Tracking of Pregnant Women with Daughters Yet to Take Off; Pune Records Highest Number of Abortions in Maharashtra
Pune, 17th June 2026: Despite the Maharashtra government’s decision to strengthen measures against female foeticide and illegal sex determination, the implementation of a new system to track pregnant women who already have one or more daughters has remained largely limited to data collection. Four months after the initiative was announced, health authorities are still working to streamline the process and ensure accurate reporting across districts.
The state government had issued directives in March to municipal corporations, zilla parishads and other local self-government bodies to monitor such pregnancies until delivery. The move was aimed at curbing sex-selective abortions and improving enforcement of the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act.
According to officials, guidelines were circulated to all local bodies and training sessions were conducted through video conferencing. ASHA workers were tasked with collecting information on pregnant women who have one or more daughters and conducting regular follow-ups. However, the health department is yet to establish a fully accurate and uniform data collection mechanism.
As part of the first phase of implementation, the Public Health Department has compiled district-wise abortion statistics and begun analysing the data.
Pune Tops State in Reported Abortions
The analysis shows that Pune district recorded the highest number of abortions in Maharashtra during the 2025-26 financial year. A total of 39,509 abortions were reported in the district, accounting for nearly 21 per cent of the state’s total 1,84,152 cases.
Pune was followed by Thane, Mumbai Suburban, Palghar, Ahmednagar and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar districts in terms of the number of reported abortions.
Health officials attribute Pune’s high figures to the presence of advanced healthcare facilities, a large network of private hospitals, referrals from rural areas, management of high-risk pregnancies, detection of fetal abnormalities and cases of unplanned pregnancies. They clarified that legal medical terminations of pregnancy are distinct from illegal sex-selective abortions, which remain punishable under the law.
Monthly Monitoring Through ASHA Workers
Under the new guidelines, ASHA workers will track pregnant women who have one or two daughters and monitor their pregnancies until childbirth. District health officers and municipal health authorities have been instructed to submit monthly reports through a centralised system by the 10th of every month.
The collected data will be reviewed at the state level, with senior health officials closely monitoring trends and implementation. Officials said the initiative is expected to help identify suspicious patterns, strengthen enforcement of anti-sex selection laws and improve monitoring of vulnerable pregnancies across Maharashtra.
