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Focus 1999 July - September English |
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ens
POPULATION ENVIRONMENT DEVELOPMENT
Volume XIII No.3
July-September 1999
1.i\\•.
The Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Mr Digvijay Singh releasing a publication at the Conference. Others (from left) are Executive Director Dr
K Srinivasan, Senior Vice-Chairman of PFI, Mr S P Godrej; Vice-Chairman of PFI, Mr Hari Shankar Singhania and former Chief Secretary of
Madhya Pradesh, Mrs Nirmala Buch. At right is the Governor of Madhya Pradesh, Dr Bhai Mahavir at the valedictory session of the Conference.
Round Table Conference at Bhopal
Recommendations Made for Population Stabilisation
A Round Table Conference on
'Population Stabilisation
and Related Developmental
Issues in Madhya Pradesh' was
organised by Population Foundation
of India at Hotel Jehan Numa, Bhopal
on August 1 and 2, 1999. The Chief
Minister of Madhya Pradesh Mr
UNFPA Executive Director
to Deliver JRD Tata Oration
The Executive Director of United
Nations Population
Fund
(UNFPA), Dr Nafis Sadik, will
deliver the fifth JRD Tata Memorial
Oration in the Capital on
December 13, 1999.
Digvijay Singh was the Chief guest.
Members of the Governing Board of
PFI, senior government officials,
academicians and representatives of
NGOs participated in the Conference.
The Conference had been
organised with the objective of better
understanding of the existing situation
of MP with regard to its population
dynamics and related developmental
issues, along with social, economical,
political and bureaucratic constraints
that contribute to the relatively poor
performance of the State in stabilising
its population growth.
At the end of the two-day
Conference,
a number
of
recommendations were made which
have been submitted to the Madhya
Pradesh Government. The following
are the recommendations:
The primary health care and
family planning services should
be organised through the milk co-
opera ti ves which are already
Continued on Page 8
On Other Pages
NSS Volunteers to work for
Population Stabilisation
2
'Care of Elderly will lead to
Population Stabilisation'
3
First Batch of Master Trainers'
Training Completed
5
Health Development Project at
Dharavi Makes Proqress
6
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A Population Policy
for Each State
It is heartening to note that fertility is
declining steadily in most parts of the
country during the past few years. The
recently published provisional estimates on
fertility and mortality for 1998 by the Registrar
General's office reveal that the Crude Birth
Rate (CBR), which was 28.3 in 1995 has decline9
steadily to 26.4 in 1998 at an average annual,
drop of 0.63 points in CBR. The more heartening
finding is that such decline has occurred even
at a faster pace in the three Hindi speaking
States, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and
Rajasthan, and Orissa. In Uttar Pradesh, the
CBR has declined from 34.8 in 1995 to 32.4 in
1998, an average annual drop of 0.8 points in
CBR. During the same time period, in Madhya
Pradesh, the decline is from 33.2 to 30.6, a
drop of 0.88 points per year; in Rajasthan, from
33.3 to 31.5, an annual fall of 0.6 points. In
Orissa, it is from 27.8 to 25.7, an annual fall
of 0.7 points.
Similar declines in fertility measured in
terms ofTotal Fertility Rate are also observed.
The declines, as revealed by the second round
of National Family Health Survey, which
provides estimates of six of the States in India,
have also revealed substantial declines in fertility
in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Madhya
Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. The declines
recorded in the so called BIMARU states have
taken many demographers by surprise since
they are not accompanied by concomitant
increase in contraceptive rates in a few states.
One hypothesis may be that many of the
surveys carried out in the country are by
female investigators, interviewing currently
married women on use of contraceptives and
invariably such an approach may underestimate
the use of condoms by men.
In this context, when the pace and pattern
of declines in fertility vary from state to state,
it is necessary that each state should develop
its own population policy appropriate to its
socio-economic, bureaucratic and political milieu
of the population. It will be futile to have a
National Population Policy, which could
encompass all different states under different
pace of demographic transition. It is in this
context, we welcome the efforts made by the
states of Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan, who
have already brought out state-level population
policies and Madhya Pradesh, which is currently
in the process of formulating such a policy. The
commitment of the state governments in terms
of political will and budgetary allocations to
population stabilisation, reproductive and child
health programmes are crucial to the success
of these programmes.
f}j~
New PFI Proj eet
NSS Volunteers to work
for Population Stabilisation
A
Memorandum of Under-
standing has been signed
between
Population
villages along with guidance to the
people for obtaining services in the field
of family planning, reproductive health
Foundation of India (PH) and National and child health from the government
Service Scheme (NSS) Department of Dr system. In the absence of the
B R Ambedkar University, Agra to government system, a panel of medical
involve the students of University in professionals will be engaged for the
reproductive health and family welfare purpose.
programmes through a new project of
the Foundation: 'Involvement of NSS
Volunteers in Information, Dissemina-
tion and Awareness Generation about
Population Issues'. This is a part of the
project where two more Universities
would also be involved.
In order to take care of the
administrative, logistical and other
activities of the project and help the
Programme Co-ordinator in supervising
the project, the University will be
provided funds for instituting one Ph.D.
fellowship. The selected fellow will
The basic aim of the project is to pursue doctoral thesis on a topic related
train the students to understand the to population studies. The fellow will
meaning of family
be selected by a
planning,
small
family
norm,
reproductive health
Students will be trained
in family planning,
committee of the
University where PH
would
be
and to motivate
them to propagate
these ideas among
small family norm and
Reproductive Health.
represen ted. The
fellow will devote a
minimum of 20 hours
people living in
per week for the
selected 25 project villages with a view project work under the direction of NSS
to bring about a qualitative
Programme Co-ordinator.
improvement in the lives of these
people, specially of women.
In case of non-availability of a
suitable fellow, a Supervisor will be
The main objective of the project is appointed with a monthly salary of Rs
to generate health and family welfare 3,500/- to work for the project full time.
awareness through NSS volunteers in The project is initially for a period of one
the adopted villages and expand the
coverage of health and family welfare
services in collaboration
with
government health department.
As a part of the project activities, five
NSS units of 50 students each, called core
units, including sufficient number of girl
students will be trained in family
planning, small family norm and
reproductive and child health.
Programme Officers, MasterVolunteers
and NSS Volunteers will be trained on
population and related issues, IEC and
motivational programme.
year.
The project would incorporate the
Jan Mangal Scheme which is a
community based programme designed
to improve the delivery system of family
planning services through motivation of
eligible couples and target groups. Jan
Mangal Pairs (couple volunteers) are
identified and trained on basic issues of
small family norm, spacing and
reproductive
and child health
programme. The couples provide
information about health and family
planning methods to the target groups
Two villages per core unit will be and also supply contraceptives. A
adopted per year. IEC and motivational couple from each of the adopted villages
activities will be initiated in the adopted will be selected.
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World Population Day Seminar
'Care of Elderly will lead to Population Stabilisation'
Population Foundation of India
(PFI) and CARE INDIA
collaborated to organise a
seminar on Towards a Society for All
Ages: With Focus on Elderly in India
at India International Centre on July
9,1999 to mark the World Population
Day. Mr K C Pant, Deputy Chairman
of the Planning Commission
inaugurated the seminar.
The subject of the Seminar was
discussed under five sessions :
Demographic Situation of the Elderly
in India; Health Problems of the
Elderly in India; Socio-psychological
Problems of the Elderly in India;
Services provided to the Elderly in
India and Government of India's
support to the Elderly in India.
Welcoming the participants,
Executive Director of PFI, Dr K
Srinivasan explained that the seminar
had been organised because the UN
had declared the year 1999as the 'year
of older persons' and the theme of this
year's World Population Day on July
11 was "Towards a Society of All
Ages". The two themes had been
combined to organise the Seminar.
Dr Srinivasan said the older
persons aged 60and above constituted
6.76%of total population. The number
of older persons had increased
s.ubstantiallyduring the past 48 years
since independence. The age group of
older persons was in fact growing
fastest in the country and was
expected to cross the 113million mark
by 2016.
"The problems of the older
persons lie not only in their increasing
numbers but also in the changing
social, psychological and health
conditions which they are
experiencing because of the
accelerating process of moderni-
sation", he said.
In his address, the Chairman of
PFI, Dr Bharat Ram said that care of
the elderly was not only a humane
measure but also in the long run a
population stabilisation measure. He
said one of the reasons for high fertility
in our population, specially in rural
areas, where traditional beliefs
prevailed, was parents' view that their
children were the only security and
protection in their old age. This,
however, was changing. Providing
economic and social security to older
persons not only served as a powerful
measure to stimulate acceptance of
small family norm but a contraceptive
national concerns and that they would
not live unprotected, ignored or
marginalised. He said the Policy had
identified financial security, health
care and nutrition, shelter, welfare and
protection of life and property as
major areas requiring intervention.
Proposing the vote of thanks, Mr
Peter McAllister, Assistant Country
Director, CARE INDIA said in the
'world of internet and MTV' the
people of old generation were left
behind and forgotten whereas their
rrANDS A SOCIETY FORAll AfiE£ WI11I
. INDIA INTERNATIONAL CENTRE.NEWIIQI
I Organised by: POPULATION FO
.ft.'1 IN COLLABORATION WITH CARE
Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, Mr K C Pant inaugurating the seminar on 'Towards a
Society for All Ages: With Focus on Elderly in India'. Others are (from left) Assistant Country Director,
CARE INDIA, Mr Peter McAllister, Chairman of PFI, Dr Bharat Ram and Executive Director Dr K Srinivasan.
method among younger persons, Dr
Bharat Ram said.
Speaking on the occasion,Mr Pant
said optimal use should be made of
the Reproductive and Child Health
initiative to achieve rapid population
stabilisation, reduction in morbidity
and mortality, sustainable develop-
ment and improvement in the quality
of life.
He said the National Policy for
elderly persons approved by the
Government last year sought to assure
older persons that their concerns were
collective wisdom and experiences
was a resource which was significant
and should be used. "It is a challenge
for the world not only to look after the
security of older persons but to build
the bridges and look for connections
so that the society can gain from their
wisdom and experiences."
The session on 'Demographic
Situation of the Elderly in India' was
chaired by Dr K Srinivasan, Executive
Director, Population Foundation of
India. Dr P N Mari Bhat, Institute of
Economic Growth presented the
paper on the demographic situation
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of the elderly in India. Dr M
Vijayanunni, Registrar General and
Census Commissioner, India, Mr K S
Natarajan, former Deputy Registrar
General and Prof M K Premi, former
Professor at JNU were discussants.
Dr Bhat said due to decline in
mortality, more and more people were
surviving to old age and living longer.
As a result, problems of old age and
life after retirement had come to cause
worry to the common man. This was
exp~cted to induce workers to save
more for old age and look for the
strengthening of public support
systems for the care of the aged.
Consequently, the demand for
geriatric medicine and in-patient
hospital care was expected to rise
phenomenally in the next few
decades.
Dr Vijayanunni highlighted the
measures taken by the Registrar
General of India for the 2001 Census
to understand the problems of the
elderly. He pointed out that new
questions had been included in the
migration section to understand the
specific reasons for old age migration.
Mr K S Natarajan thought if the
current century of India could be
noted as 'Century of the young age',
the next century of India can be called
as the 'Century of the old age'. He
stressed the need to have insurance
schemes for the old age population in
preference to old age pension schemes
as the pension schemes were always
a burden for the government unlike
the insurance schemes.
Prof. Premi also cautioned the
government against introducing new
pension schemes for the older persons
as it would be a burden to the
government in the future.
Prof. Ranjit Roy Chaudhury,
Emeritus Professor, National Institute
of Immunology and .Member of PFI
Governing Body, .presided over the
session on 'Health problems of the
elderly in India.' In his introductory
remarks, Prof. Roy Chaudhury said
half of the total consumption of
medicines in the world was by people
over 60 years. The medicines were
most misused and used without care.
Dr Vinod Kumar, former
Professor and Chiefof Geriatric Clinic,
AIIMS in his presentation said the
health problems of the elderly could
not be studied in isolation as there was
an intrinsic relationship between the
health of the elderly and other
problems. He said as opposed to
active ageing where people age
successfully,those in rural areas suffer
from premature ageing where they
suffer from a number of problems
though not from serious diseases; they
are moribund.
The migration of young adults
to their place of work for
better monetary status has
deprived the aged of
emotional and material support
Dr S P Khanna, State TB Control
Officer, Government of Delhi, spoke
about tuberculosis among elderly
persons. Explaining the increasing
incidence of tuberculosis among the
people over 65, Dr Khanna said this
was a reflection of the prevalence of
tuberculosis in their youth.
Dr Bela Shah, Senior Deputy
Director General, Indian Council for
Medical Research (ICMR)considered
increasing interest in ageing as a
positive development. She admitted
that systematic arrangements did not
exist for most of the chronic disorders
suffered by the elderly. In order to
cater to the requirement, the services
of more NGOs were needed to assist
the government.
Dr A B Dey,In-charge of Geriatric
Services at All India Institute of
Medical Sciences, disclosed that a
Geriatric Clinic had been working at
AIIMSfor the last six years providing
health check-ups and screening of
older persons. Some of the diseases
from which Ide ly persons suffered
have been identified as high blood
pressure, arthritis, heart diseases,
diabetes, prostrate in males,
constipation and depression etc.
Prof Ranjit Roy Chaudhury in his
conduding remarks, said the area of
tradi tional medicine sys tems
including Ayurvedic, Siddah,
Homoeopathy, Yunani, along with
Allopathy and home remedies were
enough to keep the elderly population
healthy.
Mrs Rami Chhabra, media-person
and social activist chaired the session
on socio-psychological problems of
the elderly in India.
Dr A P Bali, Director, Indian
Council of Social Science Research
(ICSSR)in his presentation said the
process of aging of India's population
was still in its early phase.
Dr Bali said the sociological
problems of the aged in India should
be examined at two levels: individual
and the societal. The aged in the
society had traditionally been
accorded a high social status. The
migration of young adults to their
place of work for better monetary
s ta tus had deprived the aged of
emotional and material support. The
knowledge and skills of the elderly
were being rendered obsolete due to
rapid technological changes. This
undermined the role of the elderly as
storehouses of traditional knowledge
and culture.
Dr N K Chaddha, Professor,
Department of Psychology,University
of Delhi made a presentation on the
psychological problems of the aged.
He listed major problems which were
unique to old age : physical
helplessness which necessita ted
dependency on others; economic
insecurity necessitating a complete
c)1ange in pattern of living;
establishing living conditions in
accordance with changes in economic
or physical conditions; making new
friends to replace those who have died
Continued on Page 5
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Haryana Panchayati Raj Project
First Batch of Master Trainers' Training Completed
A 10 day programme to train master trainers for Panchayati
Raj in Haryana was conducted at CCS Haryana
Agricultural University, Hisar from July 5 to 14, 1999. The
programme was inaugurated by the Executive Director of PFI,
Dr K Srinivasan at a function held at CCS Haryana Agricultural
University on July 5, 1999. The Deputy Commissioner of Hisar,
Mr Apoorav Singh presided over the function.
and child health, water, environment and sanitation, education
and nutrition etc.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Srinivasan said that though
Haryana has done well in the field of economic growth, socially it
continues to stay backward particularly in terms of status of
women. Outlining the objectives of the project, Dr Srinivasan said
reproductive and child health will piggyback to empower
Panchayats, specially women members.
Representatives of six implementing agencies comprising
three Universities of Haryana (CCS Haryana Agricultural
University, Hisar; Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra and MD
University, Rohtak) and the three NGOs namely SPANDANA,
SWACH and FPAI attended the training.
The implementing agencies will be responsible for imparting
training to 60,117 Gram Panchayat Members, 2528 Panchayat
Samiti Members and 339 Zilla Parishad Members covering 5700
Gram Panchayats in 111 Blocks spread over 16 districts of the
state.
.
The Deputy Commissioner of Hisar, Mr Apoorav Singh
releasing the training module for Panchayati Raj in Haryana
at the inaugural function of training for master trainers at
CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar. The Executive
Director, Dr K Srinivasan is also seen.
The master trainers trained during this programme will in
turn train resource persons who will initially train Panchayat
Members at cluster level, each cluster having 4 to 5 Gram
Panchayats.
•
A Wall Chart of Haryana - Population and Development 1999
giving social indicators of the state and District Profile - Haryana
giving data in a series of 22 tables for each of the 16 districts for
the state like age-sex-marital structure, literacy, educational and
occupational levels and infrastructural facilities like electricity,
water and sanitation so that these indicators can be used while
planning development programmes, were released.
A training module specially prepared by PFI in Hindi for
Panchayati Raj in Haryana providing training material for the
trainees, was also released. The module covers subjects like 73rd
Constitutional Amendment, duties and responsibilities of
Panchayati Raj members, resource mapping and decentralised
planning, health and diseases, gender concerns, reproductive
A view of the audience at the training programme for master
trainers at CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar.
Care of Elderly
Continued from Page 4
or moved away; developing new
activities to occupy increased leisure
time; learning to trea t grown children
as adults; becoming irwolved in
community activities planned for the
elderly; and deriving enjoyment from
activities suited to the elderly and
willingness to substitute them for
activities formerly enjoyed but not too
strenuous.
Prof M G Hussain, Head,
Department of Psychology, Jamia
Millia Islamia said emotional support
was very important which took care
of many related problems of the aged.
As a family unit, if the elderly persons
were emotionally satisfied, the other
related economic and adjustment
problems did not ma tter.
Dr Aneeta Minocha, Professor of
Sociology in Delhi University
expressed the view that the experts
focused more on widows in relation
to their pathetic situation in the society
but there were no studies on
widowers who had greater problems
because of their complete dependence
on their wives in relation to the
support they had received at home.
Mrs Rami Chhabra said that the
socio-psychological problems of the
elder! y could be taken care of at family
level with greater emphasis on
communication and understanding
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between the family members and by
bridging the gap between the elderly
and younger members of the family.
Prof Ashish Bose, renowned
demographer and former Professor,
Jawaharlal Nehru University, chaired
the session on services provided to the
elderly in India. Dr Shubha Soneja,
Head, Research & Development,
HelpAge India, made a presentation
on the services provided by HelpAge
India to the elderly in India.
Reflecting on the functioning of
HelpAge India, Dr Soneja said that the
organisation had a strategy to work
by creating awareness; raising funds
to provide relief to the elderly and
working for their advocacy and
empowerment.
It raised funds
through schools, direct mail appeals,
a ppeals to corpora te sec tor for
donations, contributions from salary
under Pay-Roll-Giving scheme, sale of
greeting cards through professional
marketing, organisation of special
events like concerts a.nd placing of
donation boxes at places of interest.
Group Captain A.W. Limaye
(Retd.), Deputy Director General,
HelpAge India said that they had been
concentrating more on the poor and
the destitute elderly persons. Majority
of their projects aimed at the
population below the poverty line.
Mr J C Pant, former Secretary,
Union Ministry of Health and Family
Welfare chaired the session on
Government of India's Support to the
Elderly. Mr Anand Bordia, Joint
Secretary, Union Ministry of Social
Justice and Empowerment made a
presenta tion on behalf of his Ministry.
Mr Bordia gave details of the
different programmes and schemes of
the Government of India for the
elderly. He admitted that the
Government had done very little for
the welfare of the elderly with the
exception of framing the National
Policy for older persons. Mr Bordia
said the policy has provided a broad
framework
for inter sectoral
collaboration and cooperation both
within the government as well as
between governmental and non-
governmental agencies. The policy has
identified a number of areas for
intervention: financial security, health
care and nutrition, shelter, education,
welfare, protection of life and property
etc. for the well being of older persons
in the country.
The discussion tha t followed
brought out the importance of
emotional support to the elderly as
compared with fin~ncial and physical
support. The need for dissemination
of information about the programmes
under the National Policy for Older
Persons was also stressed, which
would help the older persons to avail
the benefits under the schemes and
would assist the GOs working for
the elderly to plan their programmes.
•
Health Development Project at Dharavi Makes Progress
The community based slum
dwellers development is one
of the areas in which the
Foundation
has contributed
significantly by providing financial·
assistance to the various NGOs for the
slum developmental projects. The
Society for the Human and
Environmental Development (SHED)
is one such NGO, situated in Mumbai
which has been supported by the
Foundation for Health Developmental
Project in the Dharavi slum of
Mumbai.
Established in October 1982 by
Mrs Bilkis Latiff, SHED is one of the
renowned
non -governmen tal
organisations working for the slum
dwellers and carrying out various
developmental programmes for the
slums of Dharavi, Kalina, Jegeshwari
and Segbaug in Mumbai. Lack of
sanitation, overcrowding and myriad
of ethnicity represented characterise
these slums.
The prime objective of the SHED
is to promote the welfare and improve
the living conditions of those living in
slums by providing basic amenities,
health and family welfare services,
arrange
medical
check-ups,
nutritional programmes for children
and expectant mothers, organise
recreational and education facilities
for children and grown-ups and
provide training in income genera ting
skills by establishing vocational and
technical institutions and training-
cum-production centres.
SHED has established network
with Mumbai Municipality and other
NGOs in the area making the entire
effort as an in ter-sectoral and
integrated one. The Municipality has
allotted·a building to SHED and space
for carrying out its activities. Since
1990 SHED has established a health
post at Dharavi under the charge of
one doctor with a staff of three nurses,
four multi-purpose workers, 12
community
volunteers.
health workers and
Dr Ravi Verma of International
Institute for Population Studies (IIPS),
Mumbai was asked to undertake the
endline evaluation of the project with
a view to assess the effectiveness of
the programme implemented so far in
the Dharavi slum. The purpose of the
evaluation was to find out whether the
scheme had headed in the right
direction and what could be learnt for
future programmes. The main feature
of the evaluation was that it was a joint
effort of an outside team and SHED's
own project staff. Thus it has utilised
a participatory
approach
to
evaluation.
The project began in January 1996
with the main objective of developing
a regenerating health care, family
plam1ing and awareness programme
for the slum dwellers of Dharavi
through community participation
Focus • July-September 1999
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leading to 90% of the total coverage reactivated not only mahila mandals which Mahila Mandals corne together
of the target area within three years. activities but also yuvati mandals and is saving schemes. Most Mandals
Some of the'specific objectives of
the project are: to establish Mahila
Mandals and Youth Groups which can
act as agents of change in the .society;
yuvak mandals.
The social marketing strategy of
using barbers for selling condoms has
shown encouraging results. Most are
operate indepen-dently on this
activity which is largely stimulated by
SHED. There is however a distinct
need to monitor the scheme.
to select community health promoters interested to continue with the
Mahila Mandals and youth groups
from Mahila MandaI Group and train scheme. They mentioned different meet and carry out their monthly
them in preventive and promotive clientele groups taking advantage of activities regularly. There is a high
health, non-formal education and getting condoms from them. They felt level of community participation and
social activities; to educate all that there was a lot of sex in the self sufficiencyin decision making and
adolescent girls in population issues; community and people were aware of action by the groups, particularly in
to create band of dedicated volunteers AID. As a result condom was in use. the area of communal harmony, health
in each locality for a sustainable health
The family and marriage camps and community cleaning.
programme to act as motivators for counselling is the central feature of the
About sustainability of the
better health; to educate the people in SHED programme. It is around this activities, most field workers as well
the area about the need to
as MandaI members feel that
register births, deaths and
they are able to carry most of
marriages in the community;
their own work. However,
to ensure the legal age of
given very high alcohol
marriage in the project area; to
problem and violence within
achieve 100% registration of
family, they need constant
antenatal cases and conduct
support of SHED. There are
safe deliveries by trained Dais
legal problems where the help
and provide basic health
of SHED is regularly sought.
education to the target
population.
Men's involvement in
most activities seem very
The evaluation revealed ".~
marginal. While youth groups
that the initiatives taken by ,-
have contributed immensely in
the SHED to increase
community participation in
various developmental
programmes including
Health check-up of children in progress at a camp organised
by the Society for Human and Environmental Development
(SHED) at Dharavi slum, Mumbai.
community cleaning and
organising camps, there is a
need for more -focused
intervention among men.
family planning have been well activity that the SHED social workers
A large majority of women still get
accepted by the community.
have gained tremendous respect in the married before they are 19. SHED's
A suitable organisational structure
was created in the project area as
envisaged in the original plan. The
chairperson, volunteers and other key
people in the Dharavi slum took
considerable initiatives during the
community and have made inroads in
the family.
Activities to encourage income
generation as a method to promote
self-reliance among women have
gradually taken roots in the project
special efforts to change age at
marriage has received just the initial
approval from the community. There
appears to be a need for stronger
attitudinal change strategy than
awareness creation on this issue.
early phases of the project. Project
Manager and those in charge of family
counselling, provided effective
leadership and were able to obtain full
co-operation from their subordinates.
The project has enrolled the
support of sufficiently large number
of mahila mandals, youth groups and
other volunteers which works out to
be on an average more than two
locations of voluntary work per
area. A large number of women,
particularly adolescents and those
who are victims of domestic violence,
find it essential not only to earn their
livelihood but retain their identity and
assertiveness. The women participate
in the project perceived in their
material as well as social life. Among
many areas of perceived change,
women mentioned that they gained
respect.
About sixty percent of the couples
are protected by one or the other
methods of family planning.
Sterilisa tion, particular! y female
sterilisation seem to be the most
popular method followed by IUD and
condoms.
Increasing
male
responsibility is an encouraging sign.
However, it needs to be ensured that
condom use goes beyond STD/ AIDS
protection and helps family planning
community. The project has
Another popular activity around purpose too.
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Round Table Conference at Bhopal
Continued from Page 1
working in MP efficiently on the
pattern of milk co-operatives in
Gujarat.
The message of reproductive and
child health programme should
be given to women as part of a
core literacy campaign. Zilla
Parishads
should
take
responsibility of the National
Literacy Campaign.
The pattern 'of staffing and
services being used by the
government is not suitable to the
State because of the vastness of
the area, varying density,
accessibilityand socialnorms. The
services should be flexible, region
and area specific and based on
demand.
In view of the high number of
unwanted pregnancies and the
unmet need for family planning
services, good family planning
services should be organised.
There is no need for incentives or
disincentives. About 20% of the
eligible couples are already
motivated who will accept family
planning methods on their own.
Education of women, particularly
of the girl children up to middle
school level being crucial for the
success of social development
programmes, including family
planning, the issue should be
addressed in the form of a major
campaign in the state.
The family planning programme
should be piggybacked on
programm,es like general
empowerment of women and
income generating activities.
With infant and child mortality in
the State being as high as 94 per
thousand, a vigorous campaign
on the pattern of polio plus and
DPT immunisation is needed to
The information, education and
communication activities should
be expanded using video and
satellite channels technology to
mobilise people for reproductive
and child health programmes.
The Sta te being very
heterogeneous, the process of
democra tic decentralisa tion
should be used through
community participation. An
integrated programme of literacy,
immunisation and family
planning along with a need based
Primary Health Care and
family planning services
should be organised
through milk co-operatives
which are already
working in the State.
programme for tribal areas should
be promoted.
Executive Director Dr K
Srinivasan has been invited as an
expert in the committee set up by
,Future's Group to formulate
population policy for the State. The
committee will soon submit its report
to the Government of Madhya
Pradesh.
The Chief Minister released a
number of publications specially
brought out' for the occasion by the
Population Foundation of India at the
inaugural function.Among these were
a 'District Profile of Madhya Pradesh'
and Wall Chart - Madhya Pradesh :
Population and Development. The Wall
Chart and District Profile give
comprehensive data on population
and development issues at district
level. The data are useful in analysing
inter-district differentials within the
State and for identifying the districts
which needed special attention.
Mr Digvijay Singh also released a
monograph: Studies in Population of
Madhya Pradesh by Alok Ranjan
brought out by PFI. The monograph
is a study of the population of Madhya
Pradesh based on a number of
demographic and social parameters
like growth and distribution, fertility
and mortality levels, family planning
acceptance, reproductive health,
labour force and urbanisation etc.
Welcoming the participants, the
Executive Director, Dr K Srinivasan
said there was an urgent need to
discuss the policy and programme
measures that should be considered
for accelerating the pace of decline in
fertility and population stabilisation
and related developmental issues like
adult literacy, education of children
especially female literacy, gender
equity and reduction of child and
infant mortality in the State.
The Senior Vice-Chairman of PFI,
Mr S P Godrej praised the efforts of
MP in literacy improvement and said
the literacy rate in the state has gone
up from 44% in 1991 to 56% in 1997.
The state has also ushered in a process
of democratic decentralisation.
Praising the political leadership
of Mr Digvijay Singh, Mr Godrej
described him 'a very dynamic and
visionary leader' who could take the
state rapidly forward in terms of
modernisation and economic and
social devel~pment.
In his inaugural address, the Chief
Minister Mr Digvijay Singh said
Madhya Pradesh was the first State
to come out with a Human
Development Report which provided
levels of development at the district
level and revealed that tribal women
were more empowered that the non-
tribal women. The strategy now was
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1.9 Page 9 |
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to focus on those areas where the
Hu man Developmen t Index was poor.
He wanted to concentrate on those
villages (rather than blocks and
districts) where literacy rate was
lower and the infant and child
mortality rate and maternal mortality
ra te were high.
Mr Singh made particular
mention about the Jan Swasthya
Rakshaks (Health Workers) who were
locally recruited and trained to look
after the primary health care of people.
There were already 20,000 trained Jan
Swasthya Rakshaks who were
working at vi llage level. He expressed
his keenness to upgrade the skills of
Dais.
The Chief Minister mentioned the
policy of the MP Government where
people were treated as 'solutions' and
not 'problems', through Panchayati
Raj system the elected representatives
have been given administrative and
financial powers to take decisions. He
wanted the Conference to come out
wi th recommen da tions a bou t
incentives and disincentives in
population policy.
The Vice Chairman, Mr Hari
Shankar Singhania proposed the vote
of thanks.
A reception was held at Hotel
Jehan Numa on the eve of the
Conference on July 31, 1999 which
was attended by the delegates of the
Conference and senior officials of
Madhya Pradesh Government.
The first session on 'Demographic
Constraints of Madhya Pradesh on
Population Stabilisation and related
Developmental Issues' was chaired
by Mr Ashok Das, Commissioner for
Health and Family Welfare, MP.
A paper on 'Population Scenario
of Madhya Pradesh' was presented
by Mr K S Natarajan, Consultant, PFI,
who outlined the population scenario
of the state and some of the salient
features. He said the state had the
highest proportion
of tribal popula-
tion (23.3 percent).
Nearly 76 percent
of the workers
were engaged in
agricultural and
forestry
based
occupations. The
state had one
fourth of the
mineral output of
the country. There
were several milk
co-operatives
effectively work-
ing in the rural
areas of the state
which could be
The Madhya Pradesh Minister of Finance and Planning, Mr Ajay Narayan
Mushran, who was the Chief Guest at the session on 'Economic
Constrains of Madhya Pradesh on Population Stabilisation and related
Developmental Issues'. Others are (from left) Senior Vice-Chairman of
PFI, Mr S P Godrej and former Secretary in Union Ministry of Health
and Family Welfare, Mr J C Pant.
usefully channelised for spreading
health and family planning mess-ages.
Narayan Mushran, Minister of
Finance and Planning, Madhya
Dr B D Misra from Concern,
Indore, made a presentation on
'Challenges
of Demographic
Pradesh. Dr R S Tiwari of Academy
of Administration, Bhopal and Dr
Alok Ranjan presented papers.
Constraints in Madhya Pradesh'.
Among the demographic problems,
he listed were: a sparsely populated
state; prevalence of high fertility and
mortality conditions; low levels of
economic develop-ment; regional
variations in demographic and socio-
economic development, and high
unmet need etc.
Dr Tiwari presented the paper on
economic constraints to population
control in Madhya Pradesh. He said
decentralised governance and local
level participation could contribute
to improve the health care system,
not only through better monitoring
and supervision of the functioning of
the health system at the local level
In his concluding remarks, Mr
Ashok Das, Chairman decried the
but also assist in developing plans
which take care of local perceptions.
tendency of people to want every
service at their doorsteps which was
not possible in a large state like M.P.
Any effective health delivery system
should take into account the
settlement pa tterns in rural areas.
Lack of infrastructure facilities was
an important hindrance in providing
services, he said.
Dr Alok Ranjan presented a
detailed note based on his
monograph: 'Studies in Population of
Madhya Pradesh'. He pointed out that
the differentials among the districts
in approaching the demographic goals
had to be seen in tandem with the
differential level of d-evelopment in
these districts.
The session on 'Economic
constrains of Madhya Pradesh on
Population Stabilization and related
Developmental Issues' was chaired by
Mr J C Pant, former Secretary to
Government of India, Ministry of
Health and Family Welfare. The Chief
guest for the session was Mr. Ajay
Mr Mushran pointed out that the
money spent for the family planning
programmes so far had very little
impact and almost been wasted
because of poor linkages with other
related development components. He
emphasized the need for evolving
programmes / s tra tegies tha t would
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1.10 Page 10 |
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attract the young professionals to
work in rural areas.
The session on 'Social Constraints
of Madhya Pradesh on Population
Stabilization
and
Related
Development Issues' was chaired by
Mrs Avabai B Wadia, President
(Emeritus) of Family Planning
Association of India (FPAI) and
member Governing Board, Population
Foundation of India. Two eminent
scholars, Prof. B K Roy Burman of
Centre for the Study of Developing
Societies, Delhi and Dr Aneeta
Minocha, Department of Sociology,
Delhi School of Economics presented
their papers.
Prof. Roy Burman stressed the
need for improving the transport and
communication facilities in the state
as a speedy and essential measure for
the welfare of the people. The
improvements
in the transport
facilities would lead to a better
utilization of the existing health
facilities in the state, especially in rural
areas.
Dr Aneeta Minocha in her
presentation pointed out the need to
have a better IEC activity for all the
plan strategies to the communities.
One important message was that the
betterment of the family was the main
path towards the building of a good
society and it was not the other way
around. Development was to be
viewed as a process from family
upwards. This was necessary to
change the perception of the people
towards building small families. She
also stressed the need for a family-
based approach in family planning
programmes for better results where
the father and mother-in-law should
be included in the RCH package.
Mrs Wadia in her concluding
remarks pointed out that better
counseling was required to motivate
the people to accept the family
planning methods. She noted that this
could be achieved by increasing the
community participation. If this was
done then the community itself would
act as a provider, receiver and
manager of services.
Mr P K Mehrotra, Director
General, Madhya Pradesh Academy
of Administration, Bhopal chaired the
session on 'Bureaucratic Constraints
of Madhya Pradesh on Population
Stabilisation
and
related
developmental issues'.
The first paper was presented by
Dr Ishwar Dass, IAS (Retd.) and
Executive President, CARM-DAKSH,
Bhopal. Dr Dass pointed out that in
MP there were historical lags in many
areas like education and within it
female literacy, comm unica tion,
transport infrastructure and record in
'Elected representatives
of Panchayats and
Municipalities, especially
women, are a valuable
resource for development
administration.'
control of population growth. To
bridge the gap, there was a need to
have innovative programmes to
improve female literacy, female age at
marriage, status of women, son
preference
and position
of
employment of women since these
would have a crucial bearing on the
fertility behaviour of the people.
Mrs Nirmala Buch, former Chief
Secretary of Madhya Pradesh in her
presentation, said that development
and population stabilisation were
matters of long term action. All efforts
should be made to genuinely build
people's capacity to participate and
not only to receive benefits. The
politico-administrative culture must
change to focus on the long term goals
and to build and strengthen systems
to achieve these goals.
Highlighting the importance of
elected representatives in Panchayats
and municipalities especially women,
Mrs Buch said they were a valuable
resource
for
development
administration.
They could be
prepared to take leadership of health,
education, nutrition, child care by
their capacity building through
training and access to information and
availability of resources - financial and
human and by clear cut responsibility
and authority for programmes.
Mr B G Verghese, Member, Prasar
Bharti and Member, Governing Board,
PFI presided over the session on
'Study of Tribes of Madhya Pradesh'.
A separate session was needed to look
into the stat.us of tribal population as
the state has 15 million tribal
population accounting for 23.3 percent
of the total population of the state,
highest in the country. Dr M K Jain,
Deputy Registrar General, Office of
the Registrar General India, presented
a paper on 'Situation of Tribes in
Madhya Pradesh'.
Dr Jain said most of the tribal
population were found living in rural
areas. Pattern of village level
distribution for Scheduled Tribe
population revealed that one third of
the inhabited villages were having half
of the population belonging to
Scheduled Tribe.
Justice Leila Seth, Member of
Governing Body, PFI presided over
the session on 'Political Constraints of
Madhya Pradesh on Population
Stabilisation
and
Related
Developmental Issues'.
Speaking about the political
constraints, Mr M N Buch, IAS
(retired) ana Chairman, National
Centre for Human Settlements and
Environment, Bhopal, said because of
the vast distances and poorly
developed infrastructure in Madhya
Pradesh, health services were not
adequate. As a result, child and
maternal mortality were high. A
network of roads providing easy
access to every village was therefore
essential. Massive investment was
required in roads, education and the
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2.1 Page 11 |
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development of medical care.
Mr Buch said the elected
representatives of the people were
unfit to frame any policy. He wanted
the political parties to educate their
cadre about the party manifestos and
their duties. He said that it was not
possible to have a meaningful
population programme unless the
politicians decide to give a thrust to
overall development
of which
population stabilisation and health
care were an integral part.
the subjects mentioned as mandatory
responsibilities of Panchayats at the
three levels.
In his presentation Dr Rath
narrated the experience gained by the
Population Foundation of India in
implementing pilot projects to evolve
and test the methodology to train
Panchayat members on population
and related issues. He said that basic
issues were to educate, motivate and
train the Panchayat members about
their rights and responsibilities.
stabilisation, though only in the state
of Kerala, with the democratic process
in tact. He said the key to solve the
problems of M.P. was better literacy,
education and social awareness in the
society. He was sure the Kerala
experience could well be emulated by
M.P.
Justice Leila Seth, member of PFI
Governing Board, thanked the
Governor for spcuing time to be the
Chief Guest at the valedictory session.
Summarising the recommenda-
Dr Rath said more than 75% of
tions of the session, Justice Leila Seth the Panchayat members in five
added that enlightened and educated districts were trained. It had been
democracy was the answer for which found that in these Panchayats,
education
of
women should be
given priority.
The session on
'Power to People
for Population
OPULATION FOUNDATION OF INDIA. NEW DELHI
Roundtable Conference on Population Stabilisationand related
. Development Issues in Madhya Pradesh
at Hotel Jehan Numa. Bhopal - August 1-2.1999
Giving out plans for follow-up
action, Mrs Nirmala Buch, Advisor
to PFI, said a number of issues had
been identified by the conference
which needed
focused attention.
These
were:
infant and mate-
rnal mortality
rates, age at
marriage, girls'
Stabilisation' was
education,
chaired by Mrs
women's
Nirmala Buch, IAS
empowerment
(Retd.).
Two
and ed uca tion in
substantive papers
reproductive
were presen ted
health. She said it
regarding the role
of Panchayats in
was important
that women were
population
and
family welfare
able to make
I
informed choice.
issues. The first The Additional Chief Secretary of Madhya Pradesh, Mr G S Shukla (extreme right)
paper
was speaking at the valedictory session of the Conference. Others are (from left) PFI
Speaking on
presen ted by Dr Governing Body member, Prof Ranjit Roy Chaudhury, Executive Director
George Mathew, Dr K Srinivasan, Justice Leila Seth and Mrs Nirmala Buch.
the occasion, the
Additional Chief
Director, Institute of Social Sciences.
The second paper entitled
'Empowerment of Panchayat Raj
Institutions on Issues related to
Population, Health and Social
Development' was presented by Dr R
K Rath, Joint Director, PH
Dr Mathew pointed out that the
schools had started functioning
effectively, attendance of girl children
had increased, drop-outs had come
down, more children were immunised
and more pregnant women were
covered under ANC, and Anganwadi
centres were functioning better than
earlier.
Secretary
of
Madhya Pradesh, Mr G S Shukla
outlined the various steps undertaken
by the GQvernment for population
stabilisation.
These included
empowering of women by reserving
seats for them in Panchayats and in
services; involving Panchayati Raj
members in family welfare
list of Panchayat's responsibilities in
Dr Bhai Mahavir, Governor of programmes and registration of
the Eleventh Schedule clearly stated Madhya Pradesh was the Chief Guest marriages etc.
that population issues relating to at the valedictory session. Speaking
stabilisation
were Panchayat's
on the occasion, Dr Mahavir said
Prof. Ranjit Roy Chaudhury,
responsibili ty. The sta tes in their unlike China, India had been able to member of PFI Governing Board,
conformity acts had fully incorporated achieve better results in population proposed the vote of thanks.
•
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2.2 Page 12 |
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Reproductive and Child Health Training Attracting Participation from NGOs
Two trainees of the Reproductive and Child Health Training course talking to a
woman during their field visit to a slom area in New Delhi.
A total of 10 training courses
of five days duration have
been completed with nearly
NGOs having been trained in
Reproductive and Child Health. The
project to train the middle level
200 personnel from more than 100 managers of NGOs working in the
slums of Delhi, supported by the
Union Ministry of Health and Family
Welfare has been attracting
participation from NGOs since its
inception in January 1999.
The focus of the training is
primarily Reproductive Health
issues including
population
stabilisation, safe motherhood and
improved child care. A set of 10
modules have been prepared for the
participants which have now been
translated into Hindi and printed.
There are two training programmes
each month.
Those interest may contact Dr
Amita Bardhan, Course Coordinator,
Population Foundation of India, B-
28, Qutab Institutional Area, New
Delhi - 110016; Tel: 6523741,652:3743,
6523783; Fax : 6852766; Email:
popfound@deI2.vsnl.net.in.
•
PFI to Organise Millennium Conference
on Population, Development Issues
Population Foundation of India is to organise a
Millennium Conference on Population, Development
and Environment Nexus in New Delhi from February
14-16, 2000. The Conference, in collaboration with
United Nations Funds for Population Activities (UNFPA)
and Indian Association for the Study of Population
(IASP), will focus on five major themes in the areas of
inter-relationship of population: Economic Development;
Social Development; Ecology and Sustainable
Development; Migration and Urbanisation, and other
Special Issues.
The main objective of the Conference is to
understand the inter-relationship between population
growth and distribution in the country with various
facets of social and economic development and
ecological changes as they occurred during the present
century specially after independence; and to recommend
a framework of policy guidelines and programmes
needed to have sustainable development in the country
in the context of changing population scenario.
New Joinings and Departures
The following officials joined the Foundation :
• Ms Momin Jaan joined PFI as Programme Associate on September 1, 1999 for
Haryana Panchayati Raj project. A post graduate in Sociology, she was earlier
working as an Executive Officer with Social Development and Community Affairs
Division of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
• Mr 0 P Bhasin joined as Project Co-ordinator for Haryana Panchayati Raj project
on September 17, 1999. Mr Bhasin had earlier worked with the Foundation as
Programme Officer.
• Dr R K Rath, Joint Director (Project Development) who joined last year has left.
• Dr Arundhati Mishra, Programme Officer (Project
Development), left PFI and joined as Young Adult
Co-ordinator with Centre
for Development and
Population Activities
(CEDPA), an inter-
national NGO working on
Reproductive Health in
India. She was given a
warm sent-off at a
function held at PFI
where she was presen-
ted a farewell gift by Mrs
Padma Srinivasan on
behalf of the PFI staff.
Published by POPULATION FOUNDATION OF INDIA, B-28, Qutab Institutional Area, New Delhi-110016. Tel.: 6867080,6867081
Editorial Direction & Guidance: Dr K Srinivasan
Editor: Ajay Sunder
Printed by Reproductions India, New Delhi. Tel.: 2479079. Email: kulshreshth@hotmail.com