Kaithal: A joint team of the health department comprising of food and drug administration (FDA) Kaithal district, Nodal officer of the PNDT (Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques) and Haryana State Narcotics Control Bureau (HSNCB) acting on a tip-off raided a private residential house near Bal Sadan Senior Secondary School in Kaithal on Tuesday morning seized 5,805 Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) kits. In a drive launched by the state health department Haryana Govt Officials to curb increasing illegal sale of MTP kits have Conduct at Least 30 raids in the last three months and registered at least 20 FIRs against MTP kit sellers, said a spokesperson of state health department. Dr Gaurav Punia, Kaithal district nodal officer of the PNDT (Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques) said the joint team of the health department, food and drug administration (FDA), Haryana State Narcotics Control Bureau during raided at a private residence in Kaithal seized the total seized 5,805 MTP kits of value worth Rs 25 lakh of different batches and manufacturers, sealed 5,745 kits were sealed and 60 MTP kits were taken for sampling.
Punia said in the last three months, Haryana’s health department has conducted over 30 raids at places allegedly involved in the illegal practice of gender detection. He said that this was the largest such haul ever in the state struggling to ‘save the unborn girl child’. “This massive recovery is a chilling reminder of the scale at which abortion kits are being trafficked in the state where the sex ratio remains among the most skewed in the country, and are potentially being used to facilitate illegal sex-selective abortions. Information reveals, each MTP kit contains one Mifepristone (200 mg) tablet and four Misoprostol (200 mcg) tablets. Both are used for terminating pregnancies. These drugs can only be stored or prescribed by registered medical practitioners and that too at authorised medical facilities.
The officials in the joint raid team said that a case under Section 3, 4, 5 of MTP Act, 1971 has been registered and the accused identified as Vikas Bansal, 47, a resident of Kaithal, who was found in possession of the stock, was arrested. As per the FIR, two other types of drugs ‘Unwanted 72’ (660 tablets) and ‘Manforce -100’ (3,840 tablets) were also recovered from the alleged accused Vikas Bansal, a medical representative, who admitted to having distributed these MTP kits for abortions over the last 2-3 years from his rented premises. Dr G L Singal, an expert and associated with ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ flagship programme in Haryana since its inception in 2015, said that this is the biggest ever haul in the history of Haryana so far in a single raid. He said, “One MTP Kit means the life of one unborn child is at stake and the root of Haryana’s sex ratio at birth is fast declining are these MTP Kits. After the gender determination test is done illegally, many abortions are done with these MTP Kits,” Dr Singal said that the arrested medical representative cannot store these medicines.
PNDT Nodal Officer Gaurav Punia said in 2021 also health department had seized 350 MTP kits in Kaithal, adding that as per the law MTP kit can only be used under the supervision of gynaecologist and no chemist can dispense it without prescription of gynaecologist to anyone. Haryana government recently issued directions for the sale of MTP kits only to approved MTP centres. Information reveals, recently as many as 25 MTP kits were also seized in Hisar on Tuesday in another decoy operation conducted by FDA Hisar when a peddler who supplied 25 MTP kits was nabbed after receipt online. In yet another case, the Drugs Control Officer Sonepat conducted a decoy operation on Monday and nabbed a woman who allegedly supplied MTP kit for Rs 1,500 for inducing abortion to a pregnant decoy.
In recent past, two women including the owner of a private hospital in Sonepat have been arrested on Monday night by the police.Due to a sharp drop in the sex ratio at birth (SRB from 916 in 2023 to 910 in 2024, the lowest in past eight years, Saini government in Haryana has launched an intensified crackdown on the illegal sale of MTP kits, often used in unlawful and sex-selective abortions taking stern action against sale of MRP kits. Sources reveal, as a result of government strict action there is a growing online black market for MTP kits. In February this year, two UP-based online pharmacy owners were arrested for illegally supplying MTP kits to Gurugram and faced strict action against a larger network supplying MTP kits. In one raid alone, about 200 MTP kits were recovered from a UP-based supplier in February this year after the health and FDA officials placed an online order and got the kits delivered with usage instructions. According to information, so far over 1,220 FIRs have been registered under the PC-PNDT and MTP Acts, which include more than 400 FIRs of inter-state raids. Simultaneously, 379 of the state’s 1,500 registered MTP centres have been shut and 16 more suspended in just one month, an official of the health department said.
