New Delhi: Over 20 Women were allegedly sterilised at public health centres in Bihar's Khagaria without anaesthesia.
According to a report by the Times of India, around 24 village women had opted for tubectomy at two state-run public health centres and were allegedly made to undergo the surgical procedure without anaesthesia.
"As I screamed in pain, four people held my hands and feet tightly as the doctor completed the job. I was administered something that left me numb only after the surgery," the TOI quoted a patient, identified as Kumari Pratima, as saying. She underwent the procedure at the Alauli health centre.
Civil surgeon Dr Amarnath Jha said that the matter was under investigation and that action will be taken after the probe, news agency ANI reported.
As per the TOI report, the 24 women were among a group of 53 who underwent the procedure, involving surgical clipping of the fallopian tubes to prevent pregnancies. The procedures were done as a part of a government-sponsored campaign run by NGOs.
In response to the allegations, Parbatta health centre in-charge Dr Rajiv Ranjan argued that anaesthesia was used, but didn't work on some of the women. "The required dose of anaesthesia was administered to each woman, but it didn't prove effective as every person has a different body mechanism," the report quoted him as saying.
The state health department is said to have paid Rs 2,100 to the NGOs for every tubectomy.
An NGO responsible for the initiative is also reported to have been blacklisted, as claimed by Parbatta health centre in-charge Dr Rajiv Ranjan.