SC relaxes medicos 'experience' to aid family planning

New Delhi, July 26 (UNI) The Supreme Court today on a plea by the Centre allowed that even an MBBS doctor having less than five years of gynaecologycal experience can perform the sterlization operation.

Centre contended before a bench comprising Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan and Justices RV Ravindran and Dalveer Bhandari that the family planning programme of the government was suffering due to non-availability of doctors with five years of experience hence the order of the Honourable Court dated March 1, 2005 may be modified which had stipulated minimum experience of five years necessary for performing sterlization operations in men and women.

Accepting government's contention regarding seeking of experience relaxation the apex court allowed that doctors with 'sufficient experience' can perform the operation of 'minilap tubectomy' in women and 'conventional vasectomy' and 'no-scalpel vasectomy' in men to promote the national family planning programme.

The Centre also informed the court that there was drop of 12.2% in sterlization operations in the first quarter of 2006/07 due to non-availability of doctors with five years of experience.

UNI