Sterilization is the most popular method of contraception in India. The 1992-93 National Family Health Survey found that of the 36.2 percent of eligible couples using any modern method, most (30.7 percent) had been sterilized and only 5.5 percent were using temporary methods (IIPS 1995).

Sterilization for men and women is the most commonly used contraceptive method both in India at large and in Uttar Pradesh.

The quinacrine trials raise a host of questions regarding the safety of this method of sterilization and the methodology used to assess this.

Otempora! O mores! This cri decoeur will perhaps be evoked in those reading the spate of reports lately, on surreptitious "trials" on the non-surgical sterilization of women with quinacrine, being carried out by NG0s and private doctors in a host of places in the country.

The Hindu Widows Remarriage and Property Act, 1989, represents a significant legislative reform aimed at improving the social and economic status of Hindu widows in India.

The Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956, is an Indian law that governs the legal process of adoption and the maintenance obligations within Hindu families.