be paid to the members of the district working committees from their respective consolidated funds however, the central government have to bear the expenditure in respect of district working committees to be constituted in the union territories the bill, therefore, if enacted, would involve expenditure out of the consolidated fund of india it is estimated that an annual recurring expenditure to the tune of rupees one hundred crore is likely to be involveda non-recurring expenditure to the tune of rupees one hundred crore is also likely to be involved annexure extract from the pre-conception and pre-natal diagnostic techniques (prohibition of sex selection) act, 1994 (act no 57 of 1994)      22 (1)     (2)     (3) any person who contravenes the provisions of sub-section (1) or sub-section (2)shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and with fine which may extend to ten thousand rupees       prohibition of advertisement relating to pre-conception and pre-natal determination of sex and punishment for contravention23 (1)     offences and penalties(2) the name of the registered medical practitioner shall be reported by the appropriate authority to the state medical council concerned for taking necessary action including suspension of the registration if the charges are framed by the court and till the case is disposed of and on conviction for removal of his name from the register of the council for a period of five years for the first offence and permanently for the subsequent offence(3) any person who seeks the aid of any genetic counselling centre, genetic laboratory, genetic clinic or ultrasound clinic or imaging clinic or of a medical geneticist, gynaecologist, sonologist or imaging specialist or registered medical practitioner or any other person for sex selection or for conducting pre-natal diagnostic techniques on any pregnant women for the purposes other than those specified in sub-section (2) of section 4, he shall, be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and with fine which may extend to fifty thousand rupees for the first offence and for any subsequent offence with imprisonment which may extend to five years and with fine which may extend to one lakh rupees      25 whoever contravenes any of the provisions of this act or any rules made thereunder, for which no penalty has been elsewhere provided in this act, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three months or with fine, which may extend to one thousand rupees or with both and in the case of continuing contravention with an additional fine which may extend to five hundred rupees for every day during which such contravention continues after conviction for the first such contravention|              ||---------------|| penalty for   || contravention || of the        || provisions of || the act or    || rules for     || which no      || specific      || punishment is || provided     |————abillfurther to amend the pre-conception and pre-natal diagnostic techniques (prohibition of sex selection) act, 1994————(shri arjun meghwal, mp)gmgipmrnd—2758ls(s3)—02122014