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20,000 model facilities identified to promote safe abortion practices

July 7, 2012

New Delhi, July 7: India is going all out to publicize safe abortion practices.

For the first time, the Union health ministry has asked states to conduct a massive campaign popularizing safe abortion, besides informing women that the confidentiality clause will keep their identity secret.

The ministry has also identified 20,000 model health facilities across the country that will now be open for abortion service round the clock.

The National Rural Health Mission's (NRHM) Programme Implementation Plan (PIP) for 2012-13 of all states mentions the push required for first trimester safe abortion service.

The fund allocation of states will be cut, if such service isn't doled out free to all women.

NRHM mission director Anuradha Gupta told TOI that 8% of all maternal deaths are due to unsafe abortion.

India recorded 6.5 million abortions (of the total 10.5 million abortions in the south and central Asia region) in 2008 of which 66% were deemed unsafe.

The Guttmacher Institute recently said unsafe abortion has become rampant in India, with the region recording 200 deaths for every one lakh abortions.

Gupta said the ministry has sent guidelines on comprehensive abortion care to all the states which includes directions on how to counsel women before and after conducting an abortion.

"India has 1.75 lakh health facilities of which 20,000 are performing really well as far as making available the bouquet of maternal health services is concerned. We have mapped these facilities by name and have made them single-window delivery points. Now, they will provide abortion service 24x7," Gupta told TOI.

She added, "Doctors in these 20,000 facilities will be trained to conduct safe abortion and will be stocked with drugs and equipment needed to deal with unintended facilities. States have also been asked to carry out a massive publicity drive to inform women that abortion is legal in India."

Union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad recently said that "safe abortion care has also been made an integral part of ASHA's orientation and training in order to equip them with the skills to create awareness on abortion issues in the women and the community and facilitate them in accessing services for safe abortion care."

Dr Gilda Sedgh from the Guttmacher Institute told TOI "Abortion is legal in India and the service is much safer that many other developing countries. But for some reason, women choosing to abort are not taking advantage of this liberal law. They are also getting abortion done in unsafe clinics. That's why a good measure of abortions in India are unsafe"

"There is a tremendous need for the country's family planning programme to spread awareness for safe abortion and also push for increased use of contraception and use of safe abortion services," she added. Dr Sedgh said 13% of all maternal deaths in the south and central Asia region is due to unsafe abortion.

Unsafe abortion is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a procedure for terminating a pregnancy that is performed by an individual lacking the necessary skills or in an environment that does not conform to minimal medical standards, or both.

The health ministry data suggests that the number of induced abortions has started to dip in India. However, in absolute numbers, India in 2008 saw 6.41 lakh abortions across 12510 institutions, approved to carry out Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP).

In 2009, the Family Welfare Statistics in India recorded 7.25 lakh MTPs in 2005, 7.21 lakh in 2006 and 6.82 lakh in 2007.

Going by the 2008 figures, Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest number of MTPs at 89,194, followed by Tamil Nadu (63,875), Odisha (59,945), Assam (58,409) and Maharashtra (54,545). The other states with high abortion numbers include West Bengal (46,753), Haryana (31,126), Delhi (30,846), Rajasthan (29,292), Gujarat (27,837) and Bihar (24,149). The states with the lowest abortion figures are Daman and Diu (42) and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (94) and Goa (930).

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News Network
February 2,2020

Mumbai, Feb 2: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday slammed the BJP-led central government on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and said that the new law only serves the objectives of the Sangh Parivar of turning India into a Hindu Rashtra.

He said that in order to achieve their objectives, the "communal elements" are trying to divide India's people through the same strategy as employed by the British colonisers in the past.

Lauding people in Mumbai for their protests against CAA, the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the National Population Register (NPR), the Kerala chief minister also outlined three reasons for his government's decision to reject the Citizenship Amendment Act.

"Over the last several weeks, Mumbai citizens made clear their unyielding opposition to efforts made by Hindutva elements to tear apart the secular fabric of our society. I express solidarity with struggles being made across the city in defence of secularism and the Indian Constitution," Vijayan said at an event here.

The chief minister was addressing the 'Mumbai Collective' here on the topic of 'National struggle against communalism'.

"The government of Kerala is acting as per the Constitution. Like Kerala, other states are also looking at CAA as against the fundamentals of the Constitution. It (CAA) violates basic human rights and is divisive and deeply discriminatory," CM Vijayan said, adding that the new citizenship law only furthers the Sangh Parivar's objective of creating a Hindu Rashtra.

He said the CAA needs to be rejected for three basic reasons.

"First, it is against the letter and spirit of our Constitution. Secondly, it is highly discriminatory and violative of human rights. Thirdly, it seeks to impose philosophy of Sangh Parivar with its mission of Hindu Rashtra," the chief minister said.

Vijayan also participated in the human chain organised by Left Democratic Front (LDF) against CAA and NRC and said that "the law is a threat to the secularism of this country".

The newly enacted law is facing stiff opposition across the country with several non-NDA states including Kerala, West Bengal, Rajasthan and Punjab refusing to implement it.

Rajasthan, Kerala and Punjab have passed resolutions against the recently amended law in their respective state Assemblies.

The CAA grants citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Buddhists and Christians fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh and who came to India on or before December 31, 2014.

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Agencies
July 30,2020

Kochi, Jul 30: The Kerala High Court on Thursday refused to grant the extension for the stay of a 74-year-old US citizen, Johnny Paul Pierce, who had earlier said that he felt safer to remain in India than in the United States amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The single-judge bench of Justice CS Dias, which considered the writ petition, observed that the grant or extension of visa to foreign nationals fall exclusively within the domain of the Government of India (GoI) and that judicial review in such matters is minimal.

The power of the GoI to expel foreigners is absolute and unlimited, the bench said.

"In view of the categoric declaration of law by the Supreme Court, the plea of the petitioner to permit him to stay back in India cannot be accepted, as it falls within the purview of the guidelines and the discretion of the Government of India," the order said.

"The petitioner cannot be heard that the guidelines/policies/regulations formulated by the Government of India, that an American national though has been granted a visa having validity of five years has to leave India within 180 days, is irrational or unreasonable," it added.

The High Court, which was hearing a plea to permit the US citizen to stay in India for a further period of six months, said that the petitioner does not have a case that there is an infraction of Article 21 of the Constitution of India.

"The petitioner was well aware of the visa conditions when he arrived in India, and it is too late in the day for him to raise a grievance on the visa conditions," the bench said noting that the petitioner's love for India was heartening.

The High Court also directed the Foreigners Registration Officer to consider the petitioner's representation within a period of two weeks in accordance with the applicable guidelines and policies.

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Agencies
June 13,2020

New Delhi, Jun 13: In a bid to provide relief to small businesses amid the coronavirus pandemic, the GST Council on Friday decided to halve the interest rate on late filing of GSTR-3B returns for the period of February, March and April 2020.

The interest rate on late return filing will be 9% from the usual 18% till September 30, 2020. The benefit will be available for small taxpayers with aggregate turnover of up to Rs 5 crore.

For the three months, small taxpayers will not be charged any interest till the notified dates for relief and thereafter 9% interest will be charged till September 30, a Finance Ministry statement said.

"For small taxpayers (aggregate turnover upto Rs 5 crore), for the supplies effected in the month of February, March and April 2020, the rate of interest for late furnishing of return for the said months beyond specified dates (staggered upto 6th July 2020) is reduced from 18 per cent per annum to 9 per cent per annum till 30.09.2020," said the statement.

The Council has also extended relief to small taxpayers for subsequent period of 2020 through waiver of late fees and interest if the returns in Form GSTR-3B for the supplies effected in the months of May, June and July are furnished by September 2020.

It has also decided to reduce the late fee on the filing of GSTR-3B returns for the period between July 2017 and January 2020. The late fee has been capped at Rs 500, but interest will be charged at the existing rate on the due tax liability.

Speaking to the media in New Delhi after a GST Council meet through videoconference, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that those entities with no tax liability will not have to submit the late fee for the period.

For entities with tax liability but which have not filed returns or have filed returns late, the late fee has been capped at Rs 500 without interest. Interest will, however, be payable on the tax component at the applicable rate for delays.

To facilitate taxpayers who could not get their cancelled GST registrations restored in time, the Council has provided an opportunity for filing of application for revocation of cancellation of registration up to September 30, 2020, in all cases where registrations have been cancelled till June 12, 2020.

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