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 foeticide 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 reveals the scale at which Haryana is now monitoring abortions amid growing concern within the government over a renewed fall in sex ratio at birth (SRB) and possible reactivation of organized interstate 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 unauthorized 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.The reverse-tracking exercise was conducted in five phases beginning Oct 2024. The highest number of cases — 1,608 — was reported during Round 2 between April and Aug 2025, when the state intensified surveillance after early warning signs of declining SRB figures emerged in several districts.Round 5 of the reverse-tracking exercise, conducted between Jan and March 2026, assumed particular significance as it focused specifically on pregnancies beyond 12 weeks and coincided with the fresh slide 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 latest round again showed private hospitals accounting for the largest share of traced procedures at 247 cases, followed by 177 abortions conducted at home and 141 in government facilities. Forty-one cases involved women from outside Haryana.Rohtak recorded the highest number of cases during Round 5 at 56, followed by Sonipat (55), Kaithal (48), Jind (46), and Hisar and Panipat with 41 each. Kurukshetra was the only district where officials flagged incomplete verification, with seven cases still pending.District-wise data across all five rounds showed wide variations in both tracking volumes and enforcement patterns.Sonipat recorded the highest number of reverse-tracked abortion cases at 343, followed by Panipat (309), Mahendragarh (279), Hisar (255), Rohtak (245) and Jind (241).However, FIR registrations did not always correspond to higher case volumes. Mewat, for instance, recorded only 75 reverse-tracked cases but registered 13 FIRs — the highest in the state. Panipat registered seven FIRs, while Ambala, Jhajjar and Mahendragarh recorded six each.In contrast, districts such as Hisar and Rohtak, despite high tracking numbers, saw relatively fewer FIRs, indicating differences in district-level enforcement strategies, intelligence inputs and local surveillance mechanisms.The state has also intensified inspections of MTP centers and chemist shops. Officials disclosed recently that Haryana has 1,206 registered MTP centres, of which 201 have been shut down for violations. Authorities conducted 1,240 inspections during 2025 and 2026 and issued 58 notices to erring facilities.Crackdowns on illegal sale of abortion kits have also widened. During enforcement drives this year, authorities sealed 44 chemist shops, registered 59 FIRs and seized over 6,000 MTP kits across Haryana.The expanded surveillance comes amid renewed concern over Haryana’s declining sex ratio at birth. As reported by TOI earlier, the state’s SRB fell to 895 girls per 1,000 boys between Jan and April 2026, down sharply from 909 during the same period last year.Officials fear the decline may indicate the re-emergence of organized interstate networks involving illegal ultrasound referrals, unauthorized abortion centers and covert sale of MTP kits.
