2 April 2012
DELHI- Senior Counsel Colin Gonsalves appeared before the Supreme Court
in Devika Biswas vs. Union of India and Ors. (W.P. (C) 81 of
2012), and the Court was pleased to issue notices to the Centre and
every state in this Public Interest Litigation filed by the Human Rights
Law Network.
Petitioner and health rights activist Devika Biswas revealed the
gruesome details of a January 2012 sterilization camp at the Kaparfora
Government Middle School, Araria District in a February 2012
fact-finding report. With the explicit permission of the State Health
Society,an NGO and a private doctor used the government middle school as
an operating theater for at least 53 sterilization surgeries on poor,
dalit, and scheduled caste women. In clear violation of Government
guidelines and basic human rights, the doctor performed the surgeries at
night, under torchlight. During the two hours he was operating, the
doctor did not wash his hands, change gloves, or wear a surgical gown
and cap. After their surgeries, untrained NGO workers placed the women
on straw paddy provided by the families. The doctor operated on one
pregnant woman, Jitni Devi, who miscarried days after her surgery. The
doctor and NGO staff left three women profusely bleeding, including
Saraswati Devi, who spent 8 days recovering in the hospital. Most of the
women from the camp have had to seek costly private care. None of the
women were counseled.
The horrific human rights violations extend beyond these events in
Bihar. Doctors and health facilities across the county routinely flaunt
the ethical and procedural guidelines prescribed by the Ministry of
Health and Family Welfare, Constitutional obligations, and international
norms. The Public Interest Litigation specifically outlines examples of
coerced and unsafe sterilizations in Kerala, Madhya Pradesh,
Maharashtra, and Rajasthan.
This Public Interest Litigation sets forth the urgent need for an
independent organization like the National Alliance for Maternal Health
and Human Rights to investigate nationwide compliance with national
guidelines, for all states to obtain informed consent as per National
Guidelines, for all states to file status reports on compliance with the
Supreme Court’s directions in Ramakant Rai (W.P. 209/2003) and the
National Guidelines, and for compensation for the victims.
About the Petitioner: Devika Biswas has been working as a health rights
activist with the Bihar Voluntary Health Association since 1989. She
has published articles on the two-child norm in the book, Empowerment and
Coercion, and on the conditions of health scenario from citizens’
perspective (published by the Centre for Health and Social Justice, New
Delhi). In 2011, the Petitioner carried out a Rapid Assessment of the
Health Programme in Bihar (forthcoming publication by CHSJ in
Collaboration with SRM University, Chennai, UNFPA, ND). After a
fact-finding mission on in her native district of Araria, Ms. Biswas
felt compelled to file this petition to ensure that sterilizations
nation-wide are conducted as per the legal norms and to see that the
victims in Bihar receive compensation for their injuries.
Feel free to contact HRLN if you would like a copy of the petition.
The Human Rights Law Network (HRLN) is a collective of lawyers and
social activists dedicated to the use of the legal system to advance
human rights in India and the sub-continent. To learn more visit hrln.org.
Kerry McBroom
Director, Reproductive Rights Unit
Human Rights Law Network
Mob: 9650316596
Email: kmcbroom.hrln@gmail.com
Director, Reproductive Rights Unit
Human Rights Law Network
Mob: 9650316596
Email: kmcbroom.hrln@gmail.com
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