No compensation for woman after post-tubectomy complications

KANPUR: For 35 years old Maya Devi, a resident of Bidhnoo, it has been more than four years since the health department assured her of giving compensation of Rs 25,000 after she started showing complications following tubectomy surgery in 2006.
Aggrieved by the officials of health department, she even went to Lucknow to meet the health minister but returned empty handed and is still waiting for government help.
Six months after the tubectomy operations, Maya started to face certain problems. She said: "After the operation there was infection in the stitches and we visited the nearby health centre. The doctors told us that nothing can be done. But after getting treatment at the Hamirpur health centre, there was a relief. When we asked for the compensation under the scheme, there was no one to help us."
Ironically the government is claiming to try every possible way to control the population and giving special benefits to those going for sterilisation operation. However, many persons like Maya fail to get the benefits as promised by the government. Registering herself for sterilisation operation under National Sterilisation Programme of the Union government, Maya got pregnant after the surgery and when she claimed compensation for the failure of sterilisation, none was ready to hear her pleas.
Started in 2005 by the ministry of health and family welfare, the schemes provides an insurance cover to those undergoing sterilisation. As per the scheme an amount of Rs 2 lakh will be provided as an indemnity to the person who died due to sterilisation in hospital or within seven days from the date of date of discharge from the hospital. Whereas the insured members who lost their lives due to sterilisation within 8-30 days from the date of the discharge from the hospital will be provided Rs 50,000.
The scheme also ensures to benefit those whose sterilisation failed due to some reasons or have faced certain complications after surgery. In the failure of the operation, the insured member will avail a benefit of Rs 30,000 while in the latter case he/she will be given Rs 25,000.
Going by the data provided by the district health authority, a majority of the couples are going for tubectomy and a small proportion are opting for vasectomy. In 2008, only 185 men underwent vasectomy in comparison 8,881 women who had tubectomy.
In 2009, the couples undergoing sterilisation increased. As many as 9,767 women and 322 men were operated.
Chief medical officer (CMO) Ashok Mishra said: "There are possibilities of 1-2 per cent failure in such operations. The scheme was started to compensate those affected. Earlier, the doctors use to reject such cases as they were unaware of it. Now, a list of beneficiaries had been prepared to give compensation at the earliest."
There are seven other cases pending since 2006 onwards. A majority of the cases are from the blocks like Sarsaul, Bheetrgaon, Kalyanpur and Bidhnoo.