Over 1 crore people sterilised during Emergency, govt tells Lok Sabha

Over 1,07 crore people were sterilised during the Emergency era from 1975-77, which exceeded the target by 67.40 lakh set by the then Indira Gandhi government as part of its population control drive, the government informed the Lok Sabha on Tuesday (August 19).

Justice JC Shah Commission report

The statistics was shared by Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai in a written reply wherein he provided the data sourced from the Justice JC Shah Commission report.

The commission was set up to probe into, inter alia, excesses, malpractices and misdeeds during the Emergency, including the use of force in the implementation of the family planning programme.

“The Government had set up a Commission of Enquiry under the Chairmanship of Justice J. C Shah (retired Chief Justice of Hon’ble Supreme Court of India) on 28.05.1977 to inquire into, inter alia, excesses, malpractices and misdeeds during the Emergency, including use of force in the implementation of the family planning programme,” stated Rai.

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1774 sterilisation deaths

Rai further stated that 548 complaints of sterilisation of unmarried persons and 1774 cases of death linked to sterilisation during the Emergency period were reported by the Commission.

“Further, a total of 548 complaints of sterilisation of unmarried persons and 1774 cases of death linked to sterilisation during the Emergency period were also reported to the Shah Commission. The Shah Commission Report was tabled in Parliament on 31.08.1978,” stated Rai.

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Target exceeded by 59 per cent

According to the data presented by the Union Minister, the government had set the target of conducting 24,85,000 sterilisation procedures and surpassed the target by accomplishing 26,24,755 surgeries across the country.

The following year witnessed the target being raised to 42,55,500, and the sterilisation procedures performed shot up to 81,32,209. The data revealed that the sterilisation procedures exceeded the targets by over 59 per cent during 1975-77.

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The backdrop

"Between 25 June 1975 and 21 March 1977, India was placed under a state of Emergency under Article 352 of the Constitution...On 25 June 1975, the then President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed had issued the Emergency proclamation under Article 352, citing threats from internal disturbance," a fact sheet issued by the PIB had said.

The Shah Commission had collected evidence through public hearings, testimonies and official records, and submitted three reports between 1978 and 1979, it had said.

(With agency inputs)