India Offers Faster Gun Licence If You Get Sterilised

A bandit-infested region of India is trying to persuade men to undergo sterilisation by offering to fast-track their gun licence applications.

Officials in central Madhya Pradesh state's Shivpuri region say they decided to adopt the policy to increase the low vascectomy rate.

"I came to know that it had to do with their perceived notion of manliness," said Manish Shrivastav, administrative chief of Shivpuri district. "I then decided to match it with a bigger symbol of manliness -- a gun licence. And the ploy worked."

The plan comes as India, which has a population of 1.1 billion people, is trying to encourage people to have smaller families.

Shrivastav says Vasectomy rates have soared since the policy was introduced last month: "Over 150 men have got themselves sterilised since we have offered the gun licence preference. I expect another 100 by the end of this month."

Only eight men underwent the snipping procedure the whole of last year, in spite of financial rewards.

The district of 1.4 million people has just 11,000 licensed arms, but locals say they want guns because bandits have large numbers of unlicensed weapons: "I never bothered to apply for a licence before because I knew it was not so easy to get," said one resident. "But when I heard about this then I decided to apply."

Men who undergo the procedure are given a medical slip confirming their sterilisation to attach to the gun application.

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