India Mass Sterilization- With the goal to curb growing population, at least 13 women have died while more than 50 women were hospitalized with India mass sterilization project, Reuters reported.
Death toll rises since camp sterilization surgery was held in Bilaspur district, State of Chhattisgarh. Over 80 women have undergone laparoscopic tubectomies that are run by the Indian government in a free camp located in Chhattisgarh on Saturday.
Shortly after the India mass sterilization surgery, women become ill and had developed serious complications by Monday. Hospital officials have declared that dozens of women have been rushed to four different hospitals in the state.
India mass sterilization is a long planned initiative of the Indian government to control the nation's growing population. According to the Worldometers, India has 1.27 billion people population. It ranks as second to China that has the largest population in the world.
"The [health workers] said nothing would happen, it was a minor operation. They herded them like cattle," Mahesh Suryavanshi, a brother-in-law of one of the casualties told Indian express Newspaper.
In India mass sterilization project, various camps were erected all across India where doctors performed surgeries in an open field or space without proper medical facilities. R.K. Gupta, one of the doctors who performed the operation has completed over 80 tubectomies surgery with just two assistants.
There were reported cases of toxic shock that is allegedly due to the unclean medical equipments used and infected medicines. No instructions were given to the women right after the surgery on a follow-up check up or medicines to be taken for pain or any complications.
Although the cause of death of these women was not yet confirmed, initial investigation shows that women were given counterfeit medicines and doctors used dirty medical equipments, Senior Local Government Official Siddharth Komal Singh Pardeshi told Reuters.
With alleged India mass sterilization failure, India's move to curb population has been scrutinized more. Gupta, the doctor who performed 80 surgeries that day was put under investigation. Initial reports revealed that the doctor had completed the surgeries in an abandoned private hospital in just three hours.
Four days after the India Mass sterilization project has been held in Bilaspur, a New Delhi team of doctors came to the district to examine the incident. A case was also filed to the local police district against Gupta.
What are even worse, reports claimed that many of the women from the rural areas were forced to go to the camp for the mass sterilization operation. Women were paid 1, 400 rupees ($23) for submitting themselves for the surgery.
India mass sterilization is a long -time project and a renowned birth control technique in the nation. In India, the surgery was considered as a minor surgery where it is supposed to be a major one. Doctors performing the surgery were also discovered to exceed the numbers of limited operation done in a day.
