11 women died after sterilisation surgery at state-run camp in Chhattisgarh’s Bilaspur district

RAIPUR: Eleven women died and 49 others were hospitalised after botched sterilisation procedure at a state-run camp in Chhattisgarh’s Bilaspur district, prompting the government to suspend four doctors and transfer the Director of Health Services.

60 women were admitted to different hospitals after they developed post-operative complications at a sterilisation camp organised by the government at a private hospital in Pendari village on the outskirts of Bilaspur town on Saturday, district Collector Siddharth Komal Pardeshi said on Tuesday. Eleven of them, all below 32 years of age, died from complications, Pardeshi told PTI.

Expressing concern over the sterilisation tragedy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today asked Chief Minister Raman Singh to ensure a thorough investigation and action against those responsible. Modi, who left for Myanmar in the morning to attend ASEAN and East Asia summit, called up Singh to inquire about the tragedy. “The PM spoke to Chhattisgarh CM Dr Raman Singh... The PM has asked Dr Raman Singh to ensure a thorough investigation & action in the entire issue,” the PMO said in a tweet.

Under attack from opposition Congress which demanded his resignation, the CM announced a high-level probe into the incident and suspended four health officials, including the Chief Medical and Health Officer of Bilaspur and transferred Director of Health Services Dr Kamalpreet Singh.

Singh also ordered registration of FIR against the surgeon under whose supervision the camp was organised at Nemichand Jain Cancer and Research Centre. “It’s a very unfortunate incident. Prima facie it appears that the incident occurred due to negligence (by doctors),” he said.