More number of women sought free sterilisation in the lean period between sowing and harvesting seasons at government-run camps, straining the limited infrastructure and surgeons, said an official of the Madhya Pradesh Health Department.
On Wednesday, 40 sterilised women were made to lie on the floor of the Shivpuri district hospital, in the absence of beds there. The district, with one of the highest fertility rates in the country, is covered under the Centre’s Mission Parivar Vikas (MPV), targeting 145 high fertility districts in seven States with a total fertility rate of three and above.
Adequate funds
The 25 districts under the scheme in the State received “enough funds”, and could even rent beds for the three-month lean period between farming seasons, said the official of the National Health Mission, requesting anonymity.
“There is a myth that getting sterilised in winters is better for health. And the window between November and January affords patients time too. Otherwise, going for the procedure means patients, mostly dependent on daily wage, miss days of work,” he said.
The Centre has been implementing a scheme since 1981 to compensate sterilisation acceptors for the loss of wages to them on the day of the procedure.
More surgeries
To deal with the increased burden, the State government had extended permissible surgeries per doctor from 30 a day to 50, at least for two months. After 30 procedures, each surgeon would be required to take a half-an-hour break at least, said A.L. Sharma, Shivpuri Chief Medical Health Officer.
As for the sterilised women, he said, “First, only 30 women sought it, and then 10 more came later.” Besides the camp at the hospital, three others are run at community centres in the district.
“There are no beds in the centre. So patients are made to lie on mattresses covered with bedsheets, and given blankets. And all the doors and windows of the room are closed to keep it sanitised. After four hours, they are discharged and dropped by officials at their houses,” he said, adding there was no case of negligence.
At any given point, 750 patients were admitted to the 400-bed district hospital. “Sometimes, in the case of children, they are made to share beds,” he said.
Meanwhile, a two-member fact-finding team of the Zenith Legal Aid Clinic visited the hospital on Thursday and found that the 40 patients were crammed in the room with a capacity for 25.
“After a surgery is performed, patients are lifted by two ward boys on a stretcher and made to lie on the floor. In case only one of them is present, he carries patients on his arms,” said Anshuman Aditya Saraf, part of the team. Moreover, though families were not allowed to visit patients, the door to the room was kept open for them to peep inside, he said.
Last week on Saturday, 37 women were made to lie on the floor after sterilisation at a community health centre in Vidisha district. Earlier the same week, another 41 women were made to lie on the floor at a different centre in the district.
