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Focus 1991 July - September |
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Checking Population Growth A Historical Imperative
J. R. D. lata Calls for Speedy .
and Massive Action
Calling check on runaway popuia- recent Aid India's Consortium in
tion a historical imperative, Mr. J R D Par~s and urged, the government to
Tata, Chairman, Family Planning r~alis~ how serIoUS the population
Foundation, observed that "if we S.l:CuatIown as and act with speed and
fail here, our brave declarations not- determination. He also suggested to
withstanding, we cannot succeed any- the )nternationa,l organisations to
where." Mr. Tata was speaking at prOVIde substantIal funds for intensi-
the Annual General Meeting of the fication of the. family planning pro-
Foundation in New Delhi on October gramme. "When the dykes are
14, 1~91.
threatened, the response to the swell-
ing tide has to be instant and sizeable
Mr. Tata noted that lately social enough to contain the threat," he
tensions, which sap the vital energies
forfu.sthtreanta'I.OtiU-o-n,'.aanngde,ar ~ngde"n,,e~rna"xl-I'esteyn,.s'.eh'a:o'df'
'adfoh<nae:tItehbceki-lwliooNnortliddonslgltaIr'tUshceoenet~Ina1u1Iedn'sgt0
rsepaeInI' tdy
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cast, ~dark sha.d~w:on the country's , kioak :'0[. leth 1 v ry ~y onhi~
destIny:.. "ContInuIng poverty and . ';''"
a armamen s, w, e
petsi~~ent:financiaJ difficulties,. t~em-: ,;arg.:Jda:t,s e~ft~he globe ,,:ere puttIng
selVe~,due ~la~gelY'~Jtohe excessIvely a~d wastInga dis~ght ~aIn~t ~ng~r
lar~e, and r~pId gro'Y-thof our popu~ , Tl!ta-expressed th:s~~ e fhat' ma~siv~
I latIon, whIch today exceeds 850 reduCtion in r s [,
t1
million, have aggravateq. the hard- anriouI1.ced will ~le eI~g prefun
, ~.h(' p.s"of.o.u.r'., pyople,";sa''.id_:M"r, Tata.· ...."fo,_t b,"_i,ng invested I".n' apsr,oem"arogtI~nrg enco-s
>R,.ererrili'gto the p~vis.i:onal results ",no111I,? revIv.~lin the th~tdworld and accept poor results and condone
bfthe' 1991 C'ensu's;.Mr:Tata said Jors~pportIng health,J~ducation and failure or wastaieof resources, still
that the match: 'Qfthe "millions conti- , urba:~ .,jmpJovement:, 'programmes. remained some of the grave infirmi-
mies,uncleterred"a,'n4 unabated, with ' Indiat_dO~P,!l~Joxe-o_xdether economy
inescapable consequence/dn the shape" ~ofulldc~ItICa:I pr9gi:atnmes.
of over-sttaine4.J~fe:suppor.ting sys-" 'Too 6~ibus
tems;. fast deterIo.ratmg ~Ilvlronmen~;, '.-'. .
.'....
even in parts of JliecQuntry whiGli, . Mr. T~.ta o]:>servedthat India'S 40
were once regardesbcleana,nl:1 Whblb"y~ar,01d fa.D:!ily."planningprogramme
some; mushrooming; of .slums; , a'j'had "beeometoo omnibus and too
virtual' collapse ofJh~ interp.~l trans~"~flabbyand . unmet demand, lack of
portation system; :jiarti9Ulai"ly;in"our confidence In the quality of services,
fast decaying Giti'es;,~and. a' general a general mechanistic enslavement to
deterioraton ofthe·~ualityoni.fe:'
.~'~.."
'.-.
targets withOl,ltproducing real change,
poor appreciation of the crisis spots-
Mr, Tata referre~ to the recent be they States or districts - and,
reports of UNDP'presented at the above all, the tendency to meekly
ties of the programme.
Mr. J. R. D. Tata stated that the
Family Planning Foundation was
now engaged in a review of its work
over the last 21 years, and will soon
design a comprehensive programme
of opinion building, action research,
policy analysis as well as demonstra-
tion -and training in an attempt to
upscale its contribution to the cause
of population stabilisation alongside
the a.ove,rnment and other voluntary
orgawsatl<lns.
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Planning Commission Urges Major Thrust
to Population Control
F. P. Among Five Top
Concern Areas
Containing the population growth,
universalisation of elementary educa-
tion and near full employment by the
turn of the century are among the
five major objectives outlined by the
Planning Commission for the Eighth
Five Year Plan (1992-97), being
launched from April next year.
The other priority areas identified
by the Commission are strengthening
of the infrastructure, provision of
safe drinking water and primary
health facilities to the entire popula-
tion, alongwith complete elimination
of scavenging.
According toa Commission note,
the Eighth Plan would focus on these
objectives keeping in view the need
for maintaining self-sufficiency in
food, continued reliance on domestic
resources for financing investment
and increasing the technical capabili-
ties for the development of science
and technology.
To give a major thrust to popula-
tion control, which the Commission
feels is the pivotal point for the
success of all developmental efforts,
the note calls for a new national
population policy to be enunciated
and adopted by Parliament.
According to it, social determinants
like female literacy, age at marriage
and employment opportunities for
women were as important as achiev-
ing a reduction in infant mortality,
improving health and nutrition of
pre-school children and providing
comprehensive package of maternal
health care services.
Such an inter-sectoral interaction,
supported by political commitment
and a popular mass movement,
should constitute the approach to
strategic interventions. The motto
would be to plan holistically, interact
intensively and act sectorally, the
note affirms.
The Commission aims to provide
health facilities to the entire popula-
tion by the end of the Eighth Plan,
taking into account not only high-
risk vulnerable groups like the mother
and child, but also the underprivi-
ledged segments within them. This
would require a meaningful reorien-
tation of the structural framework
for the delivery of health programmes
through emphasis on community-
based systems.
Over-Population
Leading to Disasters
World-wide
Many of the recent disasters in
the third world are the consequ-
ences of failing to meet targets for
population growth, said Dr. Nafis
Sadik, Executive Director of the
United Nations Population Fund
(UNFPA) in a recent press intervie~
Dr. Sadik specifically cited the
death toll in Bangladesh, the food
crisis in Africa, deterioration in the
environment and increasing levels of
maternal and child mortality.
She said the massive cyclone in
Bangladesh that killed thousands
was a "classic" phenomenon of
over population. Warnings issued to
people not to return to the small,
silted islands after the previous cy-
clone had not been heeded, partly be-
cause population pressures left them
nowhere else to go.
In the last 20 years Bangladesh's
population has grown from 67 million
to 118 million and people were forced
to find a place to live in a country
surrounded and covered by water.
The recent cyclone swamped the is-
lands and caused widespread death
and destruction among its poor
inhabitants.
Developing countries as a whole
have suffered a serious decline in food
self-sufficiency. Many of the poorest
countries, most of them in Africa,
A Multipronged
Approach
Today is the World Population
Day. This is an occasion to focus
attention on a global problem, which
is of particular relevance to India.
We are at a critical stage of develop-
ment. A rapidly expanding popu-
lation is exerting relentless pressure
on our scarce resources. Greater
emphasis will be placed on limiting
population through \\propagation of
the small family norm. A multi-
pronged approach will be adopted to
this end. Integrated health, nutrition,
education and motivational services
for the people in general and women
in particular will be improved and
strengthened.
- President R. Venkataraman in
his address to the Parliament
on July 11, 1991.
could no longer feed their population,
Dr. Sadik said.
Silent Disaster
Dr. Sadik called the half million
pregnant women who die annually a
"silent disa·ster". She said 99 per cent
of these deaths occur in developing
countries and between 25 to 40 per
cent could be prevented if wemen
could avoid unwanted and poorly
planned pregnancies. More wemen
than ever want fewer children, she
said.
The major reasons for maternal
and child death, Dr. Sadik observed
are pregnancies that occur too early,
too late or too close together. Surveys
show that in developing countries as
many as 50 to 80 per cent of women
want to limit or space future births or
want no more children at all.
"For women, the control over re-
prodction may be the start of mak-
ing a choice", Dr. Sadik said.
In many poor countries the only
role for women is to marry, serve and
bear children, she said, and half the
population does not have the possi-
bilities to develop.
-Pop line, Vol. 13, July-August 1991
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ilVodd Population Day Lecture .by Dr. M, S. Swaminathan
Population and Environment : How to Meet
the Twin Challenge I•n India
To mark the World Population Day - July 11, 1991 - Family Planning Foundation, under its Encounter-
with-Population-Crisis lecture series, organised a lecture by the world-renowned agricultural scientist Dr. M. S.
Swaminathan on the theme: "Population and Environment: How to Meet the Twin Challenge in India", The function
presided over by Dr. S. Z. Qasim, Vice-Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia, was well attended by a select gathering
of population experts and environmentalists, policy makers and planners as also representatives of international
organisations in India.
Mr. Harish Khanna, Executive Director of the Foundation introduced the subject and the speaker.
Here we present some salient features of this thought-provoking lecture which the Foundation proposes to bring
out in booklet-form for wider dissemination.
"All that I have emphasised is the
importance of developmental priorities
and pathways to be handled in such a
way that we come to have a more
egalitarian society so that somehow
this excruciating poverty comes to an
end, which means these unsustainable
life-styles do not exist. Our natural
resources are still there what they are.
But they are enough if husbanded in a
more propoer manner. This cannot be
done by a Government agency alone.
But it cannot at all be done without
the Government help either. Let us,
therefore, hope that a methodology
does finally emerge in which both these
ends converge. There is a great
amount of thinking along these lines
even among the UN bodies, say, like
the UNDP and the World Bank.
Happily, they have for the first time
started talking in a different language
- in terms of poverty and human
development! Let me hope these
thoughts get reflected in new pathways
of development and priorities of re-
source-allocation" •
It was on this hopeful note Dr. M.S.
Swaminathan concluded his all-illumi-
nating lecture before a most distin-
guished gathering on the World Popu-
lation Day this year.
Touching on wide-ranging topics
having bearing on human develop-
ment, Dr. Swaminathan, in his inimit-
able style, made a strong plea for
reaching a balance between popula-
tion and environment, and called for
"livelihood security for the bottom
billion", speedy and cost-free sharing
Dr. M. S. Swaminathan
of green technology and top priority
to population policies. .
·Policyon Land Use
Dr. Swaminathan laid a great stress
on a wise and imaginative land-use
policy. "If we want to feed the
population, there is no way but to
have a policy on land use. Areas
should be marked out for conserva-
tion and for intensification of agri-
culture. Rich agricultural land should
110t be diverted for other uses, as is
being done currently", he said while
warning about the over-exploitation
of ground water and the silting of
rivers and water-logging of irrigated
lands.
Coastal Areas Most Vulnerable
Observing that coastal ecosystems
were being destroyed due to the con-
centration of population along sea
coasts, Dr. Swaminathan said, "Coas-
tal areas have the highest density of
population. Most big cities are along
the coasts. Due to the absence of
livelihood elsewhere, people continue
to migrate to the coastal cities in
spite of the increasing incidence of
cyclones (as in BangladeSh)." He also
noted that, with an expected sea-rise
"of 41 cm by 2100 A.D., "one-third
of Bombay is prone to submergence\\'.
Dr. Swaminathan warned that the
loss of sea-side mangroves, which
survive on saline water, will be a big
blow to the creation of more adapt-
able food crops by genetic transfer.
Real Responsibility for
Global Warming
Regarding deforestation, Dr.
Swaminathan said, "The poor are
often blamed for destroying trees for
fire-wood. But they do not do the
real damage. It is the contractor,
who cuts down and destroys trees by
the thousands.' And nothing much
is done to stop this." He also relat-
ed tha~ the less populous, de.veloped
countrIes are more responsIble for
the Greenhouse effect, leading to
global warming, than the populous,
developing nations. USA accounts
for 21 per cent, USSR for 14 per cent
and the. FEC for 14 per cent of the
thermo-chemical emissions causing
the Greenhouse effect. On the other
hand, the two most populous coun-
tries of the world, China and India.
account for only seven and four pe~
cent respectively.
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From leji to right :
Dr. ill. S. Swaminathan
Dr. S. Z. Qasim and
Mr, Harish Khanna
Think Nationally, Act Locally
are very much in short supply. To the magnitude of natural degradation
Dr. Swaminathan also called for a
balance between animalJhuman popu-
lation and natural resources. He said
that female education was probably
the most important factor in con-
taining population. The rise of the
income-level also helps to hing down
the population, regardless of socio-
religious backgrounds. Calling for a
combined political approach to prc-
blems like population and pollution.
Dr. Swaminathan said, "we should
not talk any more of political will.
What we need is political action."
He also asked planners to "think
nationally, but act locally."
teed the additional I? million mouths has been so colossal in nature'.\\' m,'/I
we shall require an additional four habitat.
million tonnes of foodgrains. In
Soviet Union they require one tonne Less Female Literacy, More Babies
per person of foodgrains every year.
In contrast, we require this much Often at times, we are asked why
quantity to maintain 4-5 persons. I the family planning programme has
mean this is the Indian average. Per- failed. Well, we have thus far seen
haps this goes to explain why we have '\\ from the analysis of the Census data
350 to 400 million people below the that the only parameter which ha,s a
poverty line.
strong correlation with the success of
family planning is female literacy.
Now even if for the time b~ing we And female literacy at the same time
do not take into account the other means drafting them into the produc-
additional goods and services re- tive work force of the nation. This
quired, we can not ignore our huge in other words means higher economic
cattle population. In Australia, they status for women. The factors whicl'
would not have one more animal, say flow from it are less of maternal and
a cow, added until they have already infant mortality and less number of
Why the Family Planning Programme
well-spaced children born. Bid o!lr
programmes and strategies have been
Has Failed?
These excerpts are
far too simplistic . We have offered to
the people vasectomy or tubectomy
coupled with monetary incentives. The
India's Crushing Load
At the heart of the whole problem
lies the question: How long can we
absorb 17 million population that we
add each year? We, in the language
of the media, are saying that we are
adding one Australia to our popula-
tion every year. But, have we ever
considered that even Australia, a
whole continent, has started talking
in terms of unemployment? And it
is not just employment; it needs
enough civic services, enough land.
enough water and enough food. And
all these things are scarce in India -
culled from
Dr. Swami nathan's
World Population Day
Lecture.
provided for an additional two hec-
tares of land for its grazing. Hence,
it is a very grave situation which
again has to be tackled, area by area.
For example, in the Himalayas, the vast
animal population is used to provide
neither milk nor meat but onlv manure.
result is that we are neither here nor
there. The k>ur States of Uttar Pra-
desh, Bihar, Rajasthan and Madhya
Pradesh where female literacy is low,
contribute 50 per cent of the annual
population growth in the country.
In some parts of Bihar, I found to my
horror zero female literacy among the
scheduled castes and scheduled tribes
families. Even in States like Tamil
Nadu where women are compara-
tively more socially advanced. a
female child is most likely to drop
out of the school after the age of 8-9
years. There can be many reasons
at least the resources to produce them That to a large extent explains why
(Colltillued 011Page 6)
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E.ditorial
President R. Venkatraman, in his opening address
to the present Parliament on July 11, laid great stress
on the imperative need to control our unbridled popu}a-
tion growth through adoption of a multipronged
approach.
Union Health & Family Welfare Minister, Mr. M. L.
Fotedar, proposes to make the two-child norm oblig.<-r
tory for eligibility to any elected office. By elected
office, he means any office from panchayat membership'
to the membership of the state and central legislatureI.
For, he considers the population problem too immeUSl
to be tackled through normal measures, thus necessi-
tating the adoption of extraordinary steps without delay.
The Planning
Commission
Vice-Chairman,
Mr. Pranab Mukherji, is equally enthusiastic about
containing the population growth, in fact the Planning
Commission recognises this as one of the five priority
areas requiring a major thrust in the Eighth Five Year
Plan. Describing population control as pivotal to the
success of all developmental efforts, the plan panel has
underlined the need for a national population policy
to be enunciated and adopted by the Parliament. There
is some talk about establishing a Population Com-
mission.
These are some hopeful signs in an otherwise dark
d~mographic scenario that is overtaking India with
:;tunning rapidity; 17 million annual increase in our
already burgeoning population of 844 million should be
a sober~ng reality. The pr~sent rate cf 2.1 per cent
populatIon growth per year puts the destiny of India as
a self-reli~nt nation in dire peril. We simply cannot
afford to Ignore the portents. The time for polemics is
long past. It's time to act with speed, with vision and
with purposeful resoluteness. In the words of Mr.
J. R. D. Tata, one of the earliest and persistent cham-
pions of family planning in India: "It is good to remem~
ber that when the dykes are threatened, the response to
the swelling tide has to be instant and sizeable enouoh
to contain the threat."
0
And as the much honoured agricultural scientist
Dr. M. S. Swaminathan succinctly summed up in his
thought-provoking lecture organised by the Family
Planning Foundation on the occasion of World Popula-
tion Day this year, "we should not talk any more of
political will. What we need is political action." The
moot point is: Is that political action in sight?
Female Literacy a
powerful Plank in
population Control
More female literacy lesser babies
is not a mere cliche. It has been
borne out by a number of studies in
the field carried out by various
organisations is different parts of the
country.
At the national level, a study based
on the analysis of Census data brought
out by the Registrar General and
(""f>"~US Commissioner of India (Occa-
~1011J.' paper No. 1 of 19~0) fortifies
the rationale that underplDs current
efforts aimed at universal adult
literacY,
According to the study an increase
of 10 percentage points in the female
literacy rate reduces the total fertility
rate by slightly less than one-half
child per woman. The predicted
total fertility rate for a district with
20 per cent female literacy rate is
about 5.1 children per woman, as
against a predicted fertility rate of
about 2.3 children per woman for a
district with 80 per cent female
literacy rate.
About half of the effect of female
literacy rate on total fertility rate is
direct, and the other half indirect,
primarily through reduction in child
mortal.lty. In the latter case, an
increase in the female literacy rate
generates a decrease in the child
mortality rate, which in turn gene-
rates a decrease in the total fertility
rate. This occurs primarily because
lower child mortality means more
surviving children, and more surviv-
ing children mean that couples neeo
fewer births to achieve their desired
family size.
The analysis indicates that higher
literacy rates benefit the nation not
only by improving worker capability
and productivity but also in arresting
the rapid population growth eroding
the gains of our social and economic
development.
World's most Popular
Family Planning Method
The most widely used method of
family planning in the world today is
voluntary female sterilisation, and
some of the Islamic countries have
begun to accc.pt it, according to
Population. Repcrts published by the
Johns 'Hopkins School of Public
Health.
Voluntary female sterilisation is the
most popular contraceptive method in
countries as diverse as India, Bangla-
desh, Brazi-J, Cokmbia, Fiji, Mexico,
Nepal, the Philippines, Sri Lanka,
Taiwan and Thailand.
ltspopularity is growing fast in the
United States. Some 23 per cent of
married _women of reproductive age
group - 7.5 million - were sterilised
for contraception purposes in the US
in 1990. The figure waS 17 per cent
in 1982. Worldwide, an estimated
138 milliou. women of reproductive
age use this method today - 43
million more than in 1984.
Millions more are expected to opt
fOT the method in the next decade.
Women are beginning to choose
this method in places where many
thought voluntary sterilisation ,would
never be popular, such as Ghana,
Ttrrkey and 'Kenya.
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Excerpts from
!Dr. Swami nathan's
Lecture
for this but the one more compelling
is that the younger sibling needs to
be looked after. Therefore, if I have
to pin-point only one reason for the
failure of family planning in India, then
I can name it as the lack of female
literacy.
Status of Women: Main
Change Agent
Let me tell you from personal
experience that it is the indices of
social progress as reflected in the
status of women that make for the
success of family planning. Long
years before, I had gone to Holland;
they had just then lost their colony,
Indonesia. Now Holland is a very
small but highly densely populated
country of Europe, of which about
half the population happens to be
Roman Catholic. And the Roman
Catholics are conscientious objectors
to family planning. Therefore, at
that point of time, the Dutch were
worried as to where they would send
their surplus population. Indonesia
was a big colony and could absorc
any number of the surplus Dutch-
men. But nothing of the sort hap-
pened. To their surprise what they
found was that the Roman Catholics
were as much the followers of family
planning as the Protestants.
When Religious Reservations Wither
The upshot of it is that once a certain
economic threshold in terms of social
evolution is reached and a stake in the
quality of life develops, it is immaterial
as to which religious persuasion you
belong. In India too, this argument
. has lots of communal overtones.
That is due to the fact that the essence
of this cardinal truth is not So well
appreciated. Most attitudinal changes
accompany the stage of quality of
life achieved. That's why among the
rich Hindus and their counterparts
among the Muslims are found almost
the same family structure as also the
same aspirations of life. Yes, reli-
gion does influence attitude to abor-
tion. This has happened even in the
rn
I.LJ
-':<:l;:: 950
0
0
2
a: 940
aI.LJ.
en
I.LJ
-':<:l;:: 930
Iu.L.J.
population was 70:30 in favour D,
the cows. The inevitable conclusion
was that in the cowbelt the axen
happened to be economically more
Important because of their role in
~ransportatj~n, haulage and plough-
lUgwhereas III Kerala which is a more
undulating land, it was the milk that
turned out to be more important.
So, the major consideration is again
economic only. You do not kill the
~nimal but you do not give enough to
It to eat. It would be very cynical if
this analogy is applied to the humans.
But maybe, this argument is there in
the seed form. Behind the female in-
fanticide there is the perception of a
woman being less productive in pure
economic terms.
UNFPA Funds for F.P.
Programme in India
India currently has the large~t
UNFPA-~upported population pro-
gramme III the world. A US $90
million five-year programme of assis-
tance waS approved at the Govern-
ing Council of the United Nations
Population Fund which was held in
United States. For example, they
terminated their contribution to '\\
UNFPA because China was a reci-
pient of aid from this UN agency.
And China had adopted abortion as a
methodology of family planning. But
as far as the small family norm is
concerned there is not much difference
on the point anywhere. This inference
is s~pported by the example of Indo-
nesIa and Bangladesh. In Indonesia,
there are marked trends towards the
stabilising of population.
June this year.
National population programmes
are "absolutely committed to making
the people at the community level the
engine of the programme," said
UNFPA Country Director Mr. Tevia
Abrams. This means that "for the
first time in the history of the prc-
gramme, the effort is going to centre
on getting people and NGOs (non-
governmental organizations) in-
volved."
In the past, Mr. Abrams explained,
"programme resources were put into
Falling Sex Ratio
I think a word on sex discrimina-
tion and the falling sex ratio in the
Indian population is also called for.
This trend shows the social back-
wardness of the Indian society. But
even so an interesting sidelight from
our own experience may be found
instructive. Prof. K. N. Raj once
wrote that he also studied the sex
services on a top-down basis, but
demand has not been generated to
meet what limited supply there was".
The new approach, he said, will let
demand dictate supply.
Other changes include a bid to im-
prove service delivery in lagging
regions such as the northern "Hindi
belt," the States of Bihar, Haryana,
Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh.
ratios among the bovine species at a
time when there waS an agitation
going on against cow slaughter in
The new programme seeks to
consolidate gains made in popula-
tion education, particularly for out-
the country. What he found out in
the very heartland of the countrv, so
aptly described as the cowbelt: was
that there were more of oxen there as
of-school youths 14 years and older,
for example through the "open
school" system, in which youngsters
take classes by correspondence.
compared to Kerala where the bovine
-Population, Vol. 17, No.7, 1991
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Islami'c Nations Tal<ing to
Female Sterilisation
Voluntary female sterilisation is
already widely used in some Islamic
countries, and recent policy pro-
nouncements viill help make the
method more available in a number of
others. In general, the opinion seems
to be spreading that the Islamic
religion accepts voluntary steriliza-
tion as a family planning method.
Vcluntary female stetilzation is a
major family planning method in
Bangladesh, Jordan, and Tunisia.
Tunisia in 1988 had the highest
reported prevalence of voluntary
female. sterilization among Islamic
countrIes, at 12 per cent of married
women of reproductive age, or about
one-sixth of all family planning users.
The most recent survey in BanlJla-
desh conducted in 1985, found that
8 per cent of married women of
reproductive age relied on voluntary
female sterilization. These wcmen
accounted for one-quarter of all
family planning users. In 1985
Jordan's 5 per cent prevalence rate
accounted for about one-sixth of all
contraceptors.
Bangladesh and
Tunisia have long offered voluntary
female sterilization in their national
family planning programmes. In
Jordan use increased in the mid-
198Qs when public sterilization
servIces became more available.
Pakistan, which has offered steriliza-
tion services sporadically since the
1970s, currently others voluntary
female sterilization on a small scale
in its ~ational programme. It is avail-
abl~ In most large cities through
varIous non-governmental organisa-
tions, however, and demand appears
to be increasing.
. Approval for voluntary steriliza-
tIon appears to be spreading in other
Islamic countries. In late 1990 the
government of Iran announced the
legalisation of voluntary sterilisation.
Furthermore, the government offered
sterilisation free on request to wcmen
who had at least three children and
their husbands' consent.
In Indonesia Islamic leaders re-
~ently agreed that female sterilisation
I~ an acceptable form of contracep-
tIon.
This announcement was made iust
before the International Congres; on
Islamic and Population Policy held in
1990 in Indonesia. At the Congress
representatives of 29 countries re-
commended that immediate action
be taken to eradicate misconceptions
ab~)Ut~slamic attitudes toward popu-
latIon Issues.
Population Reports (Series C, No. 10),
John Hopkins Sehool of Public Health
Mrs. Sheila Kaul, the Union Urban
Development Minister, in the first
meeting of the consultative commi-
ttee of her Ministry, sharing the
members' concern over unplanned
urbanisation and consequent de-
terioration in the quality of life in the
country's metropolitan cities, assured
the members that the Government
was taking a comprehensive look at
the problem of urbanisation. She
hoped to bring up a National Urban
Policy document for the considera-
tion of Parliament within the next six
months for coordinated action to
check unplanned urbanisation.
While conceding that the urban
areas had degenerated because of
lack of political will, defective plann-
ing, administrative failures and lack
of resources, she underlined that the
la~~ of data base regarding avail-
abIlIty of new urban land, housing
stock and vacant land, etc. has also
been a serious hampering factor and
this lacuna was now sought to be
removed in the Eighth Five Year Plan.
The National Commission on
Urbanisation had impressed upon
the need for acknowledging the
positive aspect of cities and urbani sa-
tion as a necessary concomitant of the
development process. The urban
centres and more EO the urban con-
glomerations with slu.m-like condi-
tions would require special health
and family welfare strategies since
aggravating population pressures will
produce maximum distress in these
areas. It has suggested a judi-
cious mix of positive development
action and preventive controls as
lhe strategy for future growth. These
measures range from giving necessary
back-up to districts which have al-
ready reached a relatively advanced
stage of industrialisation and urba-
ni.sation to providir:-g !nputs to dis-
trIcts where urbamsatIon waS low.
but migration high.
'
March of Urbanisation
The decennial growth of urban
population in India during the 1981-
91 period has been 36.19 per cent
compared to. 46.14 per cent in the
1971-81 decade. Does it imply that
'urbanisation has slowed down? Ex-
perts say this is a deceptive view as
the da~a available so far clearly points
to an Increase in the volume intensity
of urbanisation. Variations in the
growth in one inter-censal period is
not a reversal of an inexorable oro-
cess and should not lead us to com-
placency. Some facts about the
march of urbanisation in India:
1. According to 1991 Census figures,
India's urban population concen-
trated in 4,689 towns, stands at
217.18 million. It has more than
quadrupled from about 50 million
at the time of Independence.
2. For the 1981-91 decade, the de-
'\\ cennial urban growth rate has
been 36.19 per cent as compared'
to rural growth rate of 19.71
per cent.
3. Overall, the percentage of urban
population has increased from 15
per cent to 26 per cent of the
total population.
4. In some States, the level of
urbanisation is quite above the
national average such as Maha-
rashtra (38.73 per cent), Gujarat
(34.40 per cent), Tamil Nadu
(34.20 per cent), Karnataka (30.91
per cent), Punjab (29.72 per cent),
West Bengal (27.39 per cent),
Andhra Pradesh (26.84 per cent)
and Kerala (26.44 per cent).
5. Among the States, Kerala tops
the list with decada1 urban
growth rate of 61 per cent.
6. Even in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar
Pradesh and Orissa which in terms
of overall population, are re-
garded as predcminantly rural, the
decennial growth rates are about
45 per cent, 39 per cent and 36
per cent which are nearly double
the rural rates.
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8 Page 8 |
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GjBr~ng Gaps in Male-female Literacy
programme will be revised after
a review of the incentive schemes
and aspects of the programme which
the same picture of women being at have failed. This is therefore the
a disadvantage. In Uttar Pradesh, best time to tell him a couple of
the number of male literates at the things. One can no longer doubt
end of the 1981-91 decade is about that family planning cannot be view-
3.33 crore while the corresponding ed in isolation from general develop-
figure for women is 1.37 crore. The ment and that the small family norm
discrepancy is far more prominent in depends on a number of things in-
Madhya Pradesh, where the literate cluding the level of literacy and ex-
male population is 1.61 crore, and pectations about standards of living.
that of women only 73 lakh. In So far the high birth rates in the
Orissa, too, the number of women developing countries and the lower
literates is nearly 50 per cent less ones in the developed were cited in
than that of men - about 83 lakh support of this conclusion. Now the
men against nearly 45 lakh women. example of Kerala, which has India's
And in Rajasthan, the ratio is lower highest literacy rate and the lowest
still, with only 34 lakh women in that birth rate, provides further vindica-
category as against 1.01 crore men. tion.
Female Literacy: Still a long
way to go
Though the 1991 census data show
In the otherwise high:.literacy Union
Territory of Chandigarh, men are
far ahead of women in literacy - 2.52
lakh men and 1.73 lakh women. In
Delhi, too, despite the high rate of
urbanisation, 23.78 lakh women are
counted as literate, as compared with
35.70 lakh men.
LITERACY RATE 1981 AND 1991
The spread of literacy, particularly
among women, is essential for the
success of the family planning drive.
Literacy will help women to practise
family planning more effectively and
help them become more conscious of
their rights. In the final analysis,
the success of family planning de-
pends on the status of -women in a
society. While continuing its efforts
an overall improvement in literacy,
to raise the status of Indian women in
with nearly 52 per cent of the coun-
general, which will take time, the
try's population literate now, the
Government will do well to think of
ratio of women literates as com-
'\\ specific measures. Here it will be
pared with men continues to be much 60
useful to have a look at last year's
lower, both at the national and State
Cabinet note favouring the disconti-
levels. In absolute figures, out of a
nuance of cash incentive schemes and
total population of over 84 crore, 50
the use of the Rs. 50 crore thus saved
about 13 crore women were counted :::
in providing house loans and sites on
as literates as against 23 crore men ~
a preferential basis to those practis-
(male literacy 63.86 per cent, female ~ «l
ing family planning. There is also a
literacy 39 per cent).:J
strong case for disincentives against
Ironically, Kerala has the distinc- ~
having large families. The fear of
tion of not only being the most ~ 30
political consequences has clearly
educated State, it has now achieved !Z
deterred the Government from mov-
100 per cent literacy because of the ~
ing in this direction. The situation
successful literacy campaign. But ~ 20
is too grave to allow such pusillani-
this achievement has not propor-
mity to continue. The 1991 census
tionately benefited the women in the
report puts India's population at
State, and the number of female 10
nearly 844 million on March 1. Any
literates was tar less than the men,
-.satisfaction' over the marginal drop
according to the latest report of the
in the birth rate from 2.22 per cent
Census Commissioner (Paper-2).
0
during 1971-81to 2.11 per cent during
In Kerala, the women in the total
PERSONS MALES
FEMALES
1981-91 must be tempered by the
population outnumbered men, and
yet the number of women literates
1981 IIlIl!llI
1991 ~
fact th~t the time-table for achieving
replacement fertility level by 2~00
lagged behind the males. Of a tolal Literacy rates relate to Population AD had envisaged the populatIon
male population of 1.42 crore, there
are 1.15 crore literates. But there ale
aged seven years and above.
drop to ,1.90 per cent by 1985 and
1.66 per cent by 1990. The present
only 1.11 crore literate women even
-----
though their total population in the Brakes on Population
trends continuing, India will replace
China by 2030 as the world's most
State is 1.48 crore.
The Union Minister for Health and populous country. The consequences
A break-up ofliterates in the States Family Welfare, Mr. M. L. Fotedar, do not need to be spelt out,
and Union Territories also spoke of said that the family planning
- Edit. IIldian Express. July 10, 1991.
Published by the Family Planning Foundation, 8-28, Qutab Institutional area. New Delhi-110016. Tel: 668181.6867080.6867081
Printed at the Statesman Press, The Statesman Ltd., Connaught Circus, New Delhi-110001.
Editorial Direction & Guidance: Harish Khanna
Editorial Consultant: J. L. Saaz