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Encounter with Population Crisis Lecture Series Three |
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'Encounter With
Population Crisis
THREE
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FAMILY PLANNING FOUNDATION
NEW DELHI
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Encounter with.
Population Crisis
THREE
J R D Tata
on
POPl1IATION,POVH<1 YANDENVlRONMENT
(Excerpts from some recent Speeches & Observations)
FAMILY PLANNING FOUNDATION
NEW DELHI
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We feel privileged to present yet another small volume in our
series "Encounter with Population Crisis" aimed at persons of concern
and commitment. It contains some significant excepts from eight major
speeches and statements of Mr. J R D Tata during the past 10 years or
so. Although spread over a decade, the excepts from integral links in the
chain of though which has occupied a great mind. This volume will, we
hope, enable the perceptive reader to have a peep into the sensitive and
versatile mind of the one who has not only done India proud by his
personal achievements in diverse fields of human endeavour, but also
enriched the heritage of mankind as a whole, in so many ways
profound.
- As expected, the theme of population the grand passion of Mr.
Tata - emerges as the leitmotif of the symphony of perceptions, views
and opinions regarding some of the most critical issues of our times, viz.
population, development, poverty, environment, human survival, etc.,
in a richly endowed and resourceful yet divided world.
- The world is now possessed by a new concern for plant Earth,
which is gravely threatened by the very achievements of our times
technology-driven industrialisation. It is Mr. Tata's firm belief that the
goal of population stablisation is absolutely central to any global design.
The era of sustainable development based on principles of equity can
be ushered in only if there is a balance between resources and
population. Indeed, human survival in the 21st century would depend
on how well the developing world overcomes the population problem.
HARISH KHANNA
Executive Director
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harat Ratna Mr J R D Tata, lovingly called simply JRD, is
t!B among those handful of world-citizens whom destiny
itself so shapes as to become an institution in a life-time. 3
The Grand Old Man of Indian Industry that he rightly is, he has
for over four decades now carried on a relentless crusade for the
promotion of family planning, both as a tool of curbing India's
rapidly-increasing population, and an entirely new way of life in
a developing society in which a family is not mere numbers but
valuable relationships of shared growth.
He has often chosen to call himself a Cassandra, with
population at his principal obsession. But he seldom lets go off his
basic optimism and belief in the destiny of man as a winner, not
a loser.
His holistic view of the population problem has turned him
into an equally strong humanist and conversions, concerned no
less with the problems of poverty and environment, which are so
closely intertwined with population.
Hence, it is absolutely fitting that this magnificent obsession
of his should have earned Mr J R D Tata, the U.N. Population
Award for 1992 - the year of the Earth Summit. He is only the third
Asian to have been thus honoured by the World Community.
Today, he is in the rarefied company of two redoubtable Asian of
our times, viz., the-late Mrs Indira Gandhi who served India for
more than 14 years as the country's democratically-elected Prime
Minister and spoused the cause of population and environment;
and President Suharto of Indonesia who provided strong
leadership to the programme. Hence the words spoken by Mr
Tata from time to time on the core issues of population have
acquired a special meaning in the global context. Each idea is
capable of raising a vigorous debate. Some have indeed left an
imparting on national population policy as indeed on other
spheres concerning his other significant interests.
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"Many of us who have gathered here have been concerned with the
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population problem longe,. than most government
official dealings with the subject today."
The following pages cany, in brief, some excerpts f~om some
of his major speeches and statements made in the recent years:
4
POPULATION PROBLEM AND VOLUNTARY INITIATIVE
I t is mainlY the individuals and voluntary organations
who have pioneered the studies and pilot programmes
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which first made governments aware of the threatening
population problem, raised birth control as a basic human-rights
issue and urged prompt action. Let us recall as we meet today in
this beautiful city of Geneva, that it was also here, in 1927, that the
first-ever World Population Conference took place -convened by
that public-spirited pioneer of birth control, Margaret Sanger
whose initiative brought together leading scientists of the world
to discuss the population issue.
Many of us who have gathered here have been ~oncemed
with the population problem longer than most government officials
dealing with the subjecttoday. My own concern with this issue for
instance goes back to 1951. I was perhaps the first in India publicly
to sound the alarm about our galloping population.
We are all aware of the staggering dimensions of the problem
but perhaps not of the stunning fact that while it took making one
million years to reach its first billion, only another hundred years
were needed to add the second billion, and the twentieth century
will, by itself, have added another four and a half billion.
Further ahead looms the threat of another four to six blJ,lion
which will amongst inevitably be added to the world' s population
before, according to U.N. and World Bank projections, it might
stabilise at then to twelve billion in the next century.
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"Another striking feature of this awesome growth in the present
century is that virtually the whole of it has taken plate
in the under-developed areas of the world."
Another striking feature of this awesome growth in th2
present century is that virtually the whole ofit has taken place in
the under-developed areas of the world. The main consequence of 5
this is that whereas economic growth in the developed world
fuelled by the industrial revolution far outstripped population
growth, leading to rapidly rising standards of living, economic
growth in the developing world barely exceeded population
growth.
India provides a striking example of this. Although its.
. average economic growth of about 3.5 % over the past thirty years
was not much less than that of most of the industralised world
excepting a few galloping economies, despite $ 170 billion spent
on planned.development, the number of people below the poverty
line is higher today than it was thirty years ago.
Disastrous Consequences
The explosive growth of population in underdeveloped or
developing countries in the past century had three disastrous
consequences:
First, it kept the people abjectly poor and deprived them of
opportunities for a better quality of life.
Second, it made such demands on the earth's finite resources
as to cause environmental havoc, plainlyvisible in my country in
the massive deforestation, eroding soil, silted waterways and
recurring floods in the plains.
Third, it led to a mass migration of population from rural to
urban areas, resulting in the growth of cappalingly-congested
slums in a major cities, devoid of the barest necessities of a decent
life. A similar scenario has appeared in other developing countries.
Present demographic trends suggest that in this last quarter of the .
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IIIFertilise the land, sterlise the man', would be a good motto for
many developing countries for decades to come!"
twentieth century, at least 5,000 new cities with a population of
more than haJJ a million each will be build in the world and almost
6 all of them will be in the developing countries.
Massive unemployment is also one of the most grievous
consequences of an excessively rapid population growth. While
high unemployment can and does at times occur in developed
countries with stable population, its effects are palliated by the
social benefits provided to the unemployed. But in developing
countries, growing unemployment aggressive the general poverty
despite development in some spheres. Even with an. annual
GNP of 8% to 10% over a decade, Brazil could not cope with its
serious unemployment problem.
Finally, and most cruelly, the upsurge of population growth
is beginning to be writ large in the hunger and emaciation of
masses of people in the world, living below the poverty line.
'Fertilise the land, sterlise the man', would be a good motto for
many developing countries for decades to come!
One would think that this nightmarish' population growth
would be sufficient to drive the governments of all major countries
into a frequency of activity. The alarm had indeed been raised but
no sirens are soundings; no state ofemergency has been announced
anywhere in the world except bynon-govemmental organisations,
by United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFP A) and
by anew thinking individuals, government officials and a section
of the media. That is hardly enough.
Degradation of Environment
By 1980, the earth's forest cover had already been reduced
from one-quarter of the land's surface in mind-century to one-
fifth now and each year brings a further shrinking of this protective
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liThe consequences, as a government report printpoints, are increasing
floods, soil erosion, heavy siltation of dams built at enormous
expenses at change in micro-climate".
green-belt by an area the size of the whole of Hungry or Half of
California.
The Himalayas, one of the world's majoreco-belts are already 7
in irreversible danger of lasting damage and at this rate, this
mighty mountain chain could become barren by the first half of
the next century. Already no forest are to be found below 3,000
metres, the forest area, originally a third of the total, has been
reduced to a mere 6% to 8%. The consequences, as a government
report pinpoints, are' increasing floods, soil erosion, heavy siltation
of dams built at enormous expenses and change in micro-climate:
Is it then not clear that of all the main causes of poverty, ill.
health and misery which blight the life of billions of people on
earth, excessive population growth is the dominant one, and that
of all the problem and tasks facing humanity, none is more urgent
or has greater priority than that of reducing the birth-rate as a first
step towards saving present and future generations from disaster?
(From the speech delivered at Intemational Consultation of Non-
govemmen tal Organisations on Population issues,
held at Geneva 0/1 September 13-15,1983).
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BARE SURVIVAL OR VIGOROUS GROWTH: WHAT
SHALLWE ACHIEVE?
~ few weeks ago the world's population passed the five
~ billion mark and is still growing at the terrifying rate of
about a billion every twelve years. It took us only thirty-
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" contrary to the belief of many people in our country that our
population problem is an age-old one, it actually -
is of a very recent origin."
four years after Independence to double our population from
about 350 million to 700 million. At 780 million today, it is still
'8 growing at the rate of about 15 million a year, and will probably
reach a billion by the turn of the century.
. With our birth-rate still hovering around 33 per thousand
and our death-rate at 12, should we be surprised that all
demographic predictions show that, without a dramatic reduction
in) our birth-rate, we shall reach the kind of stable population
achieved by the rich countries of the world, not until towards the
end of the next century, and our people will continue, for most
part of it, to be amongst the poorest in the world?
All of you here today prove by your very presence that you
too are conscious of the disastrous impact of our excessive
population growth and are, I am sure, well informed on the
problem. I shall, therefore, try as far as possible, to avoid
generalities and concentrate instead on those few specific aspects
of the problem and their possible solutions, which seem to me
most relevant to our deliberations and recommendations.
To begin with, I think it is worth nothing that, contrary to the
belief of many people in our country that our population problem
is an age-old one, it actually is of a very recent origin. For, it dates
back only to the past fifty or sixty years in the course of which the
discovery and application of new drugs and forms of treatment
and health-care interventions have brought a dra.rrlatic decline in
the death-rate while the birth-rate has remained more or less
constant.
Thus, as we celebrate the first forty years of our Independence
many of us ponder anxiously on what the next hundred years
will hold for the billion and half or so of our people who will be
alive then.
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"There can be no doubt that a reduction in the number of years of
married life in a woman's reproductive cycle, would be
dramatically reflected in the number of
children she is likely to bear."
Fonn lack-lustre villages into the urban slums
With well over a third of our continuously-growing
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population still below the poverty line, with our agricultural
resource-base mercilessly eroded by deforestation, soil erosion
and population and with availability of new land for crops
steadily diminishing and existing land holdings relentlessly
fragmented, our villages are no longer havens of relative peace
and prosperity that they were. Instead, the young increasingly
tend to flee from then in order to migrate to over-crowded cities
in search of a better life ultimately to land in slums with brittle
social relations and frequent turmoil. As a result, more than half
of the people of Bombay, India's richest city, live in disgraceful
hutmentcolonies and some of them literally on the city pavements.
Shortages of drinking water and power, traffic congestion and
overcrowding in hospitals and schools are such problems as go to
make the authorities of our capital cities feel that they are fighting
a losing battle.
While there is still no reason for pessimism, clearly much
more must be done. I have neither the knowledge nor the
experience to cover the whole field and shall therefore limit
myself to touching upon four specific measures which, if accorded
the necessary priority, would, in my view, give a great momentum
to our population-stablisation programme.
Age of Marriage
There can be no doubt that a red uction in the number of years
of married life in a woman's reproductive cycle, would be
dramatically reflected in the number of children she is likely to
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" Kerala, with the highest female literacy rate in the country, also
enjoys the lowest birth-rate, while Rajasthan's appallingly
low female literacy is more than fully reflected in
the highest birth-rate in the country."
bear. This measure was indeed adopted in 1978when the legal age
of marriage for women was raised from 15 to 18 and 22 for men,
10 but this law has, from the start, been perhaps the most flouted one
in our country - a large proportion of girls still get married well
before the legal age for want of effective social pressure against
early marriages, which have serious health consequences for the
mother and the child besides pushing up fertility.
This is, admittedly, a difficult problem but one which must be
faced. The continued toleration of its violation on the part of the
public encourages disregard of other laws as well and undermines
the very concept and framework of a society based on the rule of
law.
Literacy
The second point concerns the critical importance of female
education and literacy as a crucial determinant of fertility amongst
women in India. All the statistics prove that. We all know, for
instance, that Kerala, with the highest female literacy create in the
country, also enjoys the lowest birth-rate, while Rajasthan's
appallingly low female literacy rate is more than fully reflected in
the highest birth-rate in the country. This should surely suffice to
convince the central and stage governments that concentrating on
literacy programmes, particularly amongst girls. and young
women, would be a most effective instrument in reducing the
birth-rate. Literacy and primary education programmes are
primarily the responsibility of state governments, and the levels
of achievement in each state depend largely on the degree of
interest and determination on the part of the respective
goverlU11ents and on the priority given to education in their
allocation of funds. If a shortage of funds proves to be the main
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"A major cause of our failure to achieve fuller and quicker results in
our family planning and health programmes has lain
in a failure of communications."
impediment, then the means must be found, with the intervention
of the central government, if necessary, to supplement them.
11
Communications
A major cause of our failure to achieve fuller and quicker
results in our family planning and health programmes has lain in
a failure of communications. The fact that large sections of our
rural population have up to now been almost inaccessible, except
to their immediate neighbours because of their remote location
and with the exception of radio, lack of communications has been
a major impediment to greater progress towards our goal.
The advent of television and the central government's wise
and imaginative plan rapidly to expand its network to cover most
of the country's population will, if effectively used, provide an
invaluable means of direct and literally visible communication to
people In the rural areas. This is a superb means of informing,
advising, helping, teaching and entertaining people who have in
the past been kept isolated, ignorant and largely helpless. To be
effective, however, the programmes beamed to them will have to
be carefully planned, innovative, credible and in tune with the
realities of village life.
Incentives
The fourth point I would urge today is the potentially
powerful role of monetary incentives and, to a lesser extent,
disincentives, as a means of inducing people to adopt small family
norm and contraceptive protection throughout a woman's years
of fertility. A pitifully small reward of Rs. 200 per sterlisation has
been fairly widely adopted in India for some years and, sad to say,
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has had some effect in inducing men and women to submit to
contraceptive surgery. .
12
In a public speech I made in 1981, I presented figures which
showed that the capital cost of the nation for providing basic
requirements of every additional citizen throughout his or her life
and of that of their progeny over two generations, was of the order
ofRs. 42,000 in the then current rupee value, a figure which would
be nearer Rs. 80,000 today. An expenditure on incentives and
rewards of up to Rs. 5,000 per birth saved by sterlisation or
otherwise would, I believe, produce spectacular results and prove
to be a highly viable investment for the nation.
As we stand on the threshold of the twenty -first century, the
basic issue is whether, as a free and richly-endowed people, we
achieve be are survival or the vigorous growth which alone can
assure to our people the happiness and prosperity for which they
have yearned for so long.
(From the keynote address delivered at the "National Seminar on
. Population Management", jointly sponsored by Rajaji Institute of
Public Affairs and Administration and Family Planning Foundation
in New Delhi on August 29, 1987.)
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POPULATION POLICES: A CRITIQUE
The W orId Population Conference in 1974 provided real
.«Jt
impetus to the newly-awakened sense of concern about
the impending crisis as well as belief in our capability to
evolve and implement policies, capable of ensuring steaqy
reduction of birth-rate and systematic improvement of the quality
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" we are now convinced that in our country mere general
development would not bring about any
significant reduction in fertility."
of population. The conference also saw the focus shift to the ~:ital
nexus between population and development. The developrnent-
orientation to population policy soon brought within its ambit 13
issues like reduction in mortality and morbidity; spatial distribution
in response to diverse migration pressures; improvements in
literacy status of women; preservation of the environment, in
short, all those vital factors which give life a flavour of quality.
"Development is the best contraceptive", the Bucharest
slogan, is no longer very credible, though its intrinsic worth has
not been eroded by the fact of population explosion co-existing
with rapid economic development. The small-family norm,
however, has not earned universal acceptance. Besides, between
the perception of the well-to-do and that of the poor lies a vast
penumbra of tensions. In fact, the population problem has become
more complex, even vexed, as a result of the failure of social and
economic policies, which seem to produce either anger or apathy
but not the desire to participate in the great venture of creating
prosperity.
Crucial landmarks of demographic transition
So, we are now convinced that in our country mere general
development would not bring about any significant reduction in
fertility. There are several crucial landmarks on the path of
demographic transition, which playa critical role. To name a few,
these are reduction in infant-mortality rates and raising the levels
of female literacy. To achieve one, we need a massive programme
of preventive health care, and to succeed with the other, we are
required to provide opportunities of remunerative work for the
young girls, motivated to stay on in school to acquire useful
education and skills. Traditional social forces discourage this
modernisation.
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/I achievement of demographic objectivesisentirelydependent on a
whole set of societal responses and policy initiatives
which go well beyond contraception./I
Similarly, if the son-preference, common in most parts of
Asia, has to be moderated, we need a reliable system of social
14 security, which should guarantee care of the aged in humane
conditions, and this should not be confined to those who are
employed in the organised sector, but to the entire aged population.
Therefore, achievement of demographic objects is entirely
dependent on a whole set of societal responses and policy initiatives
which go well beyond contraception. In other words, what we
should aim at is an integrated policy for comprehensive development
of society, of which population policy is an important part.
Pioneering initiatives
It is impatient to recall that the first major effort to take a
comprehensive view of population control as a part of national
planning process in India had found expression in the relevant
resolutions on important social and economic subjects, moved
before the Indian National Congress by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru,
as far back as 1938. These resolutions covered issues and areas
such as magnitude ofthe population problem and its consequences;
shortage of food and the need for effective utilisation of wastelands;
nutritional deficiency and the necessity of a nutrition policy;
importance of family planning, particularly, of raising the age at
marriage and discouragement of polygamy; human resource
development and need for demographic surveys, etc. Yet these
unexcemptional able ideas fell by the wayside as India grappled
with post-Independence situation.
Considering the fact that in spite of 30 years of efforts, our
population continues to grow by 2.1 per cent per annum, there is
a pressing need to develop a new policy framework which should
encompass health, education, social mobilisation, concentraception,
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" on the positive side, we have at least a better idea of factors
contributing to high fertility as well as of reasons of
quite a few low-parity couples still remaining
outside the family planning programmes."
environmental concerns, economic growth with distributive justice,
sane urbanisation strategies, etc. It is indeed a major challenge. But
1: on the positive side, we have at least a better idea of factors
contributing to high fertility as well as of reasons of quite a few low-
parity couple still remaining outside the family planning
programmes.
Picture in Africa and Latin America
With some variations, the nature of the problem in poverty-
stricken Africa and Latin America must be the same. Although all
population strategies have to relate to specific cultural contexts,
historical background and contemporary economic imperatives
basically the central plank of a successful population stablisation
strategy should be awareness of the risks, commitment to small-
family norm and determination to achieve desired results in a
reasonable time-frame. Otherwise, the snow-balling effect of
exploding numbers will set at naught all tidy plans.
The two scourges we still face are hunger and environmental
degradation. Both are of global character and, therefore, demand
global solutions. It is a dismal thought that 750 million of the
world's poorest people yam to meet basic needs. In the words of
Takeo Pakuda, former Prime Minister of Japan: "Hunger takes
the lives of 13 to 18 million people annually. Three quarter of these
are children under the age of 5. It is appalling that as we sit here
now, 18 children die every minute because of hunger. Can we be
complacent about this tragic fact?"
(From theInaugural remarksmadeat theColloquiumof
International Unionfor theScientificStudy of Population (IUSSP)
held in New Delhi on Septembe2r 2, 1989)
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"During my last visit to China, when I complimented China on her
achievements, Dend Xiaoping voiced annexiety at the slowing
down of the process of reduction of fertility, because rapid
growth might well threaten China's elaborate
development and modernisation strategies."
FROM PROSPECTS TO PORTENTS
16
I n the mid-forties several demographers thought that by the
year 2000 A.D., the world would have a population of three
billion. These estimates have had to be revised upwards. It
is estimated now that by the year 202, that is, in just another three
decades, the world may have to cope with eight billion!
It seems that since 1975, the decline in fertility in some of the
third-world countries has almost levelled off. In India, the world's
second most populous country, for instance, the fertility rate has
got stuck at 4.8. That means that India will overtake China by the
middle of the next century. In Indonesia too, after the initial
succession reduction of fertility to 4.3, the downward trend has
been arrested. During my last visitto China, when I complimented
China on her achievement in slowing down gr.owth-rate of
population, the senior leader, Deng Xiapoing voiced anxiety at
the slowing down of the process of reduction of fertility, because
rapid growth might well threaten China's elaborate development
and modernisation strategies.
Are we not overstretching the Earth's natural resources?
There are fears that production of food may note keep pace with
the needs of the growing population. There may note be enough
water for all. The environment will further deteriorate, resulting
in more frequent visitations such as seasonal droughts and floods.
Shelter remains a critical problem; it can certainly get worse as is
visible from rapidly-mushrooming slums, not only in the
metropolitan cities, but also in many inner cities. The issue of
unemployment could well emerge as the most serious problem
which will cause no end of frustration to the educated and
technically-trained manpower. Since elimination of poverty and
creation of jobs are high-priority targets, limits to population
growth have to be set.
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" unless mothers are sure about the survival of their new-borns,
the temptation to have more children will remain strong,
particularly, after the loss of the first child."
Macro Planning and Micro Conception
The Indian planners, no doubt, recognise the adverse 17
economic implications ofcontinuing population growth. However,
the perceptions of ordinary men and women who constitute
famili~s and produce children seem different. Thus, there is
strong variance between the planner's macro conception and an
individual's micro conception. Evidently, our communication
efforts, have failed to bridge this critical gap.
What continues to cause me distress iss ue the fact that in spite
of dramatic demonstration of the positive impact of literacy on
fertility in States like Kerala, investments in the education sector
remain inadequate. India did launch a National Literacy Mission
last year and reports indicate that women who are particularly
vulnerable to the scourge of illiteracy, have been responding most
enthusiastically. Since female literacy in the four North Indian
States (D.P., Bihar, M.P., and Rajasthan) constituting 40 per cent
of the population, is extremely low - around seven per cent - a
really massive effort is called for, using most effective means of
communication and instruction.
Literacy, Youth and Human Survival Values
Literacy alone may not be a panacea to sufficiently reduce
fertility. Special attention has to be paid to substantially reduce
high level of infant and child mortality, currently prevalent in a
number of states in India. Child survival, therefore, is an equally
important factor. For, unless mothers are sure about the survival
of their new-borns, the temptation to have more children will
remain strong, particularly, after the loss of the first child.
So far, the general target of family planning communication
have been married couples and, sometimes, their parents! But
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"There is a realisation in Asia and also in India that the 90s will
prove to be the most critical period for the human race which
must build on their experience, adopt innovative approaches
and hasten the pace of community mobilisation for
essential populatiqn and development tasks."
what about the youth? There is urgent need to undertake a
systematic education of the adolescent to prepare them for the
18 tasks of tomorrow. Even the limited results achieved by the
Family Planning Foundation through its Human Survival Values
Project indicate that this is possible through effective
communications and group dynamics. The project aims at first
preparing the youth leadership and then facilitating through
them the transfer of ideas to the rural youth in the villages. I am
happy to say that the rural youth reached in this project are
beginning to see a clear nexus between degradation of the
environment and incessant population pressure, and they
appreciate the need for human survival strategies - aimed at
saving the forests, conserving water, reclaiming depleted lands
and regulating the size of the family.
There is a realisation in Asia and also in India, that the 90s will
prove to be the most critical period for the human race which must
build on their experience, adopt innovative approaches and
hasten the pace of community mobilisation for essential population
and development tasks.
(FromDinner Oration to theBoardMembersof thePopulation
Communication(International),New York,andnotable
populationexpertsfrom India andabroadmadeat
.. Hotel Taj Palaceon February12, 1990).
THE CLASSICAL VICIOUS CIRCLE!
ust we remain poor? This thought continues to torment
1M[ me especially when I see that we have in our country all
the basic resources, including an educated manpower
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- "Any talk of sustainable development the modern-day slogan at
seminars and symposia, is meaningless if no note is taken of
the over-multiplying numbers and their abject poverty."
and an economic infrastructure growing more diverse and strong,
year by year.
Many people, like me in other developing countries must, I 19
am sure, on the World Population Day, be asking the same
question.
World population, which is around 5.3 billion, will increase
by another billion people during the 1990s. During the next
century, it will probably double and could as well triple. The sad
truth is that the largest increases will be in the poorest countries.
It is no exaggeration to state that its consequences for the
environment and socio-economic development, will be
catastrophic.
Of the present 5.3 billion, more than one billion on this globe
live in poverty. And it is the bottom billion which is steadily
sapping the environment, mainly through deforestation and land
degradation.
Not that the rich countries do not make their contribution to
over consumption of resources, producing enormous waste and
vitiating the environment But then, larger numbers inescapably
consume more resources and produce more waste.
Any talk of sustainable development - the modem-day
slogan at seminars and symposia, is meaningless if no note is
taken of the over-multiplying numbers and their abject poverty.
The result is the poverty has become mankind's nemesis.
Like many other countries we in India have been trying to
wage a war on poverty. We have started a number of development
programmes especially.to uplift the extremely poor. It has been
claimed by the government that the All India incidence of poverty
has come down from 36.9 per cent in 1984-85 to 29.23 per cent in
1987-88. However, the issue remains whether productive and
viable employment opportunities have at all been created to the
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"1 am unable to understand how leaders of our country, who have
been articulating strong views on social and economic
restricting can remain oblivious of the serious
consequences of soaring population and permit
time to defeat all honest endeavour.
How will history judge us?"
extent necessary.
20 Eighth Plan Approach
The Approach Paper for the Eighth Plan, discussed the other
day by the National Development Council, rightly emphasises
the urgent need to remove the sources of discontent and unrest by
attending to challenging problems like unemployment, illiteracy,
ill-health and decline in living conditions of the poor and vulnerable
sections. I was happy to observe that authors of the Approach
Paper had reached the conclusion that 'the failure to achieve
perceptive reduction in the population growth-rate and the
inadequacy of the present strategies to contain the demographic
pressures' tended to retard our growth on all fronts. That is what
I have been always saying.
Lack of political will is the principal reason for inadequate
results. The election manifestos of at least three major political
parties, viz., Janata Dal, BJP and Congress (I) did give a special
place to population control. Yet, in the last six to eight months, one
has not seen any major public response. I am unable to understand
how leaders of our country, who have been articulating strong
views on social and economic restructuring, can remain oblivious
of the serious consequences of soaring population and permit
time to defeat all honest endeavour. How will history judge us?
(From inaugural speechdelivered at the symposium on "Family
Planning the in the Nineties: Search for New Approaches"
held in New Delhi on July 11, 1990 -
the World Population Day.)
..
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"Fortunately, our self-confidence and a continuing sense of hope have
remained intact and we have, in the words of Martin Luther King,
adopted the slogan." 'We shall overcome.'"
"WE SHALL OVERCOME"
I t is an unfortunate fact that 44 years after. our country
attained independence, we are still passing through a difficult
21
phase of its existence as a nation. Social tensions, which sap
the vital energies of the nation, and a general sense of frustration,
anger and anxiety, have cast dark shadows on the country's
evolving destiny. Continuing poverty and persistent financial
difficulties, themselves due largely to the excessively-large and
rapidly-growing population which today exceeds 850 million,
have aggravated the hardships of our people. Fortunately, our
self-confidence and a continuing sense of hope have remained
intact and we have, in the words of Martin Luther King, adopted
the slogan: "We shall overcome."
It seems that all the big or small dormant problems, which
had come to life in the last three decades or so, have now assumed
the size and importance of a crisis in all facts of life. Uncertainty
is the dominant sign of the times. The problem which continues
to concern us most is that ofthe relentless growth of our population.
While there have been occasional voices of concern, what
surprises and alarms me most is the fact that the kind of keen
realisation that leads to determine action is still largely absent. I
wonder if this is due to reluctance to face reality or a Micawber-
like belief that something will turn up after all.
Intemational"Concem
When shall we face reality? Only the other day, the Aid India
Consortium of Western donors and intentional institutions which
met in Paris had called for" urgent and immediate assistance to
India to tackle the problem of rapid growth in population." The
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3.3 Page 23 |
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"The world is rightly worried about the prospectus of 1.8 billion
Indian people in the next century. But are we?"
United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNEP A) too has
cautioned that "the national picture is likely to remain gloomy as
22 long as Uttar Pradesh, Madya Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan -
home to 40 per cent of the country's population -perform poorly.
The United Nations Development Programme's (UNDP) report
on India also draws attention to continuous population increase
exerting stress on health and education system, urban and rural
housing, food supply and distribution, etc.
Our Own Failure
While international assistance is welcome, I would like to
pose a question: Does not the problem rather lie in our own
inadequate perception of the depth of the population crisis and
feebly executed programmes? Managerial failure and haphazard
utilisation of resources are as much responsible for poor results as
faculty planning. The world is rightly worried about the prospect
of 1.8 billion Indian people in the next century. But are we?
The international agencies are not flushed with funds either.
One often hears about the overall shortage of funds. On the other
hand, the galling reality is that the world continues to spend one
billion dollars every year on all kinds of lethal armaments while
large parts of the globe are putting up a desperate fight against
hunger and a wasting diseases. One only hopes that the massive
reduction in arms will release larger funds for being invested in
promoting economic revival in the third world and for supporting
health, education and urban improvement programmes.
There will still be pressure on resources. However, the task
of containing the population outburst cannot wait. India has to
reorder the economy in a manner that permits diversion of funds
into sustainable development, which, in my way of thinking,
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u when the dykes are threatened, the response to the swelling tide
has to be instant and sizeable enough, to contain the threat."
includes eduction, health and employment. Check on runaway
population and that too in the next decade or so, should be a
historical imperative for us.
23
A Welcome Change
We, in the Family Planning Foundation, cannot but welcome
the recent statement of the Deputy Chairman of the Planning
Commission that population control is being treated as one of the
four main priority areas of the Eight Plan. It is good to remember,
however, that when the dykes are threatened, the response to the
swelling tide has to be instant and sizeable enough, to contain the
threat. Critical priorities require a firm political commitment as
well as adequate resources. But more than resources, it is a
question of choice of right strategies.
(From the Chairman's observation at the Annual General Meeting
of the Governing Board of Family Planning Foundation
on October 14, 1991).
..
ON A NOTE OF HOPE
1have been an optimist-sceptic about Ind ia's future. I have all
along held fast to the view that if we s.ucceed in stabilising
our population in a foreseeable time-frame, then the country
will have a golden future. Conversely, I have also been saying that
whatever we might do or achieve byway of planned development,
it would come to naught in case we fail to make a dent in our
worrisome population scenario before long.
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"For the first time we are reiterating the fact that population is one
of the four major problems of India, though I rate
it as absolutely the number one."
But the recent pronouncement by the Prime Minister, the
Minister for Health and Family Welfare and the Deputy Chairman
24 of the Planning Commission do make me feel happy that the
government now seems to be according the priority to population
control that it deserves, without mincing words or getting into
unnecessary euphemisms. This not only brings into focus our
target but also spells out the thrust areas better. For the first time
we are reiterating the fact that population is one of the four major
problems of India, though I rate it as absolutely the number one.
I am also happythatthe govemmenthas revived the tripartite
national forum to tackle the organised sector from all the three
directions and make a success of acceptance of population control
measures among around 30 million workers that are immediately
accessible. It is not a small segment of the national population
because its dynamics directly covers one-fifth of the nation's
population and its multiplier effect can go much farther into the
length and breadth of the country. I and a few other enlightened
friends of mine in the industry have been telling our colleagues
down the line that family plannIng, inasmuch as it helps stablise
the population, is a more positive investment from the
industrialist's point of view than it can at first be visualised. A
satisfied worker is any day an assets to the industry and the
practice of small-family norm ensures just that. This makes the
ind ustry benefit in so many ways, even in production and profits.
But somehow in spite of some very fruitful experiments by
the Indian industry over the past six decades, there has been an
all-round apathy even among some resourceful industrialists to
go in for family planning programmes in their units in a big way.
A question worth asking is : What can be the possible reason for
this extremely tardy progress in the adopting of family planning
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"When I grew in France, I used to see large families. In less than six
or seven decades one seldom comes across large families. I have
wondered why similar change is so slow in our country."
by the industries, big or small? The answers appears to be quite
complex.
Probably it is the traditional community pressure that does 25
not allow the worker to change; probably it is the trade union
movement fed on socialistic catchwords which continues to be
suspicious of the intentions of the industrialists; probably it is a
lack of enlightened self-interest among the entrepreneurs; or
probably, it is the absence of proper thrust on the part of the
government to awaken a genuine tripartite spirit in the organised
sector. any way, to me it appears it is time that all the three of us
changed, and changed in a much more positive manner.
Insofar as industry is concerned, alongwith some leading
industrialists of the country I happened to found the Family
Planning Foundation a little more than two decades ago to
reiterate our commitment to the cause of population stablisation.
It was natural therefore that the Foundationfromits very inception
felt interested in the role of the organised sector in promoting
family welfare. It has covered many stages since and today has
been able to develop a useful, reliable model to be adopted by the
organised sector.
The main thrust area in which a real tripartite aqtion plan can
be helpful is to establish linkages between various larrge indu.stries
and a cluster of medium and small industries sq as to run an
effective programme for the next ten years. TheseJ,programmes
will also include female literacy, for its a time-tested welfare
measure having in impact on fertility.
.
When I grew in France, I used to see large families. In less
than six or seven decades, one seldom comes across large families.
I have wondered why similar change is so slow in our country. If
Europeans would become acutely aware of the impact of
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"We also need to accord a similar status to education. But shall we?"
population why were we impervious to it? Perhaps the answer
lies in education.
26
For exmnple, the Ed ucation Minister in France is only second
in seniority to the Prime Minister, such are their values. Here I
may recall my experiences in China where I went as a member of
a delegation. Family planning has succeed in curbing population
growth-rate there largely due to the fact that a very high priority
was accorded to education. We also need to accord a similar status
to education. But shall we? The fact is that even today, 90 out of
100 girl children are not going to school in some of the northern
states in India. The reason can be many. But the situation is
intolerable. Hence the imperative need of increasing our plan
allocations for education and health.
Lastly, let me warn that if effective measures were not taken
to control the population growth, it might not be possible to
provide even the basic amenities for the entire population after
some time. That will not be a happy prospect for industries which
thrive in socially-stable societies and vibrant economics.
(From the speechdeliveredat the TripartiteNationalCommitteefor
Family Planning in the Organised Sector -March 10,1992).
..
CALL FOR GLOBAL ACTION
!J{[ere I mean to draw attenti~n to the environmental factor,
which is an inseparable correlate of population. Look at
the rapid depreciation of even scarce resources as a
result of wanton over-exploitation, leading to further destruction
of the forests, resulting again in ever-increasing environmental
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"See, what we have done to our rain forests, verdant hills, life-
sustaining valleys, great rivers, even the seas."
degradation, mostly in the developing world. I hate to say and yet
I cannot help say~ngthat some countries have been fairly desperate
and uncaring about the future. See, what we have done to our rain 2~
forests, verdant hills, life-sustaining valleys, great rivers, even the
seas. And as if this damnation was not enough, we have flown
high with a deadly load of gases to puncture the ozone layer,
which, from time immemorial, has been protecting us from
deadly ultraviolet rays. New fears are being expressed about this
phenomenon causing blindness, skin cancer and the rest.
I am an industrialist but I am also as much a conservationist
and humanist. I believe even now, superior teclmology can undo
or, at any rate, reduce some of the harmful effects of older
technology which did give us the power to produce, but with little
control over gases and residues, which could ruin the environment.
We now have more knowledge and more experience. I am told
that many leading companies have already developed alternatives.
The U.S.A., for example, has vowed to phase out chloro-fluro-
carbons by 1997. Daring scientists are dreaming of pushing green
house gases on to Mars hoping to make it green and eventually
life-sustaining.
.
Sustainable development, in my judgement, is not a mere
slogan or a pious wish, but a realistic strategy, which must
subserve the interests of Man and Nature in equal measure. We
have had our warning and hope not to repeat the mistakes of the
\\-Vest.Why create problems and then spend billions to deal with
them. We should act now.
Japan should also be worried like us become common people
there have become more and more articulate about industrial
pollution. I recall the severe judgement passed by a Japanese
court in the matter of mercury poisoning of the sea, which killed
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"1 also wish that the Brazil Earth Summit shall specifically highlight
the fact the environmental balance i!as to be restored by wise
technology choices and containing world population."
the fish. However, Japan has since made great strides in the re-
cycling of wastes and harnessing of renewable energy resources
28 so as to reduce dependence on atmosphere- poll uting fossil fuels.
We in India have also made some beginning, but we are short of
resources including access' to technology.
."
Our government, our industry, even our resource-strapped
voluntary organisations have been doing their bit. Yet, we need
more resources as indeed many countries even in worse situation
than us do, particularly in Africa. Sometime back, Thad expressed
the hope that with the end of the cold war and the virtual
beginning of the end of the era of destructive heavy armaments,
richer nations of the world will be able to divert larger amounts for
development, the central point of which is population and
environment. The issue of North-South cooperation must be
regarded as, global because its impact encompasses the,whole
world. You cannot have 25 per centof the world consuming more
than 75 per cent of the global resources. Equity and cooperation
could also sustain a stable world order.
Earth Summit '92
On the question of taking some meaningful steps to save
planet earth, I sincerely wish that the 109 or so heads of state
and governments, meeting in the Earth Summit at Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil, in June 1992, will rise above polemics and
together plan a solid network of credible measures to save the
Earth, which is our one and only home. I also wish that the Brazil
,Earth Summit shall specifically highlight the fact that
environmental balance has to be restored by wise technology
choices and containing world population. Thus, as a follow-up
to the Summit, I would like to see greater importance being
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"The last half-century, during which I have been pursuing these goals
have given me a strong belief that in spite of the vagaries
of political uncertainties, it is possible to win."
given to the goal of population stablisation which, in effect,
means wider access to means of reducing infant mortality,
maternal mortality, nutritional deficiency, exposure to debilitating 25
diseases, and, of course, restricting the family size. It will also
mean much more investment in education, because demand for
contraception can be sustained only if the people have the right
education to take the right decisions. The secret of demographic
transition, in my judgement, is awareness. Nothing but education
can create awareness and sustain the momentum of constructive
change.
Reasons for Optimism
The last half-century, during which I have been pursuing
these goals has given me a strong belief that in spite ofthe vagaries
of political uncertainties, it is possible to win. Our last census done
in 1991 has highlighted a small significant reduction in infant
mortality and maternal mortality in several parts of India. There
is also a significant down-turn in fertility, at least among the
educated sections of the people. In spite of our various economic
problems, India has a vigorous middle class of 200 million people
who are well-equipped to enjoy better life-styles on the strength
of their education and professional attainments. Given
opportunities and a stable political system, they can certainly
reverse the tide.
.
(From a Press Interview given by Mr. Tata to Ichiro Kikuchi,
Special Corresponden t of" Shanke Shimbun ",
Japan on March 12,1992).
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ABOUT THE MAN
Mr. JR D Tata, the doyen of India Industry and an illustrious
scion of the far-farmed House of Tatas, was born in 1904 in Paris
30 (France). Thus, he seem$ truly to be bestriding the 20th century as
perhaps no one else, articulating seminal ideas in diverse fields as
well as showing by personal example unique courage and
undaunted heroism, creative dynamism and elan, so characteristic
of a born-leader.
He joined the Tatas when only 22 and rose to be the Chairman
of the holding company by the age of only 34. A multi-faceted
gen.ius, he has excelled in many fields of human endeavour.
Conscious of the role market economy and private initiative could
play in transforming India from a backward, colonial economy to
an efficient, progressive and industrial one, he, around the time of
India's Independence, gathered together a group of eminent
economists and professionals and hammered out what is generally
known as 'Bombay Plan' .
The document envisaged doubling of India's per capital
income by trebling the Gross National Product in a matter of 15
years (three Five-Year Plans) only and with a total investment of
Rs. 10,000 crores (at pre-war prices). The target still remains to be
achieved even after 40 years of elaborate national planning.
Not just that, he can truly be called father of civil aviation in
India. From 1929 when he became the first civil aviation pilot of
the nation to the Chairmanship of Air India, which job he
relinquished in 1978 after an active association of 30 long years, he
truly gave his best to aviation - his invest love! Anotherremarkable
feat. In 1982, he celebrated the golden jubilee of his maiden flig1lt
from Karachi to Bombay, literally re-encating it, in an aeroplane
of the same vintage.
During all these richly lived and fruitfully rewarded years,
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"But it is the problem of population stablisation that has received
Mr. Tata's best personal attention over the last four decades."
Mr Tata has promoted and fostered several c.auses in the service
of science and nation. The Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
founded in 1945, will always stand as a monumental tribute to his 31
foresight. He is also one of the founder-member of the Atomic
Energy Commission, President of the Court of India Institute of
Science, Bangalore and a patron-member of the Bharatiya Vidya
Bhawan. The number of institutions and cases he is associated
with its truly legion.
He has therefore, been severally honoured in India and
abroad. India has just conferred upon him "Bharat Ratna", the
highest civilian award of the nation. Similarly, during his visit to
Bombay, His Holiness Pope Paul VI honoured him with Knight
Commander of the Order of St. Gregory; France made him
Commander of the Legion of Honour; and Federal Republic of
Germany conferred upon him Knight Commander of the Order of
Merit. He is also the recipient of such distinguished international
decorations as "International Management Man", the Henry
Bessemer Gold Medal of the Institute of Metals, London and
Edward Warner Award of the United Nations.
But it is mainly the problem of population stablisation in
India that has received Mr Tata's special attention over the last
four decades. Mr Tata was the first to raise an alarm in 1951, in the
course of a speech, about the continuous and fast growth of the
Indian population and its serious potential consequences to the
country's economy and progress. Realising later the need for non-
governmental action, he founded the Family Planning Foundation
in 1970, of which he is to this day the founder Chairman. Mr Tata' s
unique services in the cause of population have been recently
recognised by the United Nations who have chosen him for their
prestigious Population Award for 1992.
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Copyright 1992 FAMILY PLANNING FOUNDATION INDIA
First Published in 1992 by :
Mr. K. Balakrislman
Secretary, Family Plmming Foundation,
B-28, Institutional Area, NewDelhi-110016.
Composed and Printed by :
REPRODUCTIONS INDIA
198/19, Sapna Apartments, Ramesh Market,
East of Kailash, New Delhi-nO 065
Phone: 64233269
Editing and Production:
P.K. Nijhawan
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