One wary group sets store by their leader’s advice on prolific procreation. An equally wary group thinks it is against their religious tenets. Caught between them, the district collector of Dewas could well end up as only the second best motivator of voluntary male sterilisation.With more than 2,000 non-scalpel vasectomy (NSV) operations this year, Dewas in MP is all set to overtake Hoshangabad’s record of 2,869. The latest NSV camp, District Collector S K Mishra hoped, would take the district to the top spot. He had managed to get 4,000 written commitments from men in the area.A week after the camp began, there are morose faces everywhere. The queues have dwindled with both Hindu groups and a Muslim cleric opposing the population control camps. ‘‘It’s taking harder to motivate people to turn up at the camps,’’ Mishra said.He is up against the Hindu Jagran Manch, which alleges that only Hindu areas are being targeted for such camps. On the other hand is the Shahar Qazi of Dewas who says sterilisation is anti-Islamic. Qazi Salimuddin is believed to have told Muslims, ‘‘When a child is born, Allah provides for its basic needs through his parents.’’ Mishra has announced an incentive: draw of lots after every 100 operations, with the winner getting Rs 5,000. The Sangh Parivar described such announcements as allurements and claimed only the poorer Hindus fall for it. ‘‘This causes imbalance in society. Why can’t they make Muslims also attend the camps?’’ asked Rajesh Khatri, an RSS activist.To counter Mishra’s incentive, the Hindu Jagran Manch said it will give Rs 1 lakh for the development of any Muslim-dominated locality in Dewas district if just 10 per cent of the Muslims there underwent NSV.
