Raipur, India, Jan 25, 2005 / 12:00 am (CNA).- In an effort to control the population of a Maoist-dominated tribal area, where couples have an average of six children, the Chhattisgarh government has increased cash incentives for men and women opting for sterilization, reported India News Jan. 14. State Health Minister Krishnamurthy Bandhi said cash incentives would be increased for men who receive a vasectomy to Rs.250 from Rs.140. Women who receive a tubectomy would get Rs.200 from Rs.40.

The minister said the government is trying to convince the tribal population to “adopt the two-child norm” and tap into the government programs that are reserved for families with two children or less.

India News reported that the state's population control program among the Maoist group is aimed at “winning the faith of the people in order to wean them away from the Maoists.”

Chhattisgarh's Director General of Police O.P. Rathor has welcomed the program saying that health facilities have always been poor in Maoist areas and that it would allow police to bring Maoist youth "back to the mainstream."

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