PMC indifferent over book on 'how to get male child'

At a time when all forces are hell bent upon fighting gender bias, a Marathi book, ‘Mulgach Kasa Hoil' (How to get a baby boy), written by V V Chaudhary, is reportedly doing the rounds at bookstalls.

One Ganesh Suresh Borhade, who came across the book at a ST stand stall while he was travelling from Ahmadnagar to Pune last September, noticed this fact. As he was preparing for competitive exams, he realised that the content of the book was in direct violation of the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act, 1994 (PCPNDT) that states that there should not be any content that promotes gender selection.

Offensive book: The cover of the book declaring ‘Mulgach Kasa Hoil' (How to get a baby boy), written by V V Chaudhary, which is in direct violation of the u00a0PCPNDT Act.

"Having realised the intension of the author, I decided to file a complaint against those involved at the PCPNDT cell under Family Welfare Department, State Office, in Pune on September 25 last year," said Borhade.

Ganesh Suresh Borhade, who informed the PMC about the book

After getting the complaint letter, V D Khanande, Joint Director of State Health Services and Family Welfare Department, forwarded the request to the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) for further action.

"The letter stated that action be taken against publisher, printer and seller of the book according to PCPNDT Act 1994, amendment 2003 section 22 (1) and report back about the action taken. The letter was sent to the PMC on November 9," he added. Two months after sending the application, PMC has sent no report of action taken against the concerned persons.

"When I went to the PMC to ask about the action taken, Dr Kishor Pakhare, a health officer heading PCPNDT cell in the PMC said that he hadn't received any such letter. Annoyed by the lack of seriousness, I then wrote the letter to PMC Commissioner Mahesh Pathak on February 11, 2013. However, I was not given any satisfactory information. I then followed up with another letter to Pakahre informing that I would drag him and persons involved in the book to court if strict action was not taken in the case. He was not in office that day," Borhade added.

Officialspeak
"We got the letter from the State office and Borhade and we have directed a team to look into the issue and search for the book at the place listed in the letter written by Borhade. However, the book was not found there and we are planning to visit some more shops listed in the letter, as we need a copy to take further action in this case," Pakahre said.u00a0