People can't be forced to undergo sterilisation: Union Minister Mahendra Nath Pandey

Union Minister Mahendra Nath Pandey on Friday said that people cannot be forced to undergo sterilisation.

He was speaking on the order of the Madhya Pradesh government directing health workers in the state to bring at least one man for sterilisation or lose their job as a penalty. However, after coming under severe criticism from several quarters, the MP government directive has been withdrawn.

"What the Madhya Pradesh government has said on the issue depends on the context and is their matter. However, the Prime Minister has left the issue of population control for people themselves. No one can be forced to go for this thing. But people should be aware of the issue of population control," he said.

However, BJP leader Rameshwar Sharma attacked the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh regarding the order. "If this diktat is like that of given by Sanjay Gandhi then it can be said that Kamal Nath is working like the third son of Indira Gandhi. It will be an injustice if sterilisation is done forcefully. If sterilisation is done to check population explosion then it should be done for all religions and castes. There should not be incidents if this is imposed on Hindus only," he said.

Giving a clarification on the issue, Madhya Pradesh Minister PC Sharma said that no one would lose their nob because of the directive. "These issues have also come up during the rule of the BJP government. I can assure that no one will be harmed from this. There is no pressure on anyone and I don't think anyone will lose a job due to this.