RAIPUR: In the Ambikapur district of Chhattisgarh, the health department carried out tubectomy on 101 women, mostly tribals, in just 7 hours at a government mass sterilisation camp.
These women, from Mainpat and Sitapur blocks of the district, arrived at the Narmadapur community health centre for sterilisation. They were asked to rest on the rugged mat for 10-15 minutes on the floor and later sent back home. The sterilisation surgeries were reportedly carried out between 8 pm and 3 am.
It appears no lesson has been learnt from the botched sterilisation cases operated at a government camp in Chhattisgarh’s Bilaspur district in November 2014 when 15 women had died owing to the suspected infections.
Following the tragedy, a government directive clarified that only 30 women should have undergone sterilisation operations per day at a camp.
“As usual, the family planning burden apparently continues to fall on the women more than the men. And surprisingly the specified norms have been so conveniently flouted”, said Dr Parivesh Mishra, a health expert.
The block medical officers in-charge Dr Jibnus Ekta, a surgeon and Dr R S Singh said that it was a helpless situation owing to the surge in the number of women turning up at the health centre for sterilisation.
“The women were adamant that they would not be returning without undergoing the surgery”, they claimed.
After the incident came to the limelight, the district chief medical and health officer P S Sisodia constituted a 3-member team of doctors to probe into it.
Meanwhile, the department has also served notices seeking an explanation from the concerned two doctors engaged at the sterilisation camp.