By IANS
New Delhi : The Supreme Court Thursday ruled that even doctors holding just graduate degree but with specialised training can undertake sterilization operations.
The ruling modified a March 2005 apex court condition that only postgraduate doctors with five years experience in surgery could conduct operations aimed at controlling the population boom.
A bench headed by Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan relaxed the earlier order on a petition by the central government, which pointed out the shortage of doctors for vasectomy and tubectomy.
The government said in its application that it was difficult to find doctors with postgraduate degree and five years of experience in gynaecological surgery.
"This has led to a decrease in sterilisation operations during 2005-06 and the family planning programme has suffered," the government application said.
"The number of sterilisation operations in 2005-06 has registered a drop of 4.1 percent compared to 2004-05 while it has registered a sharper decline of 12.1 percent in the first quarter of 2006-07, compared to the first quarter of 2005-06," said the government.
The government sought to assure the bench that an MBBS doctor trained in procedures of tubectomy on women and for conventional vasectomy on men could easily undertake these surgeries as they are simple procedures.
Ii also pointed out: "As per the Medical Council of India's regulations, an MBBS doctor is treated as competent to perform these operations."