A Fact Finding Report of the Sterilisation Camp Held at Manikchak Rural Hospital, District Malda, West Bengal

Post Date: Wednesday, May 25, 2016

On February 5, 2013 a mega female Minilap Ligation operation camp was held at Manikchak rural hospital of Malda district of West Bengal where 103 women were sterilised.

It was reported in the local media that the women who were sterilised in this camp were kept on the open ground (hospital campus premises) after the surgeries and their relatives immediately after operation (in semi-conscious state) were taking them back home. This is a serious violation of post operative care protocols specified in the central government guidelines on 'Standard for female and male sterilisation services, 2006.'This violation was highlighted in the media (NDTV and other news channels) and later enquires conducted by the state health department and the national human rights commission as well as by this team that went for fact finding to Malda on April 6, 2013.

In order to understand the sequence of events and document the breach of MoHFW guidelines, a team,constituting of medical doctor andwomen’s health activists undertook a visit to the area on behalf of Coalition Against Two-Child Norm and Coercive Population Policies, Human Rights Law Network and Health Watch Forum, Bihar. The team members included: Dr. Prabir Chatterjee, RCH Raiganj, West Bengal; Praveer Peter from HRLN, New Delhi; Kanti from Smokus local NGO Raiganj, Leena Uppal from Coalition against TCN and coercive population policies, New Delhi; Devika Biswas from Health Watch Forum, Bihar.

Objectives of the fact finding:

  • To conduct an impartial fact finding of the adherence of the standard protocols specified in different guidelines of the Government of India (a) 'Quality Assurance Manual for Sterilisation Services, 2006', (b) 'Standard Operating Procedures for sterilisation services in camps, 2008' (c) 'Standards for Female and Male Sterilisation Services, 2008' and assess whether the providers are maintaining standards of care as specified in the service guidelines.
  • To suggest systemic improvements to prevent such happenings in future; in case if there are any violations of standard protocols.