Flouting a ban on family planning in five backward blocks of Bastar and Dantewara districts, dozens of Dorla Adivasis of Chhattisgarh have got their tubectomy operations done in Andhra Pradesh even though their numbers are on a decline.When contacted, Dantewara Chief Medical Officer R.S. Mandav confirmed that several Dorla tribals had willingly gone for the operations being lured by the cash incentives offered by the Andhra government. The CMO has even sent a report to the state on the matter. The exact number of Adivasis who had gone for tubectomy is not known. Through an executive order in December 1979, the erstwhile Madhya Pradesh Government had exempted six primitive tribes of family planning measures to save them from extinction. But there were still some tribes, who were not part of the endangered list, but whose population showed a sharp decline. In order to preserve their number, the government identified 18 backward Adivasi blocks where family planning measures were banned through the same order. These 18 blocks included six blocks of Bastar and Dantewara, bordering AP. In Raipur, Principal Secretary (Information and Public Relations) Sunil Kumar said as per the order, the state health agency cannot enforce family planning measures in the 18 notified blocks. An exception is made only if a tribal gets a written sanction from the local civil authorities, allowing him/her to undergo a tubectomy. ‘‘Neither did they (Dorla tribals) approach the local administration for approval, nor were the operations conducted in blocks banned for family planning measures,’’ Kumar said.
