#dnaEdit: The onus is on women

In its quest for a developed nation’s status, India offers remarkable contrasts. On the one hand, its literacy levels have shot up by 10% in a decade, according to the 2011 census data. On the other hand, the nation seems to be steeped in a gender bias against women — a phenomenon particularly pronounced in the sterilisation drives. One of the upshots of this contradictions is how skin-deep mass education has been, especially in its failure to effect a change in the patriarchal mindset of its citizens. A close reading of the census data will reveal that the literacy achievements, which owe a lot to the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA), are mostly restricted to a third of the country’s total households, which can boast of at least four literate members. 

It is not rural India alone that must shoulder the blame for depriving women of the right to take decisions that impact their lives. In Mumbai, the financial nerve-centre of the country, patriarchy is alive and thriving, cutting across the socio-economic spectrum. However, because of the available data it appears to be more rampant in the slums and chawls. The BMC figures — in response to a RTI query — reveals that in the past decade, compared to 2.90 lakh women opting for tubectomy, only 16,290 men went in for vasectomy. This, despite the fact that for males, the surgery is much less complicated and is virtually risk-free, involving negligible post-operative care. The figure for 2013-14 shows an even more staggering difference, with only 729 men opting for surgery, when the number of women undergoing permanent sterilisation stands at 22,502 — a whopping 30 times more. The number of men has only dwindled over the years as it increasingly became the responsibility of women to ensure family planning. 

For men, vasectomy has come to be associated with loss of manhood — a baseless fear arising out of ignorance. Moreover, the nightmarish experiences from the forced sterilisation drives during the Sanjay Gandhi era continue to dissuade them from going under the scalpel. Some also cite religious diktats, which frown upon sterilisation. Curiously, even incentives, as offered by the BMC to its employees, have failed to inspire them.

For women, vasectomy can spell danger. In the first three months after the procedure, women run the risk of being impregnated, which then leaves them vulnerable to questions about morality. However, a real threat to government’s sterilisation drives comes from the Bilaspur tragedy which claimed the lives of 14 women who died after consuming rat-poison-laced drugs. It might drive more women to opt for temporary measures like oral contraceptives, and intra-uterine devices. As it is cases of tubectomy are on the decline because of the plethora of options available in the market. 

Clearly, population control hasn’t been accorded top priority by the Centre — the way polio eradication had taken centre stage, and AIDS awareness and control became a national obsession. A miniscule portion of Rs30,645 crore, the amount earmarked for Department of Health and Family Welfare in 2014, is being spent in sterilisation measures, which also includes public awareness campaigns. Compare that with the outlay for SSA — Rs28,258 crore — for 2014, and the picture becomes clear. 

At the heart of India’s multitude of problems is a burgeoning population and the lack of resources to contain it. The message is loud and clear but governments at the Centre and states have turned a blind eye to a pressing need.