Women in Melghat region, the tribal belt in Maharashtra, have numerous woes to suffer from. One of the many is that they have to starve most of the times, while they are admitted in the primary health centres for undergoing sterilisation.
According to advocate and activist Bandu Sane, who has been working in the region from several years now, the primary health centres do not have the facility to provide food to these women. And they sometimes starve as their homes or villages are usually far off from the hospitals and adding to all this is the poor connectivity between their villages and the hospitals.
Highlighting the issue, Sane in a letter has said, "Several women in the villages under Melghat have been admitted to the Primary Health Center here under the 'female sterilization surgery' scheme for sterilization and some have already undergone the surgeries."
"Women need to stay in the primary health center for at least 3 days after sterilization surgery. Some of these women have their homes away from the primary health center. It is not possible due to the poor connectivity, so it is difficult for their relatives to bring food," Sane said.
Further, Sane claimed that the hospitals aren't giving food to these women, "because the 'primary health center' does not have the funds to provide food."
"I hope that you will try (immediately) to provide food facility to women to perform sterilization surgery," Sane said in his letter written to the collector of Amravati.
The collector of Amravati, was however, not available for her comment.
