ShodhPatra: International Journal of Science and Humanities

Erosion of Administrative Neutrality and Public Well-being: A Study of the Forced Sterilization Campaign during India’s Emergency (1975–1977)

The Emergency in India (June 25, 1975-March 21, 1977) was a period of censorship, imprisonment, and the suspension of civil liberties. It also witnessed the systematic erosion of democratic norms. The bureaucracy turned into an instrument of political authority rather than serving the public interest. Core principles of fairness and impartiality were ignored. Administrative neutrality—the principle of functioning without political bias—was compromised, weakening the bureaucracy's ethical commitment to public well-being in a culturally diverse democracy like India. This study examines the effects of this loss of neutrality through the coercive sterilization programme that disproportionately targeted men and caused trauma, deaths, and fear. Drawing on case studies from Muzaffarnagar (Uttar Pradesh) and Uttawar (Haryana), the research shows how the politicization of the bureaucracy turned a population-control effort into a coercive fear-driven process. Comparative examples from other countries further illustrate how maintaining neutrality in implementation either improved or harmed outcomes. Ultimately, the study demonstrates that the erosion of administrative neutrality during the Emergency had detrimental effects on public well-being and contributed to the coercive and harmful effects of the forced sterilization programme.