IANS| The News Minute | March 5 | 7:15 p.m. |

Faced with an adverse sex ratio which is the worst among all states in India, the Haryana government is considering bringing a law under which registration of pregnancy would be made compulsory, a minister said Thursday.

Under the proposed law, registration would be made mandatory within the first three months of pregnancy, Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij said at a meeting with senior health and police officers here.

He said legal opinion was being sought to take action if someone does not get the pregnancy registered within the first three months.

Haryana has the lowest sex ratio among all the states at 879 females per 1,000 males. The sex ratio in the zero to six years age group is even worse.

Reviewing the implementation of the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act in the state, Vij said raids would be conducted on all ultrasound centres in the state within the next one month.

"The raids would be conducted by a joint team of judicial magistrate, a police officer and a doctor which would check the records of all centres," Vij said.

The minister said the declining sex ratio was a matter of shame for Haryana and the state government is committed to improve the sex ratio.

He said the intelligence wing of the police department would also give its inputs about those indulging in sex determination and female foeticide.

IANS