In a statement before the House, Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad denied that the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) has any relation with the incidents of malpractice of removal of uterus of women in Bihar or any other part of the country.
The Minister tabled his statement in response to the 'Call Attention Motion' in the Upper House regarding situation arising due alleged removal of uterus of females belonging to the Below Poverty Line (BPL) category in Bihar and various parts of the country under the NRHM program.
"NRHM has no relation, whatsoever, to any malpractice of removal of uterus of females in Bihar or any other part of the country," Azad said.
On the reported incidents of removal of uterus in Bihar, he said, "The State Government has asked the District Magistrates to make inquiries into hospitals where the percentage of hysterectomy is more than 25 per cent of all surgeries conducted in a facility."
As per information given by the State Government, on an average, 15 per cent of all surgeries under Rashtriya Swasth Bima Yojna (RSBY) in Bihar are hysterectomy.
"As per information received from the Health Department in Bihar, no instance of unnecessary hysterectomy has been reported under NRHM in any government hospital of the state," Azad said, adding that 16,765 hysterectomies were reportedly performed there under the RSBY during the last two years.
All these operations were performed in the private institutions, he said.
As per the information provided by the state government, the number of these operations were high in districts of Madhubani and Samastipur.