New Delhi: Alarmed over falling sex-ratio in the country, the Union Health Ministry has recommended stringent punishment for those guilty of female feticide by enhancing the prison term and monetary penalty.

"The punishment for such crimes, which was an imprisonment of around 2-5 years till now, has been recommended to be increased to around 5-7 years and the fine raised to at least Rs five lakh," Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss told reporters here. The recommendations were made by the Central Advisory Committee of the Ministry.

The declining sex ratio in the country has been a major area of concern, with female feticide being considered the biggest contributing factor. States such as Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi have registered the sharpest dips in the sex ratio.

As per recommendations of the committee, the district collector will be the nodal official who will handle complaints about sex determination tests, instead of the Chief Medical Officer as is the existing practice, Ramadoss said. "

The district collector will have a committee under him and the state-level authority will also be changed with the Director General of Health Services going to be the nodal officer.