Family planning viewed as a programme of high priority

The count ends at threeThe Health Minister, Dr Karan Singh, hopefully looks forward to every eligible couple in the country being motivated to accept family planning sooner or later. His optimism seems justified by the tempo the programme has acquired in recent months. Couples in the reproductive age group now are estimated to number 100 million.Even if 50 per cent of them opt to limit their families, the birth rate could come down to 25 per thousand reducing the overall population growth rate to 1.4 per cent. This is the target set in terms of the new national population policy for attainment by 1984, the last year of the Sixth Plan.The policy was manifestly overdue when it was enunciated in April last. To say so is not to minimize its significance as a plan of action with specific goals. It was not just one step forward in an official programme introduced in the country earlier than anywhere else. The objective now is a mass movement for a new way of life, namely, the small family norm.This objective has been assigned the central place in the development process. After all, the demographic profile suggests the size of economic growth. When the population tends to increase at a rate approximating the rate of increase in national per capita income, levels of living, particularly in terms of food, housing, education, health and employment would show little improvement if not decline. The rise in numbers, as Dr Karan Singh says, has "largely diluted the fruits of a remarkable economic progress."In fact, the rise has resulted in a population of crisis proportions. One of every seven persons living in this planet is an Indian. The rate of increase is over one million a month and the new annual arrivals of 12 to 13 million are equivalent to the entire population of Australia which is two and half times India's size.As they grow, the demands these additions make on the country's resources are estimated at 126,600 schools, 372,500 teachers, 2.5 million houses, 188 million meters of cloth, 12.5 million quintals of food and four million new jobs. According to latest figures, the country's population is well over 605 million.Doubtless, the high rise in the population chart is not due to births alone, (The birth rate is currently about 35 per thousand) but the steady decline in the death rate to about 14 per thousand (from 27 per thousand in 1971). Interestingly, fertility expressed in terms of gross reproduction rate in India as compared with other Asian countries is not high.In India, it is 2.7 as against 3.1 to 3.5 in other Asian countries. Still, in terms of the large number of couples in the reproductive age group the Indian rate has proved high.All these should not be taken to mean that little or nothing was done until the policy was proclaimed. In fact, India was the first country in the world to adopt population control as official policy as early as 1951. In the First Five Year Plan the problem of population growth received attention in the very first chapter but the advocacy of the need for population control was cautious.In the period since the launching of the Fourth Plan, family planning has been viewed as a programme of high priority. Its crucial importance is reflected in the widespread interest it has aroused no less than in the magnitude of effort, organization and finance that has gone into the programme. Inevitably, expenditure rose and, of course, the number of acceptors also increased.Nonetheless, five years hence it was found that the problem remained to be of such magnitude that only its fringe had been touched. This made the architects of the new policy realize that the programme must be different. It must have a definite economic bias with a promise to improve the quality of life. The restricted clinical programme has had only limited utility.It has to be combined with the broader approach of socio-economic development. The situation called for certain fundamental measures since outlined in the policy proclamation. These provide the new package of incentives and disincentives decided on the basis of discussions over a long period at different levels. These also represent the quintessential aspects of the total development scenario.A significant aspect of its implementation is the effective involvement of all the departments at the Centre, State governments and different sections of the population to make family planning a mass movement. The Prime Minister herself addressed a personal letter to all Chief Ministers urging them to keep in personal and constant touch with the programme.Follow-up action has been quick. We have it on the authority of the Health Minister that legislation would be introduced soon to freeze the representation in the Lok Sabha and other elected bodies at the population levels of 1971. This is meant to take care of any fears that success of the programme would diminish representation in legislatures.Further, Central allocations to the states are being linked with performance under the family planning programme. This is an extra fillip to the programme and the exact formula governing the allocation is being worked out by the planning commission.The policy proposes to raise the minimum age of marriage to 18 for girls and 21 for boys. For couples of an immature age get virtually trapped in a virtual succession of child births. The Law Ministry is preparing suitable amendments to the Child Marriage Act in accordance with the new policy. A proposal for compulsory registration of marriages is under study.The Department of Personnel has proposed revision of the conduct rules for government employees to ensure that they conform to the small family norm. Population values and concepts will be taught in schools and colleges and the scope of education in the non-formal sector will also be accordingly expanded.Official pronouncements since then have borne evidence that the policy has already made an impact. In April and May over 260,000 persons went through sterilization operations. About 60,000 women opted -for IUD insertions and over 2.4 million people were counted as users of conventional methods. In sum, the package seems to have found wide acceptance and the path seems to be smoother to the signpost: the small family norm.Tailpiece: For those averse to use of contraceptives, yet willing to abstinence, naturopathy has a helpful suggestion: Diet your way to a limited family. According to Dr. B. Benkatrao of Nature Cure Hospital, Hyderabad, and government consultant, cooked food should be avoided in the evenings. Locally available and seasonal fruits and vegetables should be taken instead. Vegetarian food with less of spices is supposed to have a restraining influence. It reduces body warmth, controls sexual urges and as such is an useful instrument in stemming the population tide.Published By: AtMigration Published On: Apr 11, 2015 11:32 IST--- ENDS ---

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Family planning viewed as a programme of high priority

The Health Minister, Dr Karan Singh, hopefully looks forward to every eligible couple in the country being motivated to accept family planning sooner or later.

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