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Focus 1995 July - September English |
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BULLETIN
OF POPULATION
FOUNDATION
W. ORLD
POPULATION'
.
DAY
Dr Bharat Ram urges Industry
to Help Check Population Growth
The need for strong government-business
partnership at national and State level to deal
with population explosion was stressed at the
three lakh industry units in the country, small, medium
and large, could be turned into activity centres
promoting health, education and family planning, a
Associated Chambers of Commerce & Industry of India virtual revolution could be unleashed transforming the
(ASSOCHAM) workshop on "Family Welfare most neglected and backward areas. He also suggested
Programme - Role of Corporate Sector", held at New that industry should set up health centres and schools
Delhi on July 11, 1995 to mark the World Population in their respective operational' areas. Dr. Bharat Ram
Day.
said that India is adding every year about 18 million
Speaking on the occasion, the Chairman, people and would reach one billion mark before the
Population Foundation of India, Dr. Bharat Ram, said commencement of the 21st Century. It Was therefore
that the time had come for the Industry to involve itself necessary to bring down the birth rate to 21 from 29,
in a big way in the programme and treat it as a matter infant mortality rate to 70 from 80 and the growth rate
of economic necessity and the expenditure on it as to 1.2 from 1.9 at present within the next five years,
productive investment. It should provide managerial if possible.
and other inputs to the State governments for effective
The Secretary, Department of Women and Child
implementation of family planning related projects. Welfare, Dr. Sarla Gopalan wanted that corporate
Dr. Bharat
sector
should
Ram disclosed that
supplement govern-
he has requested
mental efforts and
the Prime Minister
contribute
to
to convene the
National Children
meeting of State
Health Ministers I-=.:!!~==~
Fund, Creche Fund
and
Rashtriya
and the represen-
Mahila Kosh. India's
tatives of industry
population progra-
and trade, parti-
mme is zeroing in
cularly of the apex
on four major
Chambers to draw
contiguous States of
a comprehensive
Bihar, Uttar Pradesh,
plan to tackle the
Madhya Pradesh and
problem of popula-
Rajasthan where the
tion
growth,
birth, death and'
clearly identifying
infant mortality rate
the role of industry
L-._-- and trade in
- specific terms.
(From left to right) Dr. Bharat Ram, Chairman, Population Foundation of India; Dr.
have been much
higher than the
national average of
Dr. Bharat
Ram said that if
Ashish Bose, Hony. Professor, Institute of Economic Growth; and Mr. Pranlal
Bhogilal, President, ASSOCHAM.
28.5, 9.2 and 74,
(Contd. on Pg.2)
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DR. K. SRINIVASAN
Takes Over as New Executive Director
Dr. K. Srinivasan, 61, who
took over as Executive
Director of the Population
Foundation of India on August 7,
1995, brings in his person a vast
experience of research scholarship
and analytical studies on issues
related to population, health, family
planning and fertility.
A brilliant academician, Dr.
Srinivasan did his M.S. in Hygiene
from the Harvard University and
Ph. D. in Demography from Kerala
University.
Starting his career in 1959 at
the grass-roots level as Statistician
in Pilot-Health Project, Gandhigram,
conducting baseline surveys and
studies on Health Conditions in
Rural Areas, Dr. Srinivasan rose to
be the Director of the prestigious
International Institute for Population
Sciences (lIPS) Bombay which
institution he served with distinction
for over 14 years (1978-1992). As
overall incharge, he gave a new
direction and dimension to the
Teaching and Research activities of
the Institute and by getting it
recognised as a 'Deemed University',
brought it much deserved fame and
recognition as a premier
international institute of its kind. In
between, he fulfilled a number of evaluation; Visiting Senior Fellow at
important national and international the Department of Demography,
assignments : Research Officer and Australian National University,
then Deputy Director at the Institute Canberra; Senior Fellow, Carolina
of Rural Health and Family Population Centre, North Carolina;
Planning, Gandhigram; Director, Adjunct Professor in Biostatistics,
Popula tion Centre, Bangalore; School of Public Health, University
of North Carolina. Since October,
1993, he has been working as
Consultant in Population and Health
mainly for the UNFPA at Bangalore.
As a professional, Dr.
Srinivasan served as Member /Vice-
President/President on many a
prestigious organisation, such as
International Union for the Scientific
Study of Population (IUSSP),Indian
Association for the Study of
Population (IASP), Indian Society
for Medical Statistics. He was
Research Associate at the , awarded the Scroll of Honor by the
Department of Biostatistics School Government of People's Republic of
of Public Health, University of North China in 1983, for his assistance in
Carolina (U.S.A);Population Officer developing population Research
of the U.N.'s Economic Commission Centres in China.
for Asia and Far East (ECAFE) at
Chief Editor, Demography
Bangkok conducting a series of India, since August 1994, Dr.
training courses on fertility and Srinivasan is the author or co-author
family planning evaluation in India, of 10books and about 100 technical!
Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia and Korea research articles or papers. His recent
and organising expert group book "Regulating Reproduction in
meetings and seminars on different India's Population", Sage(India),May
aspects of family planning 1995,has been well received.
C.CHANDRASEKARAN
HONOURED
Dr. C. Chandrasekaran, former
Director of lIPS (1959-65) has
been awarded the 1995
outstanding
International
Alumnus Award in Science and
Research by the Johns Hopkins
University School of Hygiene and
Public Health Society of Alumni,
Baltimore (U.S.A.). The Award
recognizes and honors Dr.
Chandrasekaran
for his
significant contributions and
commitment to the field of public
health.
WORLD POPULATION DAY (Continued from Page One)
respectively. The thrust of the
family planning effort should be
on these States.
Dr. Ashish Bose, Hony.
Professor, Institute of Economic
Growth, spelt out a four-point
agenda to tackle the problem of
population
growth. He
suggested debarring of married
men below the ~ge of 21 and
women married before the age
of 18 from recruitment in public
and private sector, denying
promotion to an employee if he
has more than two children,
providing free education for two
children till high school level,
and giving preference to women
while recruiting in the organised
sector. He also suggested setting
up of Technology-oriented
Adolescent
Resource
Development Agency (TARA),
duly supported by the corporate
sector to impart modem skills to
the adolescent girls who could
be absorbed in trade, industry
and commerce.
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WORLD POPULATION DAY
",TIME TO ACT IS NOW"
Excerpts from Dr Bharat Ram's Keynote Address
The World Population Day,
July 11, which the World
observes today, is an occasion
to pause and ponder over our
successes and failures in regulating
population in harmony with our
resources.
This day was inscribed on the
world agenda in 1985 when the
population crossed the 5 billion
mark. I am reminded what my dear
friend and comrade in the family
planning movement, Mr. J.R.D.Tata,
said on this occasion : "While the
world is rightly worried about 1.8
billion Indians in the next century,
are we ?"
True, there has been a steady
decline in infant mortality and
maternal mortality, there is a
noticeable improvement in health
levels, and even some reduction in
fertility, which ultimately determines
the number of children born; yet,
the decline is not strong enough.
Experts have made an assessment
that our birth rate must come down
to 21 instead of 29 at present, infant
mortality rate to 70 instead of 80,
and growth rate to 1.2 instead of the
present 1.9. Only then could we
hope to move in the direction of
population stabilization around 2010
or 2015.
Concentrate on Youth
Judging from the fact that a
good foundation has been laid of
the concept of the small family,
substantial
awareness
and
knowledge exist in almost all
segments of the population today,
and birth rate has indeed come
down from 36 to 29 on account of
some decline in fertility from nearly
4.2 to 3.4 during the past 10 years,
it is reasonable to expect that if the
tempo of the programme is
increased, and greater efforts are
concentrated on the younger age
groups, especially, in the four or
five States where the decline has
been much slower than in the rest
of India, the goal of population
stabilization and sustainable
development could be reached in
the next 10 to 15 years.
I made two suggestions to
leaders of Industry. I requested that
Industry, which has an excellent
record of benevolent work, should
set up health centres and schools in
their respective operational areas.
Even today there should be no need
to overstress the value and
importance of these steps. It is not
only a contribution to social welfare,
but also an economic investment.
An educated and healthy
manpower, will prove to be a source
of abiding strength to, the Indian
economy. It is a skilled labour force
that guarantees a competitive edge
to an economy.
Strong Partnership
Between Govt. and NGOs
I have always been in favour
of a strong partnership between
Government and Business,operating
not only at the national level, but
also at the State level where, in fact,
action in health and education lies.
This seems to have become more
feasible in view of the vastly changed
environment in the country which
favours closer relationship based on
understanding of shared objectives,
between government and the non-
governmental sector. Let growing
mutual trust provide the much-
needed stimulus for concerted action
as has 'been the case in Japan and
.,many other progressive countries.
There are some three lakh
industrial units in the country, some
small, some medium and some large.
If these three lakh units could be
turned into activity centres,
promoting health and education a
virtual revolution could be
unleashed which, by virtue of its
inner vitality, would transform even
the most neglected and backward
areas. Health posts and literacy cells
promoted by the Industries
Associations even in half the
industrial units would provide a
good start.
Health and
Eduction for All
We have irrefutable evidence
that education particularly amongst
female population is the strongest
force behind regulation of family
size, We have strong proof that
where women are educated and
have the power to make decisions,
families have emerged as dynamic
entities.
On this World Population
Day, therefore, I would again
strongly urge my colleagues in
Industry and Business to enter into
a strong commitment to fight
poverty atld backwardness by
ensuring Health and Education for
All - two of the important factors
for family planning, Time to act is
now.
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· WORLD POPULATION DAY
State of World Population Report
Lays Stress on Reproductive Health Care
Investing in people is the key to
sustained economic growth and
sustainable development,
as well as to balanced, sustain-
able population growth, according
to this year's State of
World Population Report of the
United Nations Population Fund
(UNFPA).
The
report,
which
characterises the international
conference on population and
development held in Cairo last year
as "the start of a new era in
population and development," calls
for gender equality and making
reproductive health care available
throughout the world.
The world population is
currently 5.7 billion and according
to United Nations projections,
annual population rise may remain
above 86 million until the year 2015.
Projections for 2015 range from 7.1
billion to 7.8 billion and for 2050
from 7.9 billion to 11.9 billion.
Striking an optimistic note,
the report states that there has been
great progress .over the past 30
years - reflected in lower birth and
death rates as well as reduced infant
mor tali ty and increased life
expectancy. However, there
continues to be great diversity
among countries and regions.
According to the report, one-
third of the illness among developing
country women aged 15-44is related
to pregnancy, childbirth, abortion,
HIV and reproductive tract
infections. High levels of maternal
mortality and poor maternal health
are closely related to the lower
social and economic status of
women.
Referring to the fact that
unsafe abortion was a major threat
to the health of women, the report
points out that worldwide women
have more than 40 million abortions
each year. Between26 and 31 million
are performed legally and some 20
million are performed under unsafe
conditions, accounting for an
estimated 67,000 deaths.
Today, the report notes,
women in most societies cannot
participate fully in economic and
public life, have limited access to
positions of influence and power,
have narrower occupational choices
and must struggle to reconcile
activities outside the home with
their traditional roles.
Experience around the world
has shown that to address people's
reproductive and sexual health
needs, family planning services need
to be integrated into a wider
framework which addressed their
overall health and well-being.
Comprehensive reproductive health
care can be built on the foundation
of family planning programmes
which already exist in some 155
countries' primary health care
systems.
Citing
the
Cairo
recommendations for eduction and
counselling to promote proper
sexual behaviour, the report states
that throughout the world, national
programmes are being oriented to
the new agenda. The document
urges countries to make
reproductive health care easily
accessible.
"Two Per Nest, is the Besf'
Slogan-Writing Contest on Population Day
A class ten girl, Ritika Chauhan, from New Green Field Public School, Saket,
won the first prize for her slogan "Two per nest, is the best" in a contest
organised by Marie Stopes at Delhi on the occasion of the World Population
Day.
About 250 children participated on the theme "Population Explosion
- Problems and Solutions" involving about 25 schools of Delhi:
The competition was organised as a part of the family education
programme, aiming to involve teenagers, for an enlightened transition from
adolescence to a responsible adulthood, according to the Parivar seva Sanstha
(PSS), a family planning institution affiliated to Marie Stopes International.
The second prize went to Smita Mitra from the same school and the
same class for her slogan. "The bubble is about to burst, family planning
is must." Samir Malik of class twelve of Blue Bells School, Kailash Colony,
, figured at third position for "Produce one, be happy, adopt one and make
happy."
In the category ot" early teens, from class seven to nine, it was Kapil
Sachdeva from Blue Bells who coined "Desh ke bano sachhe bhakUseemit
abadi ka rakho lakshay" (Be a true son of the nation/aim at limiting the
population) and bagged the first prize.
.
HAVE GOALS, NOT TARGETS
IN FAMILY PLANNING: UNFPA
Sterilization targets should go, according to
Dr Wasim Zaman, country director of the United
Nations Fund for PopulationActivities (UNFPA).
"Let's face it. Targets (in the Government's
family planning programme) haven't gone
completely. We should have goals, not targets,
so that individualshave a choice," he said, while
releasingthe 1995 State of the World Population
reporton July 11, 1995. The theme of this year's
report is "Decisions for development : Woman,
empowerment and reproductive health".
The occasion was World Population Day,
and the gravity of the population was brought
home by a simple fact. Total world population
today stands at 5.7 billion. In the next 50 years
(by the year 2050) it is expected to double to
11.96 billion.
India's total populationthis year stood at 925
million and was projectedto cross the one billion
mark by 2000 A.D.
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Coercive Measures to Check Population Growth
will be Self-Defeating
liT PROF AMARTYA SEN ADVOCATES
he lesson that fertility reduction calls for
cooperation and collaboration, rather than
compulsion and coercion, has not been at all
learned."
This observation was made by Prof Amartya Sen,
Lamont University Professor at Harvard University
while delivering a lecture on "Population Policy :
Authoritarianism versus Cooperation" at New Delhi on
August 17, 1995.
Prof Sen said since the advocacy of coercion in
different forms, has been growing in India, it is important
to emphasize that "it achieves little and destroys a lot."
Cooperation of young men and other direct
beneficiaries and their overall socio-economic
development is the most suitable route to control
population growth in India and other developing
countries and not government-sponsored coercive
measures, advocated Prof Sen.
Though coercion is not part of official policy, the
Indian government's firm insistence on "meeting the
family-planning targets" often leads to many pressure
tactics such as verbal threats, making sterilization a
condition for eligibility for anti-poverty programmes,
depriving mothers of more than two children, reserving
certain kinds of health care services to persons who have
been sterilized, and forbidding persons having more than
two children from contesting elections to local councils,
he pointed out.
Mr. Sen said policy makers who advocate coercive
methods were inspired by China's "successful"
draconian measures since 1979 including "one child
policy", refusal of housing and related benefits to
families with too many children. But the admirers have
overlooked China's long-standing social and economic
development programmes which too have had a major
role in reducing fertility rates.
This was clear with a comparison of China's
achievements and that of the southern Indian states of
Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Kerala had a higher fertility
rate than China in 1979 when the reforms started in that
SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
country (3.0 in Kerala as opposed to China's 2.8). By
1991,Kerala's fertility rate was 1.8 which is much below
China's 2.0. Tamil Nadu had registered even a faster
fall in fertility rates between 1979 and 1991 (from 3.5 to
2.2).
"Despite the added advantage of the one-child
policy and other coercive measures, the Chinese fertility
rate seems to have fallen more slowly than in Kerala,"
Mr Sen said. Both Kerala and Tamil Nadu have not used
any coercive methods. While Kerala is India's most
socially-developed' state, Tamil Nadu has the third
highest literacy rate among the major states, high female
participation in gainful employment, and. low infant
mortality rate.
So there was no need for coercive measures as
well as the proposed legislation to bar anyone from
holding national or state office if he or she has more
than two children, he argued. For, such a patently unfair
legislation would only debar large numbers of leaders
of less privileged sections of the Indian community from
holding elected offices. "The lesson that fertility
reduction calls for cooperation and collaboration, rather
than compulsion and coercion, has not been at all
learned, "Mr Sen said.
Similarly, he pointed out that the dangers
about the high population growth rates in developing
countries were much exaggerated in the short run.
However, there were certainly reasons for concern in
the long run at the global level mainly due to
environmental issues.
Fertility rates have come down sharply with social
and economic development. This was probably because
"some things beside the difficulty of procuring in
adequate quantity the necessities of life" have made
people choose radically smaller families. The.areas where
fertility rates are high today are the poorer countries
not yet experiencing much development particularly
those that are socially backward in terms of basic
education (especially female education), health care, life
expectancy and women's empowerment.
No Mora Family Welfar~ Targets : Rare Distinction for Colmbato.re District
The Central Government has declared Coimbatore district as the "Target Free Zone" for 1995-96, a rare honour conferred on a
district for the first time in the whole country. This is in recognitionof the commendableway the family welfare programme has been implemented
in the district. Th~ district had been exceeding the family welfare targets, consistently.
The declaration means that hereafter the government would not fix any target for the district regarding birth rate, infant mortality rate
and so on. It would be free to carry on its programme. However, it has to post the Government with its performance on a yearly basis.
It had achieved 114 per cent of the sterilisation target, the birth rate had been brought down to 15.6 per 1,000 against the State
average of 18.5 per 1,000 and the infant mortality rate to 28 per 1,000 against the state's 56 per 1,000.
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Closing the Gender Gap :
1995 Human Development Report
Makes Concrete Proposals
Focussing on gender inequality
and the lack of women's
empowerment, the Human
Development Report for 1995 of
the UNDP has made concrete
proposals for closing the gender
gap within a specified time frame.
It has made some bold
proposals while pointing out that
of the estimated $ 16 trillions of
unpaid or "invisible" economic
activity, as much as $11 trillions
are contributed by women. And
if nations could muster the
political will to find the
comparatively small sum of $20
billions a year, the world
community could put into action
a programme for achieving gender
equality on a warfooting.
Five specific proposals have
been put forward to bring to an
end what is perhaps the world's
most entrenched inequality. In the
230-page document, the report
submits a plan of action. One,
ending all legal discrimination
against women within the next
ten years through a framework
of legal equality to be monitored
by an internal non-governmental
organisation, World Women's
Watch. Two, restructuring social
and institutional norms by
amending
property
and
inheritance, marriage and divorce
laws to remove gender disparities;
and to allow for flexible work
schedules recognising the world
community's
responsibility
towards child care. Three, taking
specific measures to ensure a 30
per cent minimum threshold share
for women in positions of decision
making in order to reach the
target of 50 per cent. Four,
investing in key programmes for
universal female education, better
reproductive health and access to
financial credit for women. And
five, mobilising national and
international efforts to target
programmes that will help the
world to move towards gender
equality in political and economic
spheres.
This report, the sixth in the
series that began in 1990 was
released worldwide on August 17,
1995. Simultaneously, it was
released at New Delhi by Ms Sarla
Gopalan, Secretary, Women and
Child Development in the Ministry
of Human Resource Development,
at a function presided over by
the UNDP resident representative,
Mr Hans - C Yon Sponeck.
A point made emphatically
by Ms Gopalan while releasing
the report here was that India
had made giant strides over the
last five decades. In the decades
between 1981 and 1991, women's
participation in the work force had
risen by five per cent, from 18
per cent to 23 per cent. But what
this statistics does not reveal is
that the absolute number of
women in the work force trebled,
from roughly 30 million to 90
million. During the same period
70 million men were added to
the work force. She said the new
legislation reserving 30 per cent
of seats for women in all local
elected' bodies would give a major
thrust to women's empowerment.
Mr. Yon Sponeck also
cautioned against paying too
much attention to "ranking" of
nations. The important thing was
to focus on the issues - that we
do not live by income alone,
human development which takes
into account other factors are
important. And again, the nations
which enjoy a high income
sometimes do not extend the
benefits .to one-half of their
population, the women.
INDIA A LOW HUMAN
DEVELOPMENT COUNTRY
Canada ranks number one in the
Human Development Index (HDI) released
in the Human Development Report for
1995. The Index, which is based on 1992
data, places India among the 'Low Human
Development' countries, ranking 134 in the
list of 174 countries, However, in the
Gender-related Development Index (GDI),
the top position goes to Sweden, and
India's ranking is 99 in a list of 130
countries for which gender based data was
available.
The HDI takes into account three
factors - education, life expectancy and
purchasing power parity (as against a simple
but deficient system of looking at per capita
dollar income). The GDI gives a discounted
weightage to gender inequalities in the area
of education, access to health services and
incomes. But this obviously does not reflect
the social handicaps suffered as a result of
gender discrimination. Saudi Arabia, for
example, ranks 81 in the GDI, well above
India and even China which stands at 91.
INTERACTION
In a letter addressed to
Mr. K. Balakrishnan, Secretary & Treasurer,
Population Foundation of India, Professor
Emeritus J.C. George of the Department of
Zoology at the College of Bioloqical Science,
University of Guelph (Canada), writes :
"Govemment agencies have a vital role in
matters concerning population growth,
resource utilization and economic growth.
However, there are aspects of population
growth and control involving social, moral
and cultural issues in addition to promotion
of scientific research, which could be better
handled by VOluntary institutions like the
Population Foundation of India".
Mr. Balakrishnan had visited the
University of Guelph in May this year as
a part of his study tour to three reputed
international organisations, the other two
being Population Action International,
Washington D. C. and Population
Cornmunication International, New York.
The study covered the wori<ing of these
organisations with special reference to (i)
Finance and Project Funding; and (ii)
Enhanced Advocacy Role for the Foundation.
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Measures to Check Pollution
Levels of air, water and noise
pollution are on the increase in
some major cities on account of
rising population, increasing
number of automobiles and
industrial activities, the Minister
of State for Environment
and Forest, Mr. Kamal Nath,
informed the Lok Sabha on
August 8, 1995.
The Government has
issued notices for closing down
or transferring
different
industries located in Delhi, Agra
and other parts of the country
for posing dangers of
environmental pollution, under
the orders of the Supreme Court,
High Courts of different States
and other courts, Mr. Kamal
Nath said in a written reply.
Replying to another
question by Mr. N. Denis and
others, the Minister said it had
been made compulsory for major
specified industrial and other
activities to obtain environmental
clearances based on impact
assessment studies prior to site
selection.
Other measures to check
pollution included codes of
practices for controlling noise
from sources other than
industries and automobiles, viz.,
public address system,. air craft
operation, railway operation,
construction activities and
bursting of crackers.
The Government was also
providing fiscal incentives for
installation of pollution control
equipment and shifting of
polluting industries, apart from
stricter standards for emission
from automobiles at the
manufacturing stage, which
would be effective from April 1
next year.
Mr. Kamal Nath informed
Mr. Chetan Chauhan and others
that the Government proposed
to set up an Indian centre for
promotion of cleaner technology
to disseminate information and
facilitate large-scale adoption of
suitable technologies through
effective demonstrations.
A sum of $2 million
would be provided by the World
Bank for procurement of
hardware and software, the
Minister said adding that the
Centre would become functional
after the operational modalities
were finalised.
LEGAL CELL TO PROTECT ENVIRONMENT
In a novel step aimed at increasing environment consciousness among people,
the Bhopal-based Environmental Planning and Coordination Organisation (EPCO) has
drawn up plans to set up an environmental legal cell which would be the first of
its kind in the country.
The EPCO director-general, Mr. Avani Vaish, said that the formation of the cell
was imperative as environmental law had become an important branch of law.
He said environmental law was a form of legal activity that warranted diverse
approaches, methods and skills as well as inter-professional and multi-disciplinary
evaluation.
Mr. Vaish said that the unique character of environmental law made the task of
legal aid in this field radically different from contemporary perceptions and programmes.
He said that the proposed cell would provide legal consultancy pertaining to public
interest litigation to govemment, quasi-govemment organisations, non-govemmental
organisations, other statutory bodies and potentially affected individuals.
Mr. Vaish said that the cell would impart training, eduction and develop human
resources in the discipline of environment law and create awareness among the people
regarding legal aspects of environmental protection, pollution control and public interest
litigations.
ENVIRONMENT
Awards to
Environment Pioneers
The Vice-President, Mr. K.R.
Narayanan gave away on August 3,
1995, the Indira Priyadarshini
Vrikshamitra Awards for 1992 and
1993to 16 individuals and institutions
for their pioneering work in the field
of afforestation and wastelands
development. The awardees were
presented with a memento and a
citation.
The award, instituted in 1986
in memory of late Prime Minister
, Indira Gandhi, aims at encouraging
ecological restoration efforts across
the country.
Speaking at the brief ceremony,
Mr. Narayanan, stressed that while it
was an imperative duty of the State
to protect the forests, there was an
equal need for a mass environment
movement to stem the tide of
aggression on nature. "To counter the
people who try to exploit nature for
their own benefit, we need more
enlightened officers in the Forest
Department" he said.
Noting with concern that India
was fast losing its top soil with 25
million hectares of land and 17million
hectares of forest cover disappearing
every year, Mr. Narayanan emphasised
the need for recognising the
relationship between environment and
development.
The Environment & Forests
Minister, Mr. Kamal Nath, said during
the past few years, environment had
been brought on to the centre stage
of social and political life and it was
no longer an awareness which was
restricted to urban-based intelligentsia
but had permeated to remote villages
and tribal communities.
"What is more significant is
that the awareness has been translated
into a concern and a desire to act
upon that concern. The challenge
before us is to draw upon this concern
and make it a public commitment to
action," be added, saying that 1.5
million hectares of degraded forest
land in the country was being managed
and protected by village communities.
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ADIEU! MR. HARISH KHANNA
Mr.Harish Khanna, Executive Director of the
Population Foundation of India, died of
heart attack in his sleep in the wee hours
of July 24, 1995 at his residence in New Delhi. He
was 70.
An I.A.S. Officer of 1954
batch, Mr. Khanna had had a
distinguished career holding senior
positions like Director-General
Doordarshan, Vice-Chairman Delhi
Development Authority, Chairman
Haryana State Electricity Board
and Financial Commissioner &
Secretary, Irrigation and Power,
Haryana, Joint Secretary, Ministry
of Information & Broadcasting,
Government of India. He had also
served
in
International
Organisations like UNDP, CFTC,
UNFPA, World Bank.
Primarily a media expert, Mr. Khanna had
wide and varied interests which covered
communications,
population,
development,
urbanisation and environment.
Recording its profound sense of shock at the
sudden and most untimely passing away of Mr.
Harish Khanna, The Governing Board of the
Population Foundation of India in the Condolence
Resolution passed on July 25, 1995, eulogised his
services in these words :
"A multi-faceted personality, he served the
United Nations as well as the country in highly
important capacities. His work as the Vice-Chairman
of the Delhi Development Authority, particularly in
getting Delhi ready for the Asian Games, 1982 and
the Director
General
of
Doordarshan during the years of
its expansion on national scale,
will always be remembered with
gratitude.
An outstanding ex-member
of the Indian Administrative
Service, he was a visiting Professor
at the Cornell University (USA)
and a member of the Population
Communications International.
He served the Population
Foundation of India as its Executive
Director for 9 years and brought
to bear upon its work his vast
administrative
experience,
profound grasp of media and communication and
deep insights into the problems of family planning
research and evaluation. He played a key role in
expanding the Foundation's scope of work and
vision from family planning to sustainable population
strategies.
The Foundation will sorely miss his association.
He leaves behind his son and two daughters
as well as a rich assemblage of memories and
loyalties as a warm hearted humanist and relentless
crusader for the cause of population stabilisation."
TRIBUTES
TO THE DEPARTED
SOUL
In his condolence message, the Prime Minister, Mr. P.V. Narasimha Rao said Mr. Khanna
was a dedicated civil servant who infused dynamism to whatever responsibility he handled.
Expressing his deep grief, the then Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Mr. KP. Singh
Deo, recalled his valuable services to the electronic media and also his rich contribution as a
media expert for the past many years.
The Country Director of United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Dr. Wasim Zaman
described Mr. Khanna as a very able NGO leader in the field of health and family. welfare.
66IT'S TIME TO SEE THE WORLD THROUGH WOMEN'S EYES,."
NGO Forum slogan at BEIJING WOMEN'S CONFERENCE
Published by the POPULATION FOUNDATION OF INDIA, 8-28, Qutab Institutional Area, New Delhi-110016. Tel.: 6867080, 6867081
Designed and Printed by Reproductions India, F-39, East of Kailash, New Delhi-110065. Tel.: 6422289, 6415600.
Editorial Direction & Guidance : Dr. K. Srinivasan
Editorial Consultant: J.L. Saaz
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