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JRD Tata Oration Four |
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. I!I
JRDT.T.
MEMOR;IAOI.RATION
--
f,;I
FOURTH.
G)StliJanuary, 1999)
iii
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pgPutATION FOU~DATIONOF INDIA
.
. NEWDELHr
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. JADlata, F,ounde. rChairman,
Population Foundationof India
Born July 29, 1904 - Died November 29, 1993
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JRDTATA
MEMORIALORATION
FOURTH
Shri I K Gujral
former Prime Minister of India
On
THRUST AREAS FOR POPULATION
STABILISATION
POPULATION FOUNDATION OF INDIA
NEW DELHI
(15th January, 1999)
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l.!!!FflCE I
Population Foundation oflndia was established by a
dedicated group of industrialists and population activists led
. by BharatRatna,the lateMr JRDTata,whoguidedit as the
Founder Chairman until his death in 1993. Its present
Chairman is the noted industrialist, Dr Bharat Ram. The
Founding Fathers believed that a movement of social
development such as population stabilisation should not and
cannot remain the sole concern of the government and it
should be supported and supplemented by strong non-
governmental efforts. The Foundation has, therefore, always
worked in close co-operation with official agencies and
programmes. In its independent role, it has tried to guide and
influence the National Population Policy and to serve as a
catalytic agent to promote programmes at different levels
directed towards the ultimate goal of population
stabilisation. The Foundation has also been making a
number of suggestions for consideration of the Government,
'from time to time, to strengthen the national family welfare
programme, currently implemented in a wider rubric of
Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) Programme. The
Foundation has also commissioned projects on
empowerment of Panchayat leaders in seven districts of six
States, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu,
Uttar Pradesh and WestBengal and currently implementing
similar project in the whole state ofHaryana.
One of the important activities of the Foundation is
to ascertain and make known the views of eminent
personalities on population issues and towards this purpose,
it has instituted an annual oration on Population and
Development since 1995,its Silver Jubilee year. This is the
fourth Oration, delivered by Shri I K Gujral, former Prime
Minister of India on "Thrust Areas for Population
Stabilisation" on 15 January 1999. The past three Oration,-
were delivered b) Shri Ramakrishna Hegde. well-known
statesman and political, isionary; Mr Chandra Shekhar,
former Prime Minister of India and Dr (Mrs) Najma
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Heptulla, Deputy Chairperson, Rajya Sabha and crusader for
women's cause.
The former Prime Minister, Shri I K Gujral spoke
eloquently on the need for a wider commitment to small
family norm across all political parties. He emphasised that
unless there was a rapid reduction in fertility in the large
Hindi speaking States and their population growth was
brought down within manageable limits, the inter-regional
differences would be sharpened and the country's overall
development would be retarded.
Appreciating the important role of women in the
representation to Panchayats and Nagarpalikas, as one third
of the seats were reserved for women, Shri I K Gujral
stressed that by empowering Panchayat Raj institutions with
adequate financial resources and training of its members, it
would be possible to diffuse the population bomb. Besides
this, women could be empowered through a number of
programmes; by educating them and providing them with
employment opportunities outside home, thus securing them
independent income. In this context, not only enlightened
men but also social reformers and leaders could carry the
message of gender equity and empowerment across the
country.
Dr Bharat Ram, Chairman, Population Foundation
of India, while welcoming the speaker and the audience,
drew attention to the urgency of the population problem.
The lecture was followed by an informal sharing of thoughts
by the audience with the former Prime Minister oflndia.
I am sure. this fourth JRD Tata Memorial Oration
will stimulate the Government and Non-Governmental
Organisations to come forward together through a
coordinated approach to achieve better results in population
stabilisation programmes.
New Delhi
February 23, 1999
Dr K Srinivasan
Executive Director
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I FOURTH JRD TATA MEMORIAL ORATION I
Speech by Dr Bharat Ram, Chairman
Distinguished speaker of the day, Shri I K Gujral,
respected guests, ladies and gentlemen -
It is my privilege to welcome all of you, especially
Shri I K Gujralji for being with us today at the fourth JRD
Tata Memorial Oration.
JRD Tata, in whose memory we all have assembled
here today, was a man of deep commitment to national
growth and development. We all know about his great
contributions to the industrial growth of India and to Civil
Aviation, but his concern and contributions on social issues,
such as poverty, unemployment and ever growing
population are no less important. In his honour the
Population Foundation oflndia has instituted the "JRD Tata
Memorial Oration" series commencing from 1995. He
believed that family planning programme is an important
determinant for humanizing any population.
This year, we have the honour and privilege of
having with us Shri I K Gujral, former Prime Minister of
India, to deliver the fourth JRD Tata Memorial Oration. Shri
I K Gujral needs no introduction to an Indian or even to
international community. He belongs to a family of freedom
fighters. Both his parents participated in the freedom
struggle in Punjab. As a youngester at the age of eleven, he
actively participated in the freedom struggle and was
arrested and severely beaten by the police in 1931, and was
jailed in 1942during the Quit India Movement. He was Prime
Minister of India during 1997-98, Minister of External
Affairs during 1989-90and 1996-97and Ambassador ofIndia
to USSR during 1976-80. Currently, he is Member of
Parliament and Chairman, Parliamentary Committee on
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External Affairs.
He has held a number of Ministerial positions from
1967-1976in Communication and Parliamentary Affairs,
Information and Broadcasting and Communications,
Works, Housing and Urban Development. He has been
leader of the Rajya Sabha from June to November 1996and
from April'97 to March'98.
Shri Gujral, during his brieftenure as Prime Minister
of India, has taken a lot of interest in promoting female
literacy, enrolment of girl children to schools, empowerment
of women and population stabilisation programmes.. It is a
great privilege to have you, Sir,to deliver this Tata Memorial
Oration this evening.
Although India was the first country to formulate an
official population policy as.early as in 1952.the results have
been far from satisfactory mainly due to lack of consistent
political will and poor programme implementation. We
were about 342 million people at the time of independence;
in 50 years we have added more than 600 million. India's
population is rapidly heading towards the billion mark by
March or April 2000, i.e. within the next 15 months. High
rate of population growth has already eroded the beneficial
effects of much of our development efforts. India, with a per
capita income of US $ 300 in 1993, remains one of the
poorest countries in the world and is ranked 135 among 174
countries in terms of Human Development Index by the
United Nations.
Recent statistics released by the Registrar General
give no cause for comfort. We had expected in the eighties
that we could reach the replacement level of fertility (a two
child family) in 2001; it now appears that this target would
not be achieved before 2026. If the recent trends in fertility
and mortality levels continue, the population of India will
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increase by another 329 million in two decades from 1996to
reach the level of1263.5 million by 2016.
To be accepted as a way oflife ingrained in the social
ethos, family planning needs a concerted national effort with
a resolute political will which is so far not in evidence.
Varying levels of success of the programme in different
states will aggravate regional imbalances and could lead to
serious political and socio-economic disorders. Alongwith
improvement of contraceptive services, it is necessary to
launch intensive campaigns for empowerment of women
through special schemes for education of the girl child,
developing income-generating schemes for women and
empowerment of women in management, administrative
and political positions to provide them with the wherewithal
about the right to choose including reproductive choice on
spacing and limitation of children.
Since population planning and ensuring a higher
quality of life go beyond the limited functions of any single
department, and demand concerted attention of health and
family welfare, human resources, social welfare.
environment, labour and employment and other economic
ministries, there is a need to ensure inter-departmental co-
ordination, monitor programme implementation and issue
policy guidelines, as and when necessary.
Population Foundation of India has always been
raising alarms of this burgeoning population and making
recommendations to the higher authorities of the
Government. I remember, Mr lRD Tata first raised this alarm
in 1951and shared his concern with the first Prime Minister,
Shri lawaharlal Nehru. I have all along held the view that if
we succeed in stabilising our population in a forceeable time-
frame, then the country will have the golden future. I rate the
population problem as absolutely the number one problem to
be attended to by all concerned.
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I would like to mention here, Shri Gujralji, that we,
in the Population Foundation oflndia, were greatly inspired
and encouraged by your very first speech in Parliament as
the Prime Minister, which identified population
stabilisation programme as a high priority area and also at
the special session ofLok Sabha in which population issues
were deliberated and you sought the commitment of all
political parties. We also submitted a detailed
Memorandum of recommendations to you.
Listing out education and health as high priority
areas in the Ninth Plan, the honourable Prime Minister, Shri
Vajpayee told at the annual meeting of the ASSOCHAM
that special action plans for rapid improvement of physical
and social infrastructure like education and health,
unveiling of a national water policy, and making India a
global Information technology power, would be
implemented during the Ninth Plan. There is already a
commitment by the Government that public sector
expenditure on schooling will be progressively raised to 6%
of GDP by the year 2000 to match international standards.
The Ninth Plan should ensure that this target is achieved. He
said that the national agenda for governance had mentioned
that a judicious mix of incentives and disincentives for
population control should be presented. He also appreciated
that many individual programmes have been taken up.
However, the country has yet to make a deep dent on the
problem of population stabilisation.
The last 30-40 years, during which I have been
pursuing the above mentioned goals has given me a strong
belief that in spite of the vagaries of political uncertainties,
it is possible to win. Inspite of our various economic
problems, India has a vigorous middle class of200 million
people who are well-equipped to enjoy better life styles on
the strength of their education and professional attainments.
Given opportunities and a stable political system, they can
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certainly carry the message of smaller family norm to the
less fortunate brothers and pull them out of poverty and
Ignorance.
I would like to stress here that Non-Government
Organisations are coming forward to supplement the efforts
of government to contain population in a big way. To
achieve better results through a coordinated approach, it i
necessary to set up an apex body at the Centre and the States
for involvement ofNGOs and to avoid duplication of efforts.
Now, I would request Shri I K Gujral to share his
mind on the talk of the day for whom the audience is waiting
impatiently.
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ITHRUSTAREASFORPOPULATIONSTABILISATIONI
Shri 1.K.Gujral, Former Prime Minister of India
We are now standing on the threshold of the next
millennium. This has induced leading thinkers and the two
Houses of Parliament to literally burn their midnight oil to
identify the issues and the problems that blocked the
Nation's way to adequately meet the "tryst with destiny".
Such introspections highlighted a long and formidable
inventory of our shortfalls. The one that catches the eye and
disturbs the minds pertains to tremendous growth of
population
I am thankful to you Mr Chairman and the
Foundation for providing me this opportunity to share my
views with you and learn from your experiences :md
observations.
With your permission Mr Chairman, may I, before
coming to the subject, offer my humble homage to late JRD
Tata -the founder of this institution. He was a person oflarge
and varied dimensions. He is remembered as a far-sighted
entrepreneur who saw far beyond the horizon and gave a
Human Face to the premier industrial house over which he
so gracefully presided. He had a rare quality of looking
beyond his times. When aviation was still in its infancy the
world over he heroically took to flying. He made India enter
the civil aviation era.
His vision made him look at the demographic data
with concern and courage. Of course like many of his
contemporaries he knew that an unchecked growth of
population would never let this country emerge out of the
poverty syndrome. While many watched and some
lamented, he took some commendable initiative to set up
institutions that would re-educate the public mind and help
in transforming rigid mind set. The Foundation personifies
his concerns.
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May I take this opportunity to offer my tribute to that
great son of India whose memory enlightens our path. But
this alone would be ritualistic if it does not beckon us to
unitedly attend to this task and not let political considerations
or partisan myopia diffuse the focus.
I am not making any unheard of revelation when I say
that the wealth of a nation lies in its people. The skilled
people, apart from meeting their day to day needs, generate
econ,omic surpluses that push the nation's growth upwards.
A view of the hind tells us that not enough was done to
develop the needed skills and capabilities of our people. Not
that much was not done but the challenge has been so
formidable that this much was not enough. Once we succeed
in making the poor productive the prospect for banishment of
poverty gets within their reach.
The high mark of the Twentieth century was that a
mass non-violent movemeQtsuccessfully trounced a mighty
empire. Vision of the father of our Nation had an uncanny
method ofmobilj"ing the people to join the heroic struggle.
His strategy was5uilt on educating the un-lettered masses to
discover a new meaning in the traditions of our civilisation.
As the struggle developed he succeeded in ushering in an
era of attitudinal change towards the social relationships
amongst the castes and the family members. He placed a high
value on the status of women. He was the one who asked his
followers and admirers to eradicate illiteracy. The slogan
was: "Each one teach one". Of course he was concerned
about the rising population and drew the Nation's attention to
its several times, though the methods he suggested were
based on the principle of self restraint that made little impact.
Despite this epoch making victory, I do not hesitate to
say, we did not succeed in wholly owning the Twentieth
century even though the building as a modem Nation state
has not been a mean achievement. There is much that we can
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be proud of but we must ensure that the Twenty First century
moves in our favour.
I would be saying the obvious that for this purpose
containment of population growth should occupy a priority
position in our agenda. A twin item of the same schedule
must be to improve the education and skills of those who are
already with us.
Mr Chairman, you will kindly recall that in my
address from the ramparts of the Red Fort on the 151Ah ugust,
1997, I had emphasised importance of educating the girl
child. This alone can usher in the process of social
transformation that will take us to our destiny.
We all know that ofthe twenty five million children
that are brought to this world by Indian parents every year,
nearly half are girls. Ifwe were to hand out to them what our
Constitution had promised, that is their right to education,
the kismat of this nation would be undoubtedly rosy. This is
not a distant dream. It only requires commitment. Of on the
fateful day of our nation's dawn "we the people
ofIndia" had given to ourselves a viable democracy, we may
now recall the same spirit and ensure that each and every
child shall be in a school acquiring the appropriate skills.
Then the" last person" to which Gandhi lee referred will be
made self reliant. This alone will enable India to play its role
and occupy the appropriate place in the comity of nations.
To appreciate the perspective let me briefly state
some facts. In the year of 1998 that has just said Good Bye,
we were 970 million strong. This 15% of the World
population occupies only 2.5% of total land area that makes
adverse man-land ratio. The situation was not always such.
We were approximately 240 million on the opening day of
the Twentieth century and despite shedding of some land
mass and the population due to partition of the country, we
continued to inflate decade-by-decade, about to touch a
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billion mark when we will bid good bye to the Twentieth
century.
This rate of demographic growth has not been
similar in every part of the country. Sustained efforts and
enlightened outlook on part ofthe localleaderships in some
States have been able to reduce the rate of growth of
population while many have not. Generally speaking, the
States located in the southern part of our country have
managed their population growth remarkably, while most
of the States in the northern part of the country, particularly
the Hindi belt still have very high rate of growth of
population.
In the last decade, the population of Kerala, Tamil
Nadu and Karnataka increased by 1.34, 1.43 and 1.92
percent per annum respectively. Uttar Pradesh, on the other
hand, had an annual growth rate of2.27 percent, Rajasthan
2.50, Haryana 2.42 and Bihar 2.11 percent per annum. The
annual growth rate for the country as a whole was 2.15
percent during this period. Thus, controlling rapid
growth of population of northern States holds the key to
solving India's population problem in the coming years.
Let me present another dimension of the problem.
In 1997the crude birth rate of Uttar Pradesh was estimated
to be 33.5 per thousands compared to 27.2 for the country as
a whole and 17.9for Kerala. In Goa it was as low as 14.5.In
the rural areas of Uttar Pradesh this birth rate was even
higher at 34.6 births per thousand population. The higher
levels of fertility in Uttar Pradesh can also be judged
by the fact that each mother is expected to bear, on an
average, 5 children, as compared to only 1.8 in Kerala.
According to the official projections of future growth of
population, Uttar Pradesh would achieve the small family
norm of two children per couple only by the year 210O,
while the same level had already been achieved by Goa in
mid 1980, by Kerala in 1988 and by Tamil Nadu in 1993.
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Let me put it in another way. Taking population growth
rate as an index of socio-economic development, we find
that the State of V.P. is lagging behind Goa and Kerala
by about 100 years in its level of development.
Demographic studies in more successful States,
especially in Kerala, bears out that four major forces
have operated in tandem to achieve their success. These
are, one, a strong political commitment to the small
family norm and family planning programme by all
political parties in power or out of power. Two, provision
of primary education for all especially the girl child;
thirdly, greater economic equity and social participation
in development; and finally, reduction in infant
mortality and better and more easily accessible family
planning services.
Mr Chairman, it may not be an easy task to
transplant these Kerala policies and programmes to Uttar
Pradesh or Bihar. But there are no options if serious efforts
have to be made in this direction.
I am conscious that some developing countries with
large populations, such as China and Indonesia were
successful in achieving rapid demographic transition
behaviour of a monolithic party system or a dictatorship
ruled in those countries. The governments were able to
thrust small family norms on their people.
We in India obviously cannot go down the same
road. Not that it was not tried here. During the emergency, it
will be recalled, some similar modes were adopted with
horrifying fall-outs giving a major set back to the
movement.
What then is the alternative?
An obvious alternative to compulsion is information
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and persuasion. In this context, there is a need for a wider
commitment to small family norm across all political
parties. Unless we have rapid reductions in fertility in the
large Hindi speaking States and their population
growth is brought down within manageable limits quickly
the inter-regional differences will be sharpened and the
country's overall development will be retarded. The people
all over, themselves, want a small family size as
demonstrated in a number of studies but the
leaders and services are not fully helpful.
This need not dismay us since many windows of
opportunity have opened up during the past decade which
we should exploit to the full not only to achieve population
stabilisation but also several other development goals. Let
me listthem.
As is known, major political, socio-economic and
demographic changes have been ushered in since the early
nineties that are progressing at an unprecedented and
unexpected pace. These, in my view, will have far reaching
effects on all developmental goals including population
stabilisation. In the political arena, a fundamental reform of
democratic governance has been set in motion with the 73rd
and 74th Constitutional Amendments. This has enabled
multi level system of governance through the creation of a
third tier of elected bodies of self governance: the
Panchayats at a rural level and the Nagarpalikas at the urban
level. By the constitutional allocation of responsibilities,
basic health care services and family planning are to be
transferred to these micro level elected bodies. The task of
allocation of needed resources to these Panchayats and
N agarpalikas enabling them to implement these
programmes effectively are with the State Governments.
Here again I notice that the pace in this direction varies. Let
me mention Bihar for instance where elections to the local
bodies have been <;talled, for years now, despite the
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financially punitive actions by the Planning Commission. In
some States, where Panchayats have been installed there is
hesitation on the part of the State Governments to devolve
authority and finances to them.
Fortunately in the social arena, there is a strong
women's movement in the country, pursuing gender equity
and equality in matters of employment, political power,
income, reproductive rights and health. In the representation
to Panchayats and Nagarpalikas, one third of the seats are
reserved for women and there are about a million women
elected members of Panchayats contributing to the welfare
and development of their communities. Women's movement
are seeking similar representation in state legislatures and
National Parliament. Their increasing role in socio-
economic development and in population stabilisation
policiesisboundto help. .
On the economic front, the on-going process of
economic reform and liberalisation should enable India to
move towards a faster rate of economic growth. Seven or
even eight percent sustained growth of the economy now
seems possible. This should enable us to allocate additional
resources to primary education and social reforms.
The historical processes of political decentralisation,
women's empowerment, and economic reforms, appear to
be irreversible processes of social and economic change and
any population policies and programmes have to be
conceived and implemented in this larger social
context oflndia.
The Government of India abolished all family
planning acceptor targets since April 1995 in selected
districts of the country and in the whole country from April
1996. Since October 1997 family planning programme is
viewed rightly as an integral component of Reproductive
and Child Health Programme (RCH). Contraceptive
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services are offered in this wider context of improving the
health of mother and child rather than primarily as
instrument of fertility reduction at the macro level. At the
outset, it may appear that such an approach may not address
squarely the population issue which continues to be serious
with the country approaching a billion population,
and adding annually 18 million people to the already huge
population base. The need for rapid reductions in fertility
levels of the population, especially in those large north
Indian States, where fertility levels continue to remain high,
can hardly be over emphasised. All the more in the context
of a high proportion of our population living below the
poverty line, shrinking natural resources especially water
and forest cover, and very high levels of pollution in the
cities.
A concern is being expressed that RCH approach
may deflect the much needed government efforts from its
goal of population stabilisation. However, a closer analysis
reveals that if we could implement this approachjudiciously
in the changing circumstances of political, social and
economic scene in the country,we will be able to achieve the
population stabilisation goals quicker and in a more
acceptable manner with large scale community
participation.
. Many studies have revealed that there is a
- considerabledegreeofunmetneedforfamilyplanningboth
for spacing and limitation, among the couples even in those
States where fertility remains high. Offer of good quality
contraceptive services, with method choice and easy
accessibility to the couples, could reduce the fertility -levels
in these States by 20 to 30% ..:venwithout the so called
motivational efforts or offer of incentives and dis-incentives
to couples.
The era of "motivating" couples for adoption of
small family norm telling them of the advantages oflowered
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fertility levels of their own family did make an impact.
Today we see most of the couples by themselves seem to opt
for better spacing between births and limitation of family
size to two or three children with a view to improving their
own health, and the health, survival and well being
of their children. But it is also visible that the impact ofthe
message ends when it confronts the stonewall of poverty.
The very poor and destitutes are neither conscious nor do
they care that their growing family size adds to their misery.
This to my mind is a major challenge. It is like an egg and
hen story.
Mr Chairman, Ladies & Gentlemen,
Youwill recall that the Cairo Conference on Population and
Development had urged:
. All countries should strive to achieve sustained economic
growth in the' context of sustainable development.
. All countries should strive to achieve universal access to
primary education by 2015; and to closing the gender gap in
primary and secondary education by 2005.
. All countries should strive to achieve gender equity and
equality.
. Countries should strive to effect significant reductions in
maternal mortality by the year 2015 : a reduction in maternal
mortalityby one-halfofthe 1990levelsbytheyear2000and
a further one-half by 2015. The realisation of these goals
will have different implications for countries with different
1990 levels of maternal mortality.
. Countries should strive to reduce their infant and under-
five mortality rates by one-third, or to 50 and 70 per 1000
live births, respectively, whichever is less, by the year 2000,
with appropriate ad<iptationto the particular situation of
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.each country.
All countries should strive to achieve by 2015 universal
access to a full range of safe and reliable family planning
and reproductive health services.
These goals may I say, call for focused attention
- and are achievable provided attention is given as I have
already said, to provide flesh and blood to the local
bodies and treating the empowerment of women not
merely in political terms but as an essential part of
population management.
It is encouraging that the national literacy
campaigns are gaining momentum though its pace is still
slow in the States where urgencyis all the more.
The processes of economic reforms need to be
viewed in terms of greater participation of the voluntary
sectors where the people themselves playa direct role in
development.
Since the domains of family planning, primary
education and primary health care fall within the purview of
Panchayat Raj institutions, by empowering them with
adequate financial resources and training, it is possible to
diffuse the population bomb. The self governance at the
local levels alone can ensure the needed supervision to
push ahead the programmes and check defaults.
I am sad to confess that despite fifty years of the
Republic and substantial achievements in various spheres,
India's "poor" still remain our single largest group. It is
no surprise that poverty is more pronounced in States
which contribute the most to the population growth. The
states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan
and Orissa require urgent attention to demolish the road
blocks impending their development. These obstacles, it
would be noticed, arise from the realities of overwhelming
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power external to their lives. This power exercised by the
upper and middle classes has the effect, even if
unintended, of limiting the options of this poor majority
to develop themselves in accordance with their own
wishes and value systems.
While the disadvantaged people lack power, they
do know their own interests and their own problems in a
way which no one else can do - least of all those who
possess greater power, and wield that power against their
interests. Therefore, democracy is an essential part of
people centered development. We need to ask ourselves if,
after 50 years, we have allowed this silenced majority the
freedom and the mechanisms through which they can
express their wishes and views peacefully and without fear.
Accordingly, the Government and its executive at all levels
and even more at the local levels must be accountable to the
people on whose behalfthey claim to act.
The empowerment of women is a crucial factor, that
is a desirable goal by itself but it is also a powerful mean for
achieving rapid declines in unwanted fertility and
population stabilisation. Women can be empowered
through a number of programmes; by providing them
with modern, secular education; by giving them better
skills; by providing them with employment
opportunities outside home; and securing them
independent income. Also by enabling their proper
representations
in managerial, political and
administrative positions of power and responsibility.
And finally by recognising them as equal and responsible
partners in all our developmental and nation building
efforts. In this context we need not only enlightened men
but also social reformers and leaders to carry the
message of gender equity and empowerment across the
country.
In communities riddled with child marriage,
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violence against women, labour involving more girls
than boys; prostitution, and preference for sons over
daughters ".ith1n and outside family, such
empowerment is no easy task. No laws will overnight
transform attitudes. In this context the role of enlightened.
leadership and the civil society is crucial.
There may be a few regions in our country where all
children, boys and girls, are at school; where there is no child
labour; no child marriages; no preference of boys over girls,
drinking water is available, sanitation is good, health and
family planning services are available. Every effort should
be made to carry the messages from such parts across the
country in the form of a social crusade. Laws
can only help to some extent and it is the civil society who
should carry the torch of empowerment of women and
the disadvantaged. It is not as if someone is going to
transfer power to women or to the disadvantaged overnight
by a law or decree. Organised self help groups too maybe
formed in each village and strive towards such
empowerment. Panchayati Raj system does offer such
opportunities and only these have to be used with
imagination and vigour. If about the one million women,
who are already in elected positions in the panchayats
are systematically organised, trained, and mobilised for
this task, the day is not far when women of this co~ntry
will be equal, powerful partners of development and
social change and build a strong and prosperous India.
Mr Chairman, Friends,
Drawing upon these lessons and opportunities, may I sum up
the main elements of successful population policies and
programmes as follows:
. Strengthening of Panchayat Raj institutions with
appropriate transfer of authority and resources without any
further delay;
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. Empowerment of Panchayat Raj institutions by
organising training programmes for them in areas of their
rights, roles and responsibilities;
. Provision of basic education especially for the girl
children as a fundamental right of children;
. Primary health care, reduction in infant mortality, and
good family planning services;
. Basic household economic security, including group self
employment.
Against this background, I wish to compliment the
Population Foundation of India for initiating a large scale
training programme for the elected members of the local
panchayats in rural areas at the local level involving a
number of non-governmental organisations. This
initiative centering on health, population environment and
family planning is highly useful. Such training activities,
may I suggest, should be carried across t~e length and breath
of the country in an organised manner with good partnership
between governmental agencies and non-governmental
organisations. If the elected village leaders are handed out
responsibility for management of primary education,
primary health care and family planning there will be
hardly any need for macro level population policies and
programmes. The role of central and state governments
will be confined to financially assist and technically support
the programmes undertaken by the Panchayats.
Mr Chairman, Ladies & Gentlemen,
May I emphasise the need to revamp the
development methods and processes backed by powerful
information technology. This technology must be
effectively harnessed to benefit the village, to develop
access ofinformation and entertainment to the remotest
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3.4 Page 24 |
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parts, and to develop new skills amongst our talented
people. Training of panchayat leaders, of school
teachers, of farmers, of even software specialists can be
achieved in the shortest and highly effective ways
through modern satellite based information technology.
Such a programme will be people's programme for skill
development with governmental support. This, may I say,
requires political will and Involvement of the civil society.
I see the future of this country including realisation
of rapid demographic transition and development of the
skills and capabilities of our people achievable through local
self governance, empowerment of women and the
disadvantaged, and an extensive net-work of good quality
and easily affordable training, education, skill development
of people, and access to contraceptive and reproductive
health services across the length and breadth of
the country.
"We the people ofIndia" must therefore reassert our
sovereign authority and coax, cajole, persuade and if
necessary force the State and its various agencies to deal
with the twin problems of demography and development in
the shortest amount of time.
All of us in politics, administration, the civil society,
and institutions like the Population Foundation of India
should work together to make this possible so that the
dreams of Mahatma Gandhi are realised within the shortest
possible period. Our large population, which today is our
main problem can become our greatest wealth. We must
move to stabihse our population in the shortest possible
time. As we have already experienced in some States this is
possible.
Thanks for your attention
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v
Copyright 1999 POPULATION FOUNDATION OF INDIA
(Formerly Family Planning Foundation)
Published by :
H.P.Nagpal
Secretary and Treasurer,
Population Foundation of India,
B-28, Qutab Institutional Area, New Delhi- 110016
Composed and Printed by :
GRAFFITI
11737, Street No.3,
Sat Nagar, Karol Bagh,
New Delhi - 110005
Tel.: 5816308, 5816396
Editing
Geeta Malhotra
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ThusSpake.fRD
A Stunning FactI
..
"While it tookmankindon; million
years to rfi!achit:;.first billion, only
another hundred years were needed
totidd the second billion, and the
i\\Ii
twentieth;;cen{ury will, by itself, have
a4ded another four and a half
billion. "
Colossal Failure of Planned
Development
" despite $170 billion spent on
planned-development, the number of
people below the poverty line is
higher today than it was thirty years
ago."
.
II'
..
Going Beyond Contraception
. " Achievement of demographic
obje~tives is entirely dependent on a
whole Scetofsoc}eial responses and
policy initiatives which go well
~
'beyond Gpntraception."
..
The Bottom Liqe
"iJfthe present 5.3 billion, more
tllan.onl! billipn on this globe live in
}'Qvsrty. And;it'is the bottom billion
I
which, is steadily sapping the
-.
" e1t"Vironment,mainly through
deforestation and land
II
degraaation. "
...
A Warning,
..<'..'!thw~orld is rightly worried about
the prospect of 1.8 billion Indian
people in the next century.
I"
But are we?"
'Ii
.fa
.p. Qutab InstitutionalArea
*"".1, ~/>J 'sent, New Delhi~1100016