Wednesday, June 22, 2011

India revisits visionary Sanjay Gandhi's compulsory sterilization scheme

People from all walks of life in India today paid tribute to visionary Sanjay Gandhi, who was almost 40 years ahead of his time with his thinking. For the uninformed, Sanjay Gandhi was credited with the (in)famous, compulsory sterilization programme for men during the mid 70s.

Though severly criticised then, the programme, with a slight modification to suit current conditions, is being seriously considered by the Central and State governments, with the support of the opposition parties. The reason is the spate of rapes that have been reported in recent times, all across the country.

The change from the original programme, envisioned in is that instead of undergoing compulsory sterilization, men will have the choice to undergo either forced castration or forced penectomy. The motivation is to ensure either complete stoppage of testosterone production, or remove the organ necessary for committing the act.

The proposal was put forth by a committee comprising of members from the National Commission for Population, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, and the National Commission for Women and will be tabled in parliament during the monsoon session. Hospitals have already launched special early bird offers ever since the news about the proposed law was made public.

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