Eleven women in the Central Indian state of Chhattisgarh have died after undergoing sterilization procedures over the weekend. Dozens more have been hospitalized with several of these women in critical condition. These women were operated on by a mobile surgical team that treated 83 patients in a five hour span on Saturday.
India’s sterilization policy has been criticized since it was introduced in the 1970s. In an attempt to slow down births in the world’s second most populated country the government instituted a payment system where people that voluntarily get sterilized would receive a cash bonus.
One of the strongest arguments against this policy is that it preys upon the poorest of the Indian population. It serves as a type of class warfare where those desperate to get their hands on a few dollars subject themselves to the procedure. Knowing that their patients are desperate allows for the quality of facilities to be shoddy at best. These traveling surgical teams often lack the sanitary conditions needed to safely treat their patients. If infection develops the proper facilities needed to treat these women often do not exist.
Human rights groups have tried to pressure the Indian government to change the nearly 40 year old policy. If the recent tragedy does not make the Indian government change its payments for sterilization program one can hope that it will force investment in better facilities for women that agree to the procedures. These women deserved better than to have died for a $23 “bonus.”