MYSURU: Inspections conducted by Lokayukta officials at private scanning centres in KR Pet taluk of Mandya district have exposed serious irregularities, including conducting illegal scanning of pregnant minor girls, revealed a report.
Lokayukta teams conducted raids during the past two days at several taluk hospitals, as well as private diagnostic and scanning centres across the district. The officials have since compiled a detailed report, highlighting multiple violations and systemic lapses in the enforcement of law, sources said.
The report has highlighted blatant violations of the Pre-conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, particularly Section 8(1), which mandates monitoring of scanning centres every 90 days. The office of the district health officer (DHO) has failed to maintain any record of such inspections, it said.
The report also revealed that authorities, specifically the subdivisional officers of Mandya and Pandavapura also failed to conduct mandatory inspections at diagnostic centres, as required under the law.
One of the most alarming findings is that at least seven pregnant minor girls were subjected to ultrasound scans in violation of legal norms. In addition, 64 pregnant women aged between 18 and 20 have also undergone scans without obtaining valid age verification documents.
The report also notes major discrepancies in record-keeping at private scanning centres in KR Pet taluk. Despite identifying cases involving minor pregnancies, scanning centres failed to inform local police authorities, as mandated by law. In addition, the details of such scans were not properly documented, raising concerns about possible concealment of offences.
The Lokayukta team is said to have found that government gynaecologists were not referring pregnant women to higher-level government hospitals for scans. Instead, they were directing them to private scanning centres, allegedly to benefit private operators.