The Times of India            27.12.2013 

Aurangabad Municipal Corporation seals sonography centre in Aurangpura

AURANGABAD: A sonography centre in Aurangpura in the city was sealed down following a sting operation on Tuesday evening, where a doctor was caught red-handed while allegedly conducting the sex determination test of a foetus. The raid against the centre, run by a physician, was jointly conducted by officials of the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) and the divisional vigilance squad.

Jayashree Kulkarni, health officer in the AMC, said that the centre was sealed by the authorities late on Tuesday evening, but no arrests have been made yet. "The matter will be produced before the court on Thursday," Kulkarni said.

"We have initiated action against the doctors and other people involved in this crime under the provisions of Pre-conception and Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (prohibition of sex selection) Act (PCNDT)," Kulkarni told TOI.

Kulkarni said AMC authorities had been receiving complaints about the centre indulging in sex determination for quite some time. The raid was planned for two days. The authorities had sent in a pregnant woman - with a fake identity - to set a trap. According to officials, an agent associated with the centre had fixed up a deal for determining the sex of the foetus. The woman was told that it was a girl child and if she was willing to terminate the pregnancy, she would have to pay Rs 40,000. The woman had paid Rs 23,000 as an advance for the abortion.

When the authorities raided the centre, they recovered cash and found discrepancies in the centre's records.

"In June 2012, the divisional vigilance squad had found discrepancies in the records maintained by the centre on a surprise visit. We had served notices to the centre, asking it to maintain proper records of sonography tests held. It is mandatory on the part of sonogrphy centres to keep details of all tests done in their units. We had received repeated complaints against the centre," Kulkarni said.

The Indian Express              27.12.2013

BMC hikes FSI by 4 for conservancy staff quarters

More than five years after it promised to build new staff quarters for the 28,000 workers of the solid waste management department, the BMC has expedited the proposal by approving additional 4 floor space index (FSI) for the houses.

The need for the staff quarters through the 'Ashray' scheme to house more than 28,000 conservancy workers of the BMC became reinforced and gathered steam after the September 27 Babu Genu Market building collapse that killed 61 people and injured 33. The victims were staying at the staff quarters in the building.

The proposal would be sent to the state government for final approval, said a senior civic official.

In 2008, the BMC had announced the Ashray (shelter) project for conservancy workers. There are nearly 28,000 workers sweeping the city's streets and shifting garbage to dumping grounds but only 4,554 civic quarters, most of them dilapidated, across the city for them and their families.

The BMC had decided to make budgetary provisions for the project in a staggered manner. Owing to several hurdles and a change in administration, the project did not take off. While the existing housing facilities are inadequate, seven of the 24 civic wards do not even have any quarters for the workers. The area include Chira Bazaar, Andheri-Jogeswari-Vileparle (East), Chembur, Malad, Dahisar, Bandra-Santacruz East and King Circle that have a high population density.

Under Ashray, existing chawl-like quarters will be redeveloped in addition to creating housing in locations where there are none.

The scheme has been revived with the BMC identifying six locations for the project. While the scheme is estimated to cost Rs 1,850 crore, the BMC has set aside only Rs 50 crore in its 2013-14 budget.