Civil hospital, home district, Haryana, Gynaecology OPD, Naraingarh
in Ambala district. The Indian Express, by Jaipal Singh. (7 years ago)
Gurgaon: Haryana has reverse-tracked nearly 4,000 medical termination of pregnancy (MTP) abortion cases over the past 18 months, even as private hospitals have emerged as the biggest focus area.
The high number of abortions conducted at home has also emerged as a concern for authorities monitoring possible misuse of illegally procured MTP kits.
Reverse tracking was completed in 3,955 cases, while 78 FIRs were registered during the crackdown as part of one of the state’s largest surveillance exercises against suspected illegal sex determination and female feticide networks.
Data from the health department’s district-wise review of reverse tracking of MTP/abortion cases – accessed by TOI – shows authorities identified 3,962 abortion cases between Oct 2024 and March 2026 across five rounds of investigation.
The data reveal the scale at which Haryana is now monitoring abortions amidst growing concern within the government over a renewed fall in sex ratio at birth (SRB) and possible reactivation of organised inter-state sex selection networks.
Of the 3,955 reverse-tracked cases, the largest share – 1,673 – was linked to private hospitals. Another 1,262 abortions were traced to homes, while 770 cases involved government hospitals. Around 230 cases involved women from outside Haryana.
A health official said, “We have significantly expanded field-level monitoring network involving ASHA workers, ANMs and Saheli coordinators to identify suspicious pregnancy terminations and strengthen village-level surveillance.
At a recent review meeting, additional chief secretary (health and family welfare) Sumita Misra directed district administrations, police and health officials to intensify sting operations, accelerate reverse tracking, and identify unauthorised hospitals carrying out illegal procedures.
Officials said the concentration of cases in private healthcare facilities has led to intensified scrutiny of MTP centres, referral chains and unregistered clinics suspected of carrying out illegal procedures.
Round 5 of the reverse-tracking exercise, conducted between January and March 2026 assumed particular significance as it focused specifically on pregnancies beyond 12 weeks and coincided with the change in Haryana’s SRB this year.
Authorities tracked 606 abortion cases during the latest phase, including 534 involving pregnancies between 13 and 20 weeks and 72 cases involving pregnancies exceeding 20 weeks, categories that generally attract closer scrutiny during PCPNDT investigations.
The article continues, looking at district-level data, inspections, crackdowns, illegal ultrasound referrals, unauthorised abortion centres and covert sale of MTP kits… During enforcement drives this year, authorities sealed 44 chemist shops, registered 59 FIRs and seized over 6,000 MTP kits across Haryana. Meanwhile the state’s sex ratio at birth fell to 895 girls to 1,000 boys between January and April 202, down sharply from 909 during the same period last year.
SOURCE: Times of India, by Ipsita Pati, 11 May 2026.