In Shivpuri district, possessing of guns is considered to be a status symbol. However, in 2007, the district administration awarded arms license to only 8 persons, far less than the actual number of persons who had applied for gun license. Subsequently, taking a benefit of the growing urge of the people to have an arm license, the administration has decided to organize a camp to mobilize men to undergo vasectomy and walk away with gun license.

"In the camp, we will give preference to licence seekers who are willing to undergo male sterlisation operation', informed Shivpuri collector Manish Kumar Shrivastav while talking to this newspaper. He however, maintained that getting arms licences will depend on the clearance by police department as well as recommendations of the SDM.

This is not the fist time when administration would be organizing such a novel camp, in fact, it (district administration) had organised one such camp at block level some months back. In that camp, as many as 150 people walked away with arms license after undergoing vasectomy .

The district administration hopes that the camp which will be organised at the district headquarter somewhere in the last week of March, in all likelihood, will attract large number of arms lovers. This will not only enable the district administration to achieve its target of family planning but will also put a curb on the population growth which is growing like anything, a district official told this newspaper.

By Anup Dutta