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Focus 1994 October - December English |
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BULLETIN
OF POPULATION
FOUNDATION
OF INDIA
PRESIDENT'S STRESS
ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
President Dr Shankar
impassioned plea
Dayal Sharma made an
to make sustainable
development an intrinsic part of people's life-style.
become both personal and public goals. Dr Sharma said
the concerns must reflect in education to create
consciousness in the coming generations. Public debate
While inaugurating in New Delhi on November 21, and demonstration projects were necessary.
1994, the three-day first National Conservation Congress
The Industry must be educated about the effects of
organised by the World Wide Fund for Nature - India pollution. They must also fulfil their social responsibilities
(WWF-India) to mark its 25th
by contributing resources to this end.
anniversary, the President said that
The media must be used to the fullest
Government efforts alone could not
and the NGOs must be involved as they
suffice- to achieve the objectives of
had the access, the credibility and
conservation.
commitment to spread the message of
Dr Sharma also dedicated to the
conservation.
nation the Indira Gandhi Conservation
The distinguished gathering at the
Monitoring Centre (IGCMC) on the
ceremony included Rajya Sabha Deputy
occasion.
Chairman
Najma
Heptulla,
He said from the 1972 Stockholm
Lt. Governor P K Dave, WWF
Conference to the 1992 Rio Summit, the
International Director General Claude
world took two deeades to conceptually
Martin, WWF-India President M S
visualise sustainable development was
Swaminathan and WWF-India vice
the solution to environmental problems.
president S P Godrej.
The global dimensions of the problems
Dr Swaminathan said in a
were realised and futility of partial
democratic society, the political
solutions accepted.
President Dr Shankar
leadership illuminated the path a nation
"Until environmental conscious-
Dayal Sharma
took in its developmental ethos and
ness becomes intrinsic to our thinking on development, strategy. This was why the first session of the Congress
the world will continue to grope for an answer, even as was devoted to discussing the role of the political will
its resources get depleted," Dr Sharma said.
and action in environment protection.
In India, the Government had taken several steps.
The noted scientist said during the last 25 years the
The National Conservation Strategy, changes in forest country had made rapid progress in many areas of
policy and the Plan for Abatement of Pollution testified national endeavour. While taking pride and deriving
that the country was moving in the right direction. "But strength from the past accomplishments, the country
we have just embarked on an endeavour which is must work with redoubled vigour to achieve, during the
enormously complex and challenging, and which requires next 15 years, two major transitions.
all our talents, resources and commitment. Government
"First, we must achieve the desired demographic
effort, by itself, is not adequate," he said.
transition to low birth and death rates. Second, we must
To realise the objectives of conservation, it was achieve an:ecological transition leading to a deceleration
necessary to involve every section of the society. in damage to life support systems and an acceleration in
Minimising pollution, avoiding wastage and
the pace of progress in eradicating poverty
conserving non-renewable resources must ENVIRONMENT and ensuring gender equity," he said.
--L-
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POPULATION PRESSURE, URBANISATION AND
ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION
Short-sighted
Environmental degradation has not
happened overnight. Forests have been
destroyed for years and soils have been
deprived of natural nutrients and regenerative
elements for years. The cycle of dismay has
engulfed the rural and the urban areas alike.
urban development
policies damage
the environment
more than the
pressure of
population·
degraded forests for industrial exploitation,
without ensuring adequate and timely
regenera tion.
Urbanisation, which is a major force in
our times, is also making heavy demands on
natural. resources. In 1951, India'~ urban
As a quick response, overpopulation is
population was 17.29% of the total
seen as the cause of this degradation. Population and population. In 1981, it rose to 23.31% and today, it is over
environment have a close nexus as has poverty with each 25%. It is not all baneful. In fact, urbanisation is a social and
one of them. However, it is absolutely essential that we step economic response to growth of population. But failure on
aside from this trap of population being regarded as the the policy and management ffont has stood in the way of
principal cause of poverty, environmental degradation and coping with the natural almost inevitable consequences.
underdevelopment. There is indeed a symbiotic relationship
Of serious impact is the emergence of slums in and
between these factors, but not one of simple and direct around our cities, especially, metropolitan cities and
cause and effect.
.
rnegacities, Demand for civic services grows faster than the
Poverty is the final consequence of being entrapped in organisation of service structures.
a social and political system, which is inimical to principles
Rural-urban migration is an important facet of
of equity. India has been in the grip of economic policies urbanisation. The 1991 Census noted a slight slowing down
which though sometimes creating a surface effect of growth of the trend. But that in itself may not ensure a great deal
and prosperity, have indeed left millions to face continuing of improvement in the rural areas. Unless economic
impoverishment. Neglect of villages and concentration of structures and resource allocation strategies undergo a
economic activity in the cities has brought us to the present redical change, it may imply increased pressure on the
pass.
villages without necessarily providing relief to the
Large cities consume resources-water, timber, food- burgeoning cities.
create mountains of garbage and transmit pollution through
By 2000 AD, some 325 million Indians will live in cities
the rivers to the rural areas.
vociferously demanding vast transport systems and housing
Within a holistic view of population and development, which are in deficit. Such urbanisation places great burden
however, we observe that unchecked population growth in on the urban environment, which is further vitiated due to
our country has been heavily drawing upon the basic life- haphazard industrialization.
supporting systems, often making the essential task of
Almost all of our metros face serious air, water and
ecological and environmental conservation and amelioration noise pollution, largely due to failed urbanisation strategies,
extremely difficult. For instance, we are suddenly aware of incessant population growth, haphazardly planned
the prospect of water crisis, more than food grain deficit. industrialization and short-sighted land use policies.
A recent Population Action International study noted
Delhi is a telling example of failed urbanisation
that in 1955, for a population of395 million, per capita water policies as well as failed promises slowly developing into
availability in India was 5277 cubic metres. By 2025, when a seething cauldron of discontent only because public
India's popula tion will swell to 1.4 billion (Expert Committee policy has not proved adequate to cope with pressures of
Projections) per capita availability will decline to 1391 cubic directionless urbanisation.
metres. Since access to water is regarded crucial for social
India already has an urban population of the order
and economical development, even stability of culture and of 250 million, largely concentrated in 23 metropolitan
civilization, India might well face grave water stress in the cities. It is bound to grow faster than before. There is
event of per-capita availability declining to 1000 cubic urgent need to respond to the phenomenon of urbanisation
metres.
with massive impacts on the environment and come
Population increase alone may not be the sole reason up with ameliorative action under enlightened public
for this sad state of affairs. Wasteful consumption of this policies.
precious resource, total neglect of conservation and
The fearsome rigour of the 'urban nightmare' can be
hampered regeneration are equally responsible. Water somewhat mitigated by realistic anticipation, sagacious
crisis is also a critical dimension of the conservation crisis non-political interventions, departure from sterile
manifest in the pillage of the Himalayas, disrobing of the approaches and, above all, by involving the communities
Aravalis, benighted mining policies and assignment of in making solutions work.
(Excerpts from the Paper presented by Mr Harish Khanna, Executive Director, Population Foundation of India, at the First National
Conservation Congress organised by the World Wide Fund for Nature· India, at New Delhi from November 21 to 24, 1994.)
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PROJECT UPDATE
SANRACHNA SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETES PILOT
STAGE: PROGRESSING WELL IN EXTENSION PHASE
SANRACHNA - the PFI sponsored innovative project integrating health with socio-
economic development - was launched in Kanpur Dehat District of u.P. in November
1992. The task of implementing the project was entrusted to Sf. Catherine's Hospital,
Kanpur under the directorship of Dr J M Das. The project now in the third and final year
of its implementation is being funded to the tune of Rs 27 lakh by the PFI.
sanrachna,
Integrated
the PFI-sponsored
Health and
Development project was
launched in the Sarsaul block of
Kanpur Dehat district of U.P. in
November 1992. (FOCUS: April-June
1993). The Project activities were
divided into two phases. The Pilot
phase, where the progranune was
to be carried out in an intensive
manner in the Sarsaul block, for a
period of 18 months and the
Extension phase, in which the
experiences of the pilot phase were
to be concised into a strategy for
programme development in other
blocks.
The pilot phase in the Sarsaul
block has been completed. The
positive experiences gained during
this period with respect to
community mobilisation, health
education, training of the male and
female vol unteers, activisation of the
community's organisations etc., have
been used in developing a
methodology for district-wide
programme activities.
There is, however, a basic
difference. During the pilot phase,
the Community Health Volunteers
from each of the programme villages
were selected, trained and deployed
in their respective villages. They
were paid a monthly stipend to
cover their incidental expenses. In
the extension phase, the focus is
mainly on training and active
involvement of the health workers,
and the community leaders to make
them work in their respective, areas
wHh more knowledge and
competenc~ brought about by
training. There are, as such, no paid
CHVs. and the foundation of the
progranmle is being laid on voluntary
effort.
The project has two sets of
objectives. One relating to health and
family planning and the other
pertaining to social and economic
development. The former are called
the Core objectives with which the
Foundation is primarily concerned.
Progress-Phase II
(Extension Phase)
The extension phase which
commenced from July 1994, has
progressed as follows:
1. Health and demographic smveys
have been carried out in one
village in each of the 17 blocks of
the district. On the basis of this
information, education and
training strategies have been
designed.
2. As a parallel activity, one model
village is being developed in each
of the blocks covering it with
intensive activities on the lines of
the pilot phase work in the Sarsaul
block to serve as a demonstration
model.
3. All the blocks of the district have
been covered with the following
activities:
a) Sensitisationmeetings with the
block-level functionaries of the
development block, primary
health centre staff and family
planning workers. •
b) Systematic training of the
Auxiliary Nurse Midwives
and other health functionaries
serving ill the 17 blocks ill
groups.
c) Block level training of
community leaders and school
teachers to develop positive
interface with health cadres.
4. IEC material has been developed
for different categories of
functionaries and the community
based on their information needs
as assessed during the pilot phase,
juxtaposed with the health
manual of the CMAT.
It is noteworthy that the project
is receiving full cooperation from the
Health and Medical Staff of the
district at all the levels. Results
achieved are to be assessed after one
year.
Training modules from different
categories of staff, specially the
ANMs are being prepared in
collaboration with the subject matter
specialists and staff of the nurses
training institutions.
Orientation prograrnrnesfor the
non-medical staff have been planned
at all the block headquarters.
It may be mentioned here that
training programmes for different
categories of medical and non-
medical staff and the community
leaders are planned to be taken up as
an ongoing activity for the entire
, ,tenure of the project.
Progress Report-Phase I
(Sarsaul Block)
The pilot phase activities in the
Sarsaul block were concluded in
April 1994. A review of the progress
of the 18 months activities in the
block is presented below:
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demanding the seeds and the
technical training.
The Pulse Research Institute
distributed improved variety of
Gram seed to 20 farmers. The
experiment has again proved
successful.
After successfully completing its pilot stage, Sanrachna Project entered the
Extension Phase from July, 1994. Picture shows a training programme in progress.
Mass contact and establishment
of rapport completed in all the
100 villages.
House-to-house baseline surveys
were completed in 95 villages.
.Selected and training of the
Community Health Workers was
completed in 90 villages.
training' programmes for the
leaders and members of the
community
organisations,
namely, Mahila Mandals, Yuvak
Mandal Dal and the Krishak
Mandals were conducted in 51
villages.
Seven training pro grammes were
organised for the traditional birth
attendants, drawn from the
project villages.
Literacy classes for children and
women were organised through
. the CHVs, in 48 villages.
Ten Anganwadis were organised
by the CHV s in those villages
where they did not exist.
The following deserve a mention
in terms of achievement of the social
and economic
development
objectives:
Soil testing of the land of 35
farmers in the Chandrasekhar
Azad Agriculture University. A
large number of farmers are
demanding the same facility.
Good quality wheat seeds were
distributed to 125 farmers. They
were also given technical training
in cultivation. Consequent to the
success of the experiment, a large
number
of farmers
are
F.P. related activities
Education of people about the
health hazards of early marriage and
pregnancy; multiple pregnancies
with shorter inter-birth interval; and
the importance of planned family,
was taken up in all the project
villages.
In quantitative terms, 5061
acceptors (about 22 per cent couples)
were motivated to adopt one or the
other family planning method.
Methodwise break-up is: Vasectomy
43; Tubectomy 810; Copper-T 2634;
Oral Pills 694; Nirodh 1056.
Results Encouraging
The experiences in the Sarsaul
block have been fairly encouraging
as far as the acceptance of the health
programmes initiated by the project
are concerned. The Family Planning
programme can also be said to have
had reasonable success considering
the backwardness of the region and
poor status of the people.
The project in the pilot phase
has also demonstrated that suitably
trained CHV s can assume the
responsibility
of programme
propagation
with
greater
competence.
AIDS
ON
THE
RAMPAGE
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PRESIDENT RELEASES POSTAGE STAMP
"J IN MEMORY
R D Tata was a model citizen,
deeply conscious of his social
OF J
R D TATA
recognised through
of Bharat Ratna.
the conferment
responsibilities. His multi-
A staunch nationalist, J R D
faceted personality left its·
Tata made his contribution felt
imprint on different aspects of
through vigorous and effective
-society."
participation in the process of
President Dr Shankar Dayal
national reconstruction. His co-
Sharma paid a glowing tribute to the
authorship of the 1944 Bombay Plan
memory of Mr Tata, founder
provided the blue print for COW1try'S
Chairman of the Population
industrial development.
Foundation of India, while releasing
It reflected his commitment to
a commemorative postage stamp at
An early advocate of the the modernisati~n of society which
an impressive function held at the management cul ture in our economy, he deemed so necessaty if India was
Rashtrapati Bhawan on November he demonstrated by example that to progress.
29, 1994 to mark the first death industry could establish an effective
In the public mind, Tata became
anniversary of the doyen of Indian
industry, Bharat Ratna J R D Tata.
partnership with labour. He said, his
message, that interests of industry
associated with a commitment to
quality, a forward looking
Dr Sharma urged captains of and labour are bound together, is management,
a confidence to
industry to emulate Bharat Ratna J R one of many enduring legacies of compete and a global outlook, he
D Tata who in his life-time established Mr Tata.
said.
centres of excellence through effective
So extraordinary were his
Mr Ratan Tata, Chairman Tata
management-Ia bour partnership.
talents and such was his dynamism Sons, expressed the hope that his
Today, in the era of economic that there were few aspects of human companies will continue their
reform and liberalisation,
his activity which he left untouched, Dr excellent work and widen the area of
approach has even greater relevance,
said the President.
Sharma said. His unique contribution support for the causes dear to late
to the shaping of modern India was Mr J R D Tata.
President Dr Shankar Dayal Sharma releasing the commemorative stamp to mark the first death anniversary of Bharat Ratna J R 0 Tata.
On his right is Mr Sukh Ram, Union Minister for Communications and on his left is Mr Ratan Tata, Chairman Tata Sons.
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SECRETARY FAMILY WELFARE EMPHASIZES
NGOS VITAL ROLE
To translate programmes of
family welfare into action,
we need concerted efforts,
especially of the NGOs. Organised
sector could develop a model for
others keeping in view the
desirability of making available
quality services on a continuous
basis.
This was emphasized by Mr
V K Shunglu, Secretary Department
of Family Welfare, Ministry of
Health and Family Welfare of the
Union
Government
while
addressing the third Population
Management Committee meeting
of the Confederation of Indian
Industry (Cll) held at New Delhi
on September 29, 1994, which
was presided over by Mr Rajan
Vaswani,
Chairman
of the
Committee.
Making a lucid presentation
of Family Welfare and Population
Management,
Mr Shunglu
highlighted various aspects of the
population limitation efforts in
India for the last half-a-century.
He said the population grew
fastest during the 1971-81 decade
as a result of sharp decline in
death rate. In the last decade, as
From Left to Right.. Mr Shankar Ghose, Mr V K Shunglu, Mr Rajan Waswani and Mrs M Roy
revealed by the 1991 Census, there
has been a slight deceleration in
the birth rate which will continue
to fall. But the process needed
to be accelerated.
According to Mr Shunglu the
surveys conducted
by the
Department of Family Welfare
disclosed that the actual fertility
rate was higher than the desired
fertility rate: in Tamil Nadu the
TFR was 2.48 against the wanted
fertility rate of 1.76. Similarly, in
U.P., TFR was 4.80 while the
desired fertility rate was 3.80. In
this context, he observed that safe
. contraceptive
methods
and
reduction in infant mortality rate
had a great bearing on fertility
rate.
To underline the lack of focus
on target groups, Mr Shunglu
pointed out that while the couple
protection in Punjab was 65 per
cent against Kerala's 45 per cent,
the fertility rate in Punjab was in
fact higher than that of Kerala.
Laying special emphasis on
proper spacing methods, Mr
Shunglu advised, "Let births take
place upto the age of 29-30 with
proper spacing. Thereafter, adoption
of terminal methods should be
encouraged." Apart from this there
was need for giving priority to
female education as also to
reproductive health education in
the schools, he said.
Mr Rajan Vaswani, Chairman
of the Population Management
Committee, sought members'
su pport and cooperation in pushing
forward the programme.
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"DEHLEEZ" MAKES WAVES
A.I.R.' s Hindi serial all i nsighis into Adolescent Sexuality to be broadcast ill Regional Languages
"DEHLEEZ" (fhreshold), the All India Radio's first
major attempt to use soap opera format for sensitizing and
educating the adolescents has created a sort of record in
popularity.
Audience Research showed that some 94lakh people
were aware of the programme and 80 lakh people were
regular listeners. Some 11,000 listeners had enrolled with
the A.I.R. to conduct regular listening and provide feedback.
"DEHLEEZ", an offshoot of the landmark study
"Population Socialisation among Indian Teenagers"
conducted by the Population Foundation of India (with its
Executive Director, Mr Harish Khanna as the Principal
Investigator) in collaboration with the Population
Development Programme of the Cornell University (U.s.A.)
and the Operations Research Group (India), received such
a tremendous response from the teenagers (for whom the
programme was meant) that A.I.R.'s Director General, Mr
Shashi Kapoor announced at a Press Conference held at
Akashvani Bhavan on December 6, 1994 that despite the
current television explosion, Radio was still most powerful
and cost-effective social communication tool. Ms Usha
Bhasin, Director of the 52-episode series which concluded
in the last week of October 1994 exuded rightful pride on
the successful conclusion of the soap opera which is bound
to prove a trend setter in harnessing mass media for
creating healthy attitudes among the youth on matters
relating to sex, inter-gender relations, family life problems,
STDs and AIDS etc.
The private character of Radio provided the young
listeners in 11 to 20 years age group greater ease to tune
in the intimate atmosphere of the home and get answers to
questions they may have hesitated to ask their parents or
teachers.
Mr Harish Khanna said that during the investigations
for the first study, 17,185 students of classes 9 to 11 (13,404
boys and 3,781 girls) had been questioned on population,
family life and sex knowledge. That provided a fair basis
for a major communication effort to reach the most sensitive
segment of the population. While Ms Dipali Nath of ORG
did a commendable job during the investigations for the
study, Ms Sandhya Dhingra of the PFI rendered pains-
taking assistance in coordinating the programme with the
A.I.R.
For sensitive handling of the subject, writers, producers
and education specialists were invited by the Foundation
to work together. The script of the first part of the serial was
written by Mrs Tripurari Sharma, and of the subsequent
parts by Nalini Bhardwaj, Alka Pathak and Rakesh Joshi.
While Mukesh Saxena provided the lyric for the title song,
the music was created by Bhajan Sopori. The highlight of
the series was a prologue and epilogue by the famous
theatre and film personality, Amol Palekar.
It may be mentioned that "DEHLEEZ", the weekly
serial in Hindi was broadcast in 20-minute episodes from
30 stations of the A.I.R. in the Hindi-speaking areas for a
whole year. In view of the unprecedented success of the
experiment, A.I.R. has decided to broadcast this programme
in other regional languages, over a period of time.
What the fight against the killer disease AIDS
needs in this country today is the type of
political thrust that the family planning programme
received in the mid-Sixties. The "planetary emergency" that
the United Nations Secretary-General, Dr Boutros Boutros
Ghali, declared last week to underline the urgency of the
fight against AIDS must have greater relevance to Asia than
even to the African continent where it is believed to have
originated. The disease that targets the poorest people in
the poorest countries came late to this continent but lacking
the political foresight
needed to fight a social
scourge of this nature the
governments have allowed
it to spread, losing an
opportunity to contain it through timely preventive measures.
Awareness campaigns, including poignant candle lit
processions by school going children, can serve to bring
momentary spot-light on the problem but the fight against
this manmade catastrophe calls for the political will to back
nationwide programmes .
In traditional societies where openness and candour
are still absent in tackling such problems, ignorance may
prove the biggest hurdle. The grave situation this country
faces from AIDS is akin to what obtained during the mid-
Sixties on the population front. The campaign against the
baby boom was given a major political thrust by Indira
Gandhi and her Health Minister and renowned demographer,
. Dr Chandrasekhar, for whom no tool, even gimmickry, was
without use in the national task of getting the message
across. India tops the world in human immunodeficiency
virus infection cases and tops the continent in the number
of AIDS cases caused by the HIV. The country has earned
this dubious distinction in a record short span considering
that the infection reached
this country 20 years after
it came to Africa and 10
year after the U.S. AIDS
has begun to level off
globally, thanks to awareness campaigns and interventions,
but not in Asia. That a levelling off in this continent is only
a distant possibility testifies to a failure on the part of the
political authority at all levels, for unlike other scourges the
battle here has to be fought in the minds of men and leaders
of men shoulder a heavy responsibility for this.
- Editorial, The Hindu; 7.12.94
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MEETINGS, SEMINARS
MARK AIDS DAY
Public meetings, seminars, rallies by
Government and Non-Government
Organisations marked the observance of World
AIDS Day on December 1,1994.
Inaugurating a public seminar on "AIDS
Awareness", the Delhi Health Minister, Dr Harsh
Vardhan, called for immediate action on HIV
prevention and control as the trend of HIV
transmission was increasingly shifting from high
risk to low risk population.
The seminarWasjoinuyo_rsa~ by the
AIDS Control Cell, Heart e.;re..Rlundation of
India, Rotary District 3010, Lady Hardinge
Medical College and Department of Social
Work, Delhi University to mark the World AIDS
Day.
"The only vaccine for fighting AIDS is
knowledge about its prevention," Dr Vardhan
stressed, adding that simple messages like
postponement of sex till adulthood, non-
indulgence in casual and unprotected sex and
being faithful to one's partner would go a long
way in curbing the spread of the dreaded
disease.
The Minister of State for Youth Affairs &
Sports, Mr Mukul Wasnik, while attending a
function organised by the National Service
Scheme (NSS) - the largest students
organisation in the country with a million
volunteers on its roll - announced that the
Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan, a non-students
youth organisation, would be launching an
AIDS awareness drive in rural areas starting
with the North-Eastern region very soon.
MrWasnik also said that the Universities
Talk AIDS Programme tal<en up by NSS to
make students aware o( the disease would
cover all universities by 199~-96.
Dr L M Nath, Dean of the All India Institute
of Medical Sciences, while addressing a
seminar on 'AIDS-Awareness
and
Prevention" organised by the NRI Welfare
Society of India urged people not to wait for
action by the government or any other body, but
to inculcate behavioural changes within
themselves. He said AIDS affects people who
are sexually active and thus in their most
productive age, resulting in several direct and
indirect economic costs. These include
increased spending in health care, loss of
investment in training of skilled labour and
educated professionals. "We must realise that
it is our problem", he added.
Mr Pattrick Briany of the World Health
Organisation said AIDS can be acquired
through unsafe sex, blood transfusions and
from an affected mother to her child. It can be
prevented through the use of condoms and
disposable syringes. It is fatal and no cure has
been found yet, he said.
He emphasised the role of family in
fighting this menace, and pleaded against
treating AIDS patients as pariahs by shunning
them. "It is a human problem and needs to be
tackled in a human manner," he said.
A rally against AIDS and drug abuse was
organised by NGOs working in resettlement
colonies of East Delhi.
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