'Pregnancy registry to check girl-child deaths'

Renuka

New Delhi: The Union government is planning a pregnancy registry to reduce infant mortality and girl-child deaths.

“This will help to check both foeticide and infant mortality. With this, mysterious abortions will become difficult,” said Union Minister for Women and Child Welfare Renuka Chowdhary.

In an exclusive interview to Sify.com, she said that generally mothers had little say in these matters and hence this was being planned to help them.

Conscious to the change in Indian culture with many women opting to work, the Ministry was mulling a host of legislations to safeguard the interests of working women, she said. “We are working on a multi-pronged strategy to make motherhood safe and dignified through several initiatives to improve the condition of working mothers both at home and at the work place,” she said.

She also told that there were plans to table a Bill in Parliament to prevent sexual harassment of women at workplace. “The proposed Bill is based on guidelines issued by the Supreme Court in the Vishakha case to arrest sexual harassment at workplace. It contains provisions for setting up internal complaints committee and a local complaints committee to look into the complaints of the aggrieved women and recommend suitable action against the respondents,” she added.

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The government has also accepted the recommendations of the National Commission for Women (NCW) to enhance punishment for rape and other forms of sexual assault. “We are considering major amendments in the Indian Penal Code to address the issue of molestation and eve-teasing as specific offences. Corresponding changes will be made in the Criminal Procedure Code (Cr.PC) and the Evidence Act,” the Minister said.

With a view to giving adequate attention to the children of rural mothers working as farm labourers or as migratory labourers, the ministry has also drafted a plan to ensure their education and nutrition. “We are drafting a nutrition policy for the children in consultation with experts and will come out with c a comprehensive legislation soon,” Renuka said.

The Department of Women and Child Development (WCD) has adopted a number of significant measures in the last one year to give the much-needed momentum for the holistic development of women and children, the Minister said.

Efforts were also on to improve the nutritional and health status of vulnerable groups including pre-school children, pregnant women and nursing mothers. A package of services including supplementary nutrition, pre-school education, immunisation, health check-up, referral services and nutrition and health education was being planned for them, she said.

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