Spotlight
New Delhi, 14 July 2017
Population Pressure
TIME FOR FAMILY PLANNING
By Dr. Oishee Mukherjee
Population pressure
in India which has created diverse problems, has now forced the Government to
go back to the concept of family planning. Like the western world, which has
made strides in controlling population, India too needs to take significant steps.
Undeniably, serious efforts are needed to tackle the mounting challenge of this
phenomenal increase, specially in our country, more than that of China.
With the realisation
having dawned, the government recently decided to accelerate family planning
measures by identifying 146 districts where the total fertility rate is more
than three which add up to 28 per cent of the population. The Union Health
Ministry has rolled out Mission Parivar
Vikas in the districts to improve access family planning services, create
awareness and make family planning choices available. As part of the programme,
the ministry would distribute a kit containing products of family planning and
personal hygiene among the newly-weds.
The focus as reported
would be strategic towards “improving access through provision of services,
promotional schemes, commodity security, capacity building, enabling
environment and intensive monitoring.” Officials have been asked to undertake
half-yearly review of the programme and correlate the achievements with time to
gauge whether the programme was moving in the right direction or not.
The high focus
districts are in the seven States which include the four BIMARU States of
Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, as well as Chhattisgarh,
Jharkhand and Assam. While these are recognised as relatively backward States, some
are trying to come out of the morass.
Though statistics
reveal that India’s population growth rate has declined, the pace is uneven
across States and the more prosperous one, specially those in South India, have
done remarkably well. As per government data, the country’s fertility rate
declined from 2.6 in 2008 to 2.3 at present. It is now just 0.2 points away
from reaching the replacement level of 2.1. Similarly fertility rates are
dipping globally, some regions like Africa see a much lower decline from 5.1 to
4.7, while in Asia it has fallen from 2.4 to 2.2.
Further nine
countries led by India, Nigeria, US, Uganda, Tanzania, Pakistan etc would
account for more than half the growth in global population between now and
2050. Most of these are Third World countries and are constrained with meagre
resources for developmental needs.
The need for
population stabilisation is imperative at this juncture to enable the country
move up the economic ladder and the new programme is aimed to achieve this. The
greater total fertility rate (TFR), the more will be the maternal mortality
rate (MMR) and also infant mortality rate (IMR). Hence, reducing TFR would lead
to decrease in maternal mortality and morbidity and infant mortality and
morbidity through the Mission, noted Heath Minister Nadda. In fact, he went a
step further and on the day of the launch to mark World Population Day, he
stated: “We have enhanced the basket of contraceptive choices to meet the
changing needs of people and have taken steps to ensure quality assured
services and commodities are delivered to the last-mile consumers in both rural
and urban areas.”
Regrettably, previous
governments didn’t lay the emphasis that family planning requires and it is
time to see how the new programme is geared to achieve the desired objectives.
It has to be seriously taken up and it may be expected that the Modi government
would do so as it has taken up most of its projects and schemes in a
professional manner. Hopefully, like the Swaach
Bharat Abhiyan, the Parivar Vikas programme
would have to be given equal attention.
Keeping in view the
meagre resources of developing countries like India so as to achieve a level of
social and economic development of its people, there is an urgent necessity to
keep fertility rate to below two, i.e. a maximum two children per family. China
has taken several steps in this regard and the population growth is around or
less than 0.5 per cent. In fact, reports reveal that India would overtake China
in population growth by 2024, two years ahead than scheduled.
There can be no doubt
that a vigorous campaign has to be launched, specially in the villages of
northern and central India, to raise awareness about the beneficial aspects of
a small family. In view of the mounting health, nutrition and educational
expenses, as also shelter needs, a small family can only ensure all-round
social and economic development of the family.
Much would depend on
the efficient implementation of the present programme and how the Centre and
States would be able to make inroads into the villages. But it needs to be
pointed out that to make the programme a success, the involvement of the
panchayats and the grass root organisations would be greatly necessary as a
house-to-house campaign has to be launched in telling the people about the
effectiveness of a small family.
It would not be out
of place to point out here that the Muslims still believe in having multiple
wives and have no control on their number of children. Moreover, being a
minority community, they want to increase their population by hook or by crook.
This tendency has to be stopped, if necessary, through stricter measures. The
Supreme Court judgment in the triple talaq case is awaited and, if the Muslims
have to follow the personal law of the land, their number of children would
come down.
The poor and those
from the economically weaker sections, who are normally found to be illiterate,
do not think about family planning and the educational and health needs of
their children, specially of their daughters through programmes like ‘Kanyashriee Prakalpa’ of the West
Bengal government, which recently received UN award for empowering the girl
child. This is because of the lack of awareness of the older generation but
this is steadily undergoing a change with education and awareness spreading.
Family planning has,
no doubt, become quite effective but concentrated mostly in metros and cities.
This has to spread in a vigorous manner to all the semi-urban and rural areas.
For this orientation is education is necessary while adult education, primarily
sex education, has to reach all segments of the population in the age group 18
to 45 years. This type of education has been largely ignored as a result of
which family planning has not been quite effective. Thus, family planning camps
have to be organised in most of the districts and sub-divisions to make this
segment of the population aware of the ill effects of large family.
Western nations have
been able to march forward and develop fast as their population growth is much
less and per capita income quite high. Though India cannot bring population
growth to around such levels, it can, at this stage, implement the family
planning programme seriously and try to check population growth. This would
help the country to move ahead in its efforts at faster social and economic
development. The emerging youth population, most of whom are quite aware and
socially conscious, should have a major role to play and recent projections
have considered this aspect. –INFA
(Copyright, India
News & Feature Alliance)
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