Laparoscopic sterilisation has been made available in India since the 1970s. This procedure requires high skill on the part of the surgeon and can be performed as an outpatient procedure. In the absence of reliable spacing methods, it is believed that women find this method convenient as it takes little time and also leaves a very small physical scar. Since the early 1980s, this method of female sterilisation has become the mainstay of India's family planning programme. It is provided in camps as well as in health centres.