JODHPUR: The Rajasthan government is offering prizes including television sets, food processors and even a Tata Nano car for people who agree to undergo sterilisation.
"We want to promote sterilisation," Pratap Singh Dutter, said the deputy chief medical officer of Jhunjhunu district in Rajasthan.
"Everyone who gets sterilised between today and 30th September will be entered into a lottery to win prizes."
The first prize is a Tata Nano. Other rewards up for grabs include motorcycles and 21-inch televisions, Dutter said.
"We felt we were falling behind on our sterilisation target of 21,000 per year, so the district collector came up with this idea. We hope at least 6,000 people will come forward in the next three months to get sterilised," he said.
Advocates of family planning criticised the new rewards-based scheme, calling it coercive and unsustainable.
"We don't favour incentives as a way of encouraging sterilisation, it is coercion by a different name. Besides, how can you sustain it? You can't give a Tata Nano every six months to people," Sona Sharma from the non-profit Population Foundation of India said.
Sharma warned against the rush to meet sterilisation targets.
"They will probably succeed in raising numbers, but the quality of medical care is always compromised in such situations, when you have many patients, few doctors, and limited time, doctors end up cutting corners and the repercussions can be frightening," she said.
Dutter said no one in Jhunjhunu, which has a population of 2.1 million, up 11.8 percent over 10 years, had complained about the new scheme.
"We are not forcing anyone or taking advantage of them, we are just trying to encourage them to volunteer," he said.
According to census data released in March this year, India is set to surpass China and become the world's most populous nation by 2030.
The country has a total fertility rate -- the number of children borne on average per woman -- of 2.588, according to 2010 figures issued by United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), which indicates a fast growing population.
The fertility rate has declined, however, since 1990 when it stood at 4.0, the UNFPA says.
"We want to promote sterilisation," Pratap Singh Dutter, said the deputy chief medical officer of Jhunjhunu district in Rajasthan.
"Everyone who gets sterilised between today and 30th September will be entered into a lottery to win prizes."
The first prize is a Tata Nano. Other rewards up for grabs include motorcycles and 21-inch televisions, Dutter said.
"We felt we were falling behind on our sterilisation target of 21,000 per year, so the district collector came up with this idea. We hope at least 6,000 people will come forward in the next three months to get sterilised," he said.
Advocates of family planning criticised the new rewards-based scheme, calling it coercive and unsustainable.
"We don't favour incentives as a way of encouraging sterilisation, it is coercion by a different name. Besides, how can you sustain it? You can't give a Tata Nano every six months to people," Sona Sharma from the non-profit Population Foundation of India said.
Sharma warned against the rush to meet sterilisation targets.
"They will probably succeed in raising numbers, but the quality of medical care is always compromised in such situations, when you have many patients, few doctors, and limited time, doctors end up cutting corners and the repercussions can be frightening," she said.
Dutter said no one in Jhunjhunu, which has a population of 2.1 million, up 11.8 percent over 10 years, had complained about the new scheme.
"We are not forcing anyone or taking advantage of them, we are just trying to encourage them to volunteer," he said.
According to census data released in March this year, India is set to surpass China and become the world's most populous nation by 2030.
The country has a total fertility rate -- the number of children borne on average per woman -- of 2.588, according to 2010 figures issued by United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), which indicates a fast growing population.
The fertility rate has declined, however, since 1990 when it stood at 4.0, the UNFPA says.
oh my god........... it happens like this also?????
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