The Lok Sabha Speaker, Mrs. Meira Kumar has said that the increasing number of female foeticide cases in the country is a matter of serious concern and asked the government to provide for stringent action against violators. Her remarks followed complaints by several members in the house during the question hour today. Earlier, replying to questions, the Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Mr. Dinesh Trivedi said stringent punishments have been prescribed for using pre-conception and pre-natal diagnostic techniques to illegally determine sex of the foetus. He said the appropriate authorities at district and state levels are empowered to search, seize and seal the machines, equipment and records of the violators. The Minister underlined the need for social reforms despite the existing laws and awareness programmes. The Minister said the sex ratio at birth for India for the period 2004-06 was 892, 901 in 2005-07 and 904 in 2006-08. He said during the 1991 census, sex ratio in the country was 927 females per one thousand males, which increased to 933 females during the 2001 census.<br/>