Piyush Pushpak Bhandara (Maharashtra): 'We Two, Ours Two' is what Yadnyaraj Wanjari believed in, and wanted, for his family.

After Wanjari, a landless labourer in Bhandara, Maharashtra, had two children, his wife Chandrakala and he decided they didn't want any more. Chandarkala had a tubal ligation, a form of female sterilisation, carried out at the local government health centre.

But the operation didn't quite work. "My wife had an operation, but then she had two more children.

She couldn't have another operation because she was ill. So in 1999, I had a vasectomy. But now she's again pregnant," says Wanjari.

Documents certifying the procedure show that the operations were carried out, which puts the blame squarely at the door of the government health centre.

Yadnyaraj earns only Rs 40 rupees, not even close to enough for his five-member family to survive on. He now says he plans to give away two of his children, and the one yet to be born, to the District Collector. "We will give three children to the Collector," says he.

The administration, on its part has said that it will try to help. Additional Collector, Bhandara, N B Vati says, "There is no provision for this kind of mishap, but I will speak to the DHO and we will try to solve the problem."

However, for Wanjari, and his growing family, these words carry little weight.