India, Sept. 27 -- The recent uncovering of a prenatal sex determination and abortion racket in Daund, Kedgaon and Yavat that led to multiple arrests has exposed a yawning enforcement gap in Maharashtra, with as many as 18 district and municipal authorities failing to conduct even a single sting operation under the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act over the past three years despite there being a target of 25 such operations every year in each district, according to official data.

As per the PCPNDT Act 1994, local bodies such as municipal corporations and district health officials in rural areas under civil surgeons are supposed to carry out mandatory 25 decoy sting operations in a year to identify and preven...