Eight women have died after undergoing sterilisation surgery at a health camp organised by the government in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh.

Thirty other women were admitted to hospital and doctors have said several are in a serious condition.

The tubectomy operations were carried out on Saturday on 83 women in Pendari village in Bilaspur district.

Officials have denied negligence, but villagers allege the surgeries were done hurriedly.

They said all the 83 women were operated on in just six hours by the sole doctor at the camp along with his assistant.

Bilaspur district health officer Dr RK Bhange told BBC Hindi: "The cause of the death would be known only after the post-mortem report is available."

The state government has ordered an inquiry into the incident.

"We've constituted a committee to inquire into the incident. We will take strict action against those found guilty. At the moment though, we are concentrating on giving proper medical care to the women," Chhattisgarh Health Minister Amar Agrawal said.

Many in the Indian government are worried about the size of the country's population - it is expected to overtake that of China by 2030.

Authorities have been trying to promote family planning for several decades now, trying to convince people to have smaller families.

Sterilisation camps are sometimes organised to carry out mass vasectomy or tubectomy and authorities in several states have also offered incentives for couples volunteering for sterilisation.

A nationwide campaign was abandoned in the 1970s, however, after complaints that thousands of men and women were forced into having the operation.
(BBC)