sterilization. Whilst it is encouraged in some programmes for poor women who already have at least 2 children, they are fully aware of what they getting into. Some of the women later claim they were forced into it or were not aware of the exact nature of the procedure, often do so with the help of 'social actvisits' & some NGO's & blackmail the people running the programmes. Seriously one thing l learned whilst working in India for 4 years is that the poor are not as defenceless & exploited as many in the West think/project but are often a crafty bunch, delaying projects/slum redevelopements for decades to get as much as possible out of builders/developers, they so greedy that the very projects end up stalled or unviable. The whole discussion seems to be around the UK aid and its use/ misuse on sterlisation. For me, the UK-AID or any other Grants which come-in are always with good intentions. Thats why UK citizens contribute/ tax money is pooled into that aid. The concern is, How the allocated Aid is allocated/ managed/ spent by the country offices?. Questions are: Why the country office did not scrutinize before makeing grants?. Did the UK-AID Office conduct an independent/ unbiased review of funds allocated by Country offices?. Answers to these will help in utilising the Aid in a more effective way rather than criticising the Aid itself. Posted by jay28 "I have worked in family planning in the states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West