New Delhi
Famous
search engines - Google, Microsoft & Yahoo and online shopping platforms –
Amazon.in, Flipkart, Junglee & Naaptol are allowing access to products
and publications promoting sex selection for everyone on purchase.
The current estimates
show that in India, the practice of sex selection results in the loss of
about 6 lakh girls every year.
The child sex ratio
(number of girls per thousand boys in 0-6 age group) is as low as 918 and is at
its worst in last few decades.
Government has
recently initiated a ‘Beti Bachao- Beti Padhao’ programme seeks to promote
equal value for daughters, to reduce the gap between number of live births of
boys and girls. Previous Government and several international, national and
social organizations are also putting in efforts to educate and spread
awareness over the issue of discrimination against women and girls.
The Pre-Conception
and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PC&PNDT) Act prohibits all forms of
advertisements related to sex selection services in India.
As per the law, no
person can issue, publish, distribute, communicate any advertisement, in any
form, including in the Internet, regarding facilities of sex
selection. Online shopping platforms like Flipkart, Amazon.in,
Junglee, Naaptol and search engines - Google, Microsoft and Yahoo cater to all
age groups. By allowing access to information to any product promoting sex
selection that helps people select the sex of
the foetus is against the law.
Government should
take note of this and ask these companies to discontinue promoting any such
product in India. The companies should be held summoned for explanation, for
advertising and selling publications on sex selection online, as this is
clear violation of the law of the country.
Hon’ble Supreme Court
of India has recently instructed Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft not to
advertise or sponsor any advertisement related to sex selection services. In
this context, it is clear contempt of court.
Change.org
is running a petition in regard to same asking these companies to stop
promoting and making profits by selling such products.
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