‘All they wanted were men. Any man’

A 47-year-old with a son, he agreed to go under the knife. “All they wanted were men. Any man. We didn't complain because the Barshi municipal council warned us that we'd lose our jobs if we did.”

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Eighty seven-year-old Khandu Genu Kamble still fears talking about his sterilisation. (Source: Express photo by Pavan Khengre)

Forty years ago, Khandu Genu Kamble, a sanitation worker, had to do something extraordinary to save his job. His bosses at the Jawahar government hospital in Barshi, a town of 3 lakh people that’s 220 km from Pune, told him to undergo a vasectomy or else quit his job. It was January 1976, and Sanjay Gandhi’s mass sterilisation programme was underway.

A 47-year-old with a son, he agreed to go under the knife. “All they wanted were men. Any man. We didn’t complain because the Barshi municipal council warned us that we’d lose our jobs if we did.”

Like thousands of men from Barshi, Kamble was put on a truck and taken straight to the operation table. Now a frail 87-year-old, Kamble, whose son also works as a sanitation worker in a government hospital, is still worried about the consequences of complaining about the sterilisation. “Why do you want to put me in trouble? At least let me die in peace,” he says.

It’s a dark chapter in the lives of at least a 1,000 men in Barshi — most of them now above 70 — that they would rather forget. The magazine Fulcrum, though, captured their ordeal. Maseeh Rahman, who was Fulcrum’s editor in 1976, recalled in a recent article for The Indian Express, “In January 1976, its (Barshi’s) municipal council was told to organise a 10-day campaign to sterilise 1,000 people for Sanjay Gandhi’s pet programme. Hardly anyone volunteered in the first two days. So, for the next eight days, two trucks prowled around town to achieve the target. A local photographer captured some of the dramatic street scenes on his camera. Hundreds of farmers visiting Barshi were dragged from the streets and forcibly sterilised. Some were unmarried, some had just one or two children, some were already sterilised, and some were very old. It made little difference. Many became septic, at least one died, all were badly traumatised.”

Some were too poor to protest. Like Bhagwan Sopan Gawli, who worked as a peon and had a family of five children to feed. Now 80, he did not protest the sterilisation as he “was paid Rs 500 for the procedure”. “We were all taken in motor cars and vans from the Barshi municipal council to Jawahar hospital and were given a blanket to cover ourselves up,” he says.

Dr B Y Yadav, one of the doctors who helped with complications during the surgeries, “still can’t believe the numbers”. “There was no space left in Barshi. Schools, panchayat samiti halls, even Rotary Club halls were not spared,” he says. On one particular day, he recalls, 93 vasectomies were conducted. “Some doctors performed the surgery in minutes, others took hours and struggled. It was medically unethical,” he says.

Dr Arvind Bhopalkar has “lost count” of the number of surgeries he performed. “We were not given any target. We were told to do the operation on as many men as possible,” he says, adding with a laugh that “a revenue department official, in his zeal for rounding up men, even brought a doctor’s father to us”.

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Bhopalkar would discreetly let off unmarried men or married but childless men. “I would let them quietly slip out of the room. Doctors have hearts too.”

At Barshi’s municipal council, chief health officer Dr Vijay Godepure says there are no records of the number of vasectomies performed then. “We only maintain essential records like number of births, building permissions and like. There is no data about the number of sterilisations done in 1975-76 at Barshi,” he says.

Anuradha Mascarenhas

Anuradha Mascarenhas is a Senior Editor at The Indian Express, based in Pune. With a career spanning three decades, she is one of the most respected voices in Indian journalism regarding healthcare, science and environment and research developments. She also takes a keen interest in covering women's issues . Professional Background Education: A gold medalist in Communication and Journalism from Savitribai Phule Pune University and a Master’s degree in Literature. Author: She authored the biography At The Wheel Of Research, which chronicles the life and work of Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, the former Chief Scientist at the WHO. Key Focus: She combines scientific accuracy with storytelling, translating complex medical research into compelling public and human-interest narratives. Awards and Recognition Anuradha has won several awards including the Press Council of India's national award for excellence in journalism under the gender based reporting category in 2019 and the Laadli Media award (gender sensitivity -2024). A recipient of the Lokmat journalism award (gender category-2022), she was also shortlisted for the RedInk awards for excellence in journalism-2021. Her debut book At The Wheel Of Research, an exclusive biography of Dr Soumya Swaminathan the inaugural chief scientist of World Health Organisation was also nominated in the Popular Choice Category of JK Paper AUTHER awards. She has also secured competitive fellowships including the Laadli Media Fellowship (2022), the Survivors Against TB – New Research in TB Media Fellowship (2023) and is part of the prestigious 2025 India Cohort of the WomenLift Health Leadership Journey.” Recent Notable Articles (Late 2025) 1. Cancer & Specialized Medical Care "Tata Memorial finds way to kill drug-resistant cancer cells" (Nov 26, 2025): Reporting on a breakthrough for triple-negative breast cancer, one of the most aggressive forms of the disease. Discipline, diet and purpose; How a 97-year-old professor defies ageing'' (Nov 15, 2025) Report about Prof Gururaj Mutalik, the first Head of Department at Pune's B J Government Medical College who at 97 credits his longevity to healthy habits and a strong sense of purpose. 2. Environmental Health (The "Breathless Pune" Series) Long-term exposure even to 'moderate' air leads to chronic heart, lung, kidney issues" (Nov 26, 2025): Part of an investigative series highlighting that even "safe" pollution levels are damaging to vital organs. "For every 10 µg/m3 increase in PM2.5 level, there was 6-8% jump in medicine sales" (Nov 23, 2025): Using commercial data to prove the direct link between air quality and respiratory illnesses in Pune. 3. Lifestyle & Wellness News "They didn't let cancer, diabetes and heart disease stop them from travelling" (Dec 22, 2025): A collaborative piece featuring survivors who share practical tips for traveling with chronic conditions. At 17, his BP shot up to 200/120 mmHG; Lancet study flags why child and teen hypertension doubled between 2000 and 2020'' (Nov 12,2025)--A report that focusses on 17-year-old-boy's hypertensive crisis and reflects the rising global trend of high blood pressure among children and adolescents. 4. Scientific Recognition & Infrastructure For promoting sci-comm, gender diversity: IUCAA woman prof highlighted in Nature" (Nov 25, 2025): Covering the global recognition of Indian women scientists in gender studies and physics. Pune researchers find a spiral galaxy like the Milky Way from early universe'' (December 3, 2025)- A report on how Indian researchers discovered a massive galaxy that existed when the universe was just 1.5 billion years old , one of the earliest to have been observed so far. Signature Beat: Health, Science & Women in Leadership Anuradha is known for her COVID-19 reportage, where she was one of the first journalists to provide detailed insights into the Covishield and Covaxin trials. She has a dedicated interest in gender diversity in health and science, often profiling women researchers who are breaking the "leaky pipeline" in STEM fields. Her writing style is scrupulous, often featuring interviews with top-tier scientists and health experts from various institutions. ... Read More

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‘All they wanted were men. Any man’

A 47-year-old with a son, he agreed to go under the knife. “All they wanted were men. Any man. We didn't complain because the Barshi municipal council warned us that we'd lose our jobs if we did.”

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