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Focus 1989 October - December |
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Bulletin of Family Planning Foundation Vol. III. No.4 October-December, 1989
Colloquium on Population Policy: Experts
Call for Urgent Action
The International Union for the Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP), a leading global organisation
with 1,800 members from 118 countries, held its 21st World Population Congress at Vigyan Bhavan in
New Delhi from September 20 to Septemffflr 27, 1989.
By al/ accounts, it was a most representative and business-like conference attended by more than a
thousand delegates from al/ over the world. Some of the most distinguished names in demography such
as William Brass, John Bongaarts, John Calwel/, Ansley Coale and Madame Mercedes Concepcion were
present, not to mention our own luminaries such as Ashish Bose (President of the Indian Association for
the Study of Population -IASP - which hosted the world congress), C. Chandrasekharan, Asok Mitra
and K. Srinivasan. The United Nations had sent two of its highest ranking bureaucrats Jean Claude
Chasteland (Director of the Division of Population) and Nafis Sadik (Executive Director of the United
Nations Population Fund).
The world conference was preceded by an Asian Regional Conference on PopulatiaP with representa~
tives mostly from South Asian countries. There were 27 formal sessions, about 20 informal sessions, two
round table sessions and a Colloquium.
The Colloquium on "Reflections on
Population Policy: Yesterday and
Tomorrow," chaired by Mr. J. R. D.
Tata, Chairman, Family Planning
Foundation, was held on Septem-
ber 22, 1989 to celebrate the 20th
anniversary of the United Nations
Fund for Population Activities
(UNFPA). Ar:nong the participants
were Dr. Nafls Sadik, Executive
Director of UNFPA, Prof. Ashish
Bose, President of the IASP, Prof.
Massimo Livi Bacci, President of
the IUSSP, Mr. Sat Paul Mittal
M.P., Chairman of the Indian
Association of Parliamentarians on
Population Development (IAPPD),
Mr. R. Srinivasan, the Union Health
Secretary and a number of leading
national and international demo-
graphers who had come to the
capital to attend the 21st inter-
national population conference of
the IUSSP.
.
Focussing on India, population
experts described the present
growth rate of 2.1 per cent in India
as "alarming" and called for urgent
steps to reduce the fertility rate.
They said if the population explo-
sion is not curbed 01"1 a war footing,
the population of the country is
likely to reach 1.6 to 1.7 billion in
another 50 years.
With a touch of lrumour, Mr.
Tate said that his own obsession
with the population'· p:roblem
had gro_ with the ye'ltrs and
that in fact he had become a
bore by talking so much about
it. He .aid that he had first
soundedthe alarm in 1951 and
since then his fears had grown
as had the population. Yet. he
added, that he was an optimist
as' far as India's future wrrs
conc.•rned and he believed that
the country could become a
big economic power.
Experts were of the opinion that
female education and creation of
employment opportunities for
women would go a long way in
lowering fertility rates. There was
also need to spread the message of
small family norm with the help of
dedicated and dynamic workers
and that the awareness thus creat-
ed should be fully supported by an
efficient system of back-up services
for family planni'hg.
Need to Educate Women
Mr. J. R. D. Tata expres£.ed his
sorrow and surprise at the fact that
the Government had not given
education and literacy the top
priority It deserved, especially in
the context that it had been proved
almost beyond doubt that there
was a strong and direct relation-
ship between a high female literacy
rate and a low birth rate.
(Continued on page 3)
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etc. The success ot large indus-
trial enterprises like TISCO, lTC,
Indian Tea Association, etc. i"
running family wdfare programme
was shared with the participants
who addressed themselves through
syndicate discussion, to iSSueslike
resource mobilisation and manage-
ment of practical service delivery
models.
Shri Prasanta Sur, Minister for Health and Family Welfare .. West 8engal Govt.
inaugurated the Workshop at Calcutta
Family Welfare in the Organised Sector
Calcutta Workshop
The third Workshop in the series
of nine regional workshops on
"Family Welfare in the Organised
Sector", was held in Calcutta on
September 22, 1989, as a colla-
borative effort of the Family Plann-
ing Foundation and. the Indian
Chamber of Commerce, Calcutta.
It waS inaugurated by Shri Prasanta
Sur, Minister-in- Charge of Health
and Family Welfare, Government
of West Bengal. The earlier two
workshops were held at Chandi-
garh (22 July, 1989) and Bombay
(September 1,1989).
.
In his welcome address, Shn
S. B. Budhiraja, President, Indian
Chamber of Commerce, Calcutta,
underlined the urgent need to con-
trol population growth and the
need to tackle this problem on a
war footing. Shri Budhiraja ca'/ed
upon all sections of society to parti-
cipate in a major effort at attitudinal
change among the people. He
expre:;se::1the confidence that the
corporate sector could achieve
major breakthrough in this regard.
In his inaugural address, Shri
Prasanta Sur stresse::1the need to
create a sense of security in the
minds of couples to ensure that
eVf)i"Y child born would have a
healthy life, and this, in turn, will
contribute largely towards accep-
tance of small family norm as a
way of life.
Shri Sur called upon the indus-
trial enterprises in West Bengal to
improve the managerial skills in
health -care by exposing cadres to
appropriate training so that they
could accomplish this delicate task
with adequate skill and under-
standing. He called upon the
Indian Chamber of Commerce to
lend their expertise in the fields of
organisation and management,
community participation and mobi-
lisation of cost-effective technolo-
gies to ensure meaningful pro-
gramme implementation.
Big Response
The highlight of the Workshop
was a syndicate exercise under the
guidance of Dr. K. K. Ban6rjee,
Joint Director of Health Services,
Government of West Bengal. The
other eminent experts who parti-
cipated in the Workshop included
Dr. S. C. Chakraborty of ESIC, and
Shri D. K. Dey, Director, Family
Planning, TISCO, Jamshedpur. The
industries represented in the Work-
shop included Bata, Duncan,
Dunlop. I.T.C., Indian Aluminium,
The fourth Workshop on "Family
Welfare in the Organised Sector"
was held at Madras on December
8, 1989, as a continuing exercise of
the Family Planning Foundation in
collaboration with the Southern
India Chamber of Commerce &
Industry, Madras. The Workshop '!~
was inaugurClted by Mrs. C. K.
Gariyali, IAS., Director of Family
WElfare, Government of Tamil
Nadu.
In her inaugural address, Mrs.
Gariyali gave an insight into the
functioning of family planning pro-
grammes in Tamil Nadu. Express-
ing..satisfaction over the results of a
Natronal Sample Survey conduct·
ed in December, 1988, which
showed that the birth rate in Tamil
Nadu had come down from 23.7
per thousand population in 1987
to 22.5, she said that they were
now planning to bring it down
further to 21 per 1,000 by March
1991. Mrs. Gariyali urged the
industrial sector to contribute its
mite to the success of the Family
Welfare programme by reaching
out to the rural masses in the areas
of their location. She suggested an
"area specific (Ipproach" ·so. that
the industries located in a particular
area pool their resources for ccn-
certed action.
Earlier, welcoming the guests:
the Chamber Vice- President, Shn
S. RM. PL. Subramanian, said t~at
unbridled growth in population;!"
would erode the advantages. °f<;;..
economic growth, and in this con::."''''
text, there was an urgent need
spread the messag.e?f small
with a sense of miSSIon.
(Continued on
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All atter:tion: Mr. JR.D. Tata speaking at the colloquium attended by distinguished national and international demographers and
population expert~. From left to right: Dr. Allan G. HIli, Secretary-General IUSSP, Prof. Ashish Bose, President IASP, Mr. Sat Paul
Mlttal, M.P., Chairman IAPPD., Mr. William Brass, outgoing President of IUSSP and Dr. Nafis Sadik, Executive Director of UNFPA.
(Continued from page 1)
Mr. Tata, who has been deeply
Interested in the population pro-
blem since the early 50s, said that
the experience of Kerala, which
haa a high female literacy rate and
a low birth rate, had shown the
nexus between the two. In this
context he said that it was in-
comprehensible to him that in the
four most pop:.JlousStates, which
comprise 40 per cent of India's
total population, the Government
was satisfied with a very high
female illiteracy rate. In the-se
States 90 of every 100 female
babies born today wi!! remain
illiterate.
He added that in France the
Minister for Education is next onlv
to the Prime Minister in the cabinet.
In India, l1efelt, not enough atten-
tion and importance was being
given to education which could
have a very positive impact on
development. He said that the
slow increase in the per capita
income in India was due to near
explosion of a population, which
we will not be able to stabilise in
2000 A.D. even at one billion. The
~omentum of the current popula-
tion would take India to at least
1,060 million mark by the turn of
the century, he said. .
More Stress On
Social Development
Dr. Nafis Sadik revealed that the
most recent U.N. estImates have
shown that the world population
was growing faster than what had
been earlier estimated - thus the
six-billionth inhdbitant of the world
was expected to be born in 1998,
one year sooner than previously
projected. Unless urgent action
waG taken to bring down the
growth rate, world population may
yet reach 9.4 billion by 2,025
instead of the 8.5 pillion as pro-
jected according to medium
variants.
Dr. Sadik stressed the need to
examine development strategies
and give as much importance to
social development as to economic
growth. She said there was need
to increase employment oppor-
tunities particularly for women.
Future Population PolicY
Prof. Ashish Bose made two
important points. First, he drew
attention to the traditional Indian
skills 01 communication and
suggested that these should be
utilised for the spread of the
message of famiiy planning, in-
stead of borrowed communication
technologies from the 'Nest.
Second, he expressedthe view that
our family planning strategies
should concentrate on people
rather than be a numbel game of
targets and achievements. He
called upon the demographers to •
be concemed not onlY with figures
but to work out a strategy for a
future population pclicy.
Dr. Bacci said growth was not
only a matter of numbers, but of
value. He said it was wrong to
treat society as a rigid mechanical
whole. Diversities needed to be
taken into account by demo-
graphers.
He said there was an increClsing
awareness that the population po-
blem needed to be subjected to
policy. Demographers also need
to take note of the environmental-
problems, he added.
Mr. Mittal said population, which
is usudlly considered a source of
strength, has become a weakness
in the case of Indid. But the
family planning programme had
only created an awareness but not
any concrete action plan, he said.
The population problem was too
important to be left to bureaucrats
and politicians.
Mr. Srinivasan said in future the
unit resources which go into de-
(Continued on page 4)
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IUSSP Conference: Some Press Comments
Pess3mism on
Population
The single theme that ran like a
red thread through the delibera-
tions of the recent International
conference on plpulation in the
capital was that India's family
planning drive needs urgently to
be revamped and, according to
the c'e,nographic experts at the
conference, p!aced on a war foot-
ing. For, given the present annual
growth of 2.1 per cent, it will not
be very long before achievements
on the economic front are cam-
p letely nullified, by ~he staggering
size of the population, Several
positive suggestions emanated
from the conference. It was stress-
ed that wider education of girls
and the creation of more employ-
ment opportunities for women
could arrest the present high ferti-
lity rate by averting early marriage;
that the field force to propagate
the me.>sage of family p~anning
ought to be more dynamic and
dedicated; and that if the prob~em
were tackled on a zonal basis it
would perhaps make for greater
concentration on birth control and,
what is more imp:>rtant, also be
tailored to suit the specific require-
ments of each region ..•.
Mr. J. R. D. Tata, who frequently
voices his anguish at authority's
lackadaiscal attitude to the pro-
blem of grimly rising numbers,
mentioned, for instance, how the
bigger states, with some 40 per cent
of the country's population, s~m
particularly negligent about birth
control measures. Clearly, th~e
state,s are dominated by communi-
ties that are resistant to bi~th
control, and certain commu~lty
leaders reportedly even campaign
against it
.
Perhaps the government also
need to replace the present system
of incentives for acceptors with ~ff-
ective disincentives, such as Wlt~-
holding free educational ~nd me~l-
cal benefits and even fixed pllce
food rations, besides stopping i~-
crements whether they are In
gJVernment or private e~ployment.
This sounds a harsh thmg to do,
and is, of course, distasteful in a
democracy, but it does seem un-
avoidable if India is to check its
present reckless rate of growth.
An Inspiring Example
Dr. Nafis Sadik, Executive
Director, United Nations Po-
pulation Fund, expressing her
deep gratitude to Mr, J. R. D.
Tata, Chairman, Family Plan-
ning Foundation, for the
celebration that took place in
New Delhi on september 22,
1989, in honour of UNFPA's
20th anniversary, writes;
"Your untiring efforts and
(lrticulate advocacy of popula-
tion concerns have been an
Inspiration and example to all
cf us working in the popula-
tion field. The Colloquium of
Population Policy, which you
arranged, certainly under-
scored the magnitude of
population and development
issues confronring us in the
1990's and beyond."
For world population to stabilize at 10 billion in 2025
more people wiD have to make use of family planning.
The current rate of 45% in the developing world will
have to go up to 58"10 by the year 2000 and to 70"10by
2025 - the average in the indiJstrialized world today.
There will be no solution without
a demonstration of political will.
(The Statesman, October 17, 1989)
Population Growth
Though India has been given a
good chit by international agencies,
our own experts are more critical
of our family welfare: strategy.
There ~is no doubt as experts
have averred, that there has been
an "obsession with decimal points"
m India's family planning pro-
gramme. The result has been cheat-
ing and fudging of figure!> along
the line, so that India is still not on
track to attaining its objective of a
'net reproductive rate' (NRR) of
one by 2001. Why is this? Eco-
nomic and social factors and family
planning are inter-linked. As Dr.
Debarar Banerji /Jointed out at the
conference, the low performance
in familY welfare programmes of
the derisively called "Hindi belt" is
because it has~suffered consider-
able neglect, deprivation and ex-
ploitation and thus is also poor in
terms of per cap:ta incom~, educa.-
tion a'l.P literacy, mortality rate~
and he31th services. Unle::;s this
region, which accounts for half the
country's pJpulation, gets special
attention, the family p'anning p:'o-
g-amme will not make much head-
way.
(Hindustan Times, Sept. 26, 1989)
Colloquium on
Population Policy
(Continued from page 3)
v J"'/Ilent havo to be much larger.
Wherever population etforts have
slacke;lt}d, development has al~o
slackened.
Dr. William Brass, past Pre',ident
of IUSSP pleaded for more re-
source;:;f~r demographic research.
Closing the wide-ranging dis-
cussion, Mr. Tata expressed t~e
hope that IUSSP meetin.g in .Indla
would at least succeed In shifting
the spotlight back on .a .o!oblem
which was aT crucial SignIficance.
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Involvement of Voluntary Organisations in F.W. Programme
Workshop Recommends Autonomous Boards at
Central and State Levels
What steps should be taken to overcome current gaps in the
pattern and mechanism now characteristic of Government - Non-
Government Organisations (NGO) collaboration in health and family
welfare 7
What type of activities or roles NGOs could and should be
undertaking to promot,e and provide family welfare services and
information 7
What forms of support and strengthening would NGOs require
to take up the programme related activities satisfactorily 7 How should
this support be managed 7
Answers to these important
issues, having a direct impact on
the SUCCe3oSf family welfare pro-
gramme, were sought to be evolv-
ed in a three-day Workshop
organised by the National In~titute
of Health and Family Welfare
(NIHFW) at New Delhi from
November 1 to November 3, 1989
with assistance from the World
Bank. Representatives of Ce,ltral
and State Governments, the NGOs,
including umbrella, intermediary
and grassroot organis8tions and
donor communities participated in
wide-ranging discussions on ways
and means to widen and deepen
government-NGO collaboration in
the sphere of health and family
welfare.
Based on these discussions. the
participants arrived at several major
recommendations concerning:
A. Structural arrangements to
facilitate greater N.G.O. in-
volvement;
B. The strategic approach to
NGO involvement; ane.
C. Providirg financial, t"'".,-)I
and managerial support 1-0
NGOs.
Structural Arrangements
Under structural arrangements,
the most significant recommenda-
tion is the creation or constitution
of fully autonomous Boards at the
Central, State and district level
backed by executive powers and
professional skills to promote in-
volvement of NGO~. The re-
commended 5-member Board at
the Central le"el may include one
representative of the Government
of India, one representative of
States, two representatives from
voluntary organisations and one
Chief Executive Officer who should
be a full-time professional.
To assist the Board in the ad-
ministration and implementation of
its activitie,:;, a core statf of techni-
cal and administrative professionals
should be appointed. The entire
funds meant for voluntary organisa-
tions and their projects should be
administered by this Board whose
activities should be subject to
audit. The Board is expected to
simplify and streamline the pro-
cedures for giving grants and
monitoring their utilisation.
The Central Board should dele-
gate its powers including sanction
and release of funds to the State
level Boards. Only projects which
are inter-state in nature, should be
taken up for funding at the level
of the Central Board. In the StClte
Boards, the:'e should be a nominee
of the Central Board instead of the
representative of the Central
Government. The same pattern,
wherever possible, should be
followed at the district level to
serve the cause of voluntary orga-
nisations working at the grass-
roots level.
Strategic Approaches
In evolving their strategic
approaches to the promotion and
coordination of NGO activity in
health and fnmily welfare. the
Ce.ltral and State level Boards
would do well to accommodate
diversity, to offer help in over-
coming weaknesses, promote
innovation and risk-taking as also
dialogue and inter-action, support
a wide-range of differe;lt tyPE-Sof
activity such as direct service pro-
vision, social mobilisaticm or de-
mand creation, training of para-
.medical workers and grass-root level
workers, community based re-
search, documentation and de-
monstration.
Building Capacity
and Sustainability
Insofar as organising financial
and technical support for NGOs is
concerned, the consensus was that
there should be flexibility on what
comp:ments are to be supoorted
rather then following the rigidities
of schemes. The emphasis should
be on building their capacity and
long-term sustainability, especially
of smaller NGOs working in family
welfare who require sustained
supPJrt over a longer period of
time.
Developing Educational
Techniques
Promoting the harmony of popu-
lation growth, national develoment,
and the individual's needs is the
goal of a programme being under-
written by two United Nations
ageilcies: the U.N. Population
Fund (UNFPA) and the U.N. Edu-
cational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO). The
strategy is to develop education
and communications techniques
that will lead to. a sound balance
among these three e:ements, a
balance which is essential to the
well-being of a nation and its
individual citizens. Among the
points of focus of the 130 projects
in over 60 countries. including
India. are: the recruitment of quali-
fied pp,rsonnel production of
te::>chingand audio-visual materials
and the enhancement of the role of
women and youth.
(UNESCO Sources No.2, March
1989)
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Treat Voluntary Bodies as come concern and concern must
seek solutions.
Volulltary organisations can oer-
Equal Partners
form well only if they are not taken
as exten::;;onsof government or as
recipients of state bounty, but as
equal partners in the task of growth
"Voluntary organisations can
perform .well only if they are not
taken as extensions of government
or as recipients of state bounty,
but as equal part/lers in the task of
growth and development, willing
to take responsibility once a con-
sensus has been reached."
This view was expressed by
Shri Harish Khanna, ExecutivE
Director, Family Planning Founda-
tion while addressing the inaugural
session on November 1, 1989 of
tioned. We must also take note of
communication failure as well as
shoddy service both of which have
adversely affected acceptance.
Lately, some initiatives have been
taken in population education and
communications. BlIt, we seem to
have only scratched the surface
insofar as changing the people's
basic attitudes is concerned. It is
to be expected that the;'e will be
no hesitation to review existing
communications strategies and
and development, willing to take
responsibility once a consensus
has been reached. Since, for
quito some years, there is a con-
sensus that the voluntary sector is
of utmost value in community-
oriented health and family vvelfi'1r6
work"there should be little heoita-
tion to entrust more responsibility
to these groupa and to grant larger
fiscal concessions so that they im.
prove their financial position and
can work without break.
the 3-day Workshop on 'Involve- drop over-dramatised gimmicky
ment of Non-governmental Orga- approaches in favour of a steady
nisations in Family Welfare Pro- stream of communications aimed
grammes' organised by the National at delivering correct information in
Madras Workshop
Institute of Health and Family a form which is easily assimilable
Welfare at New Delhi.
and which succeeds in removing
(Continued from page 2)
Here are some excerpts from
Shri Khanna's remarks on the
subject:
We are now at the threshold of
the formulation of the Eighth Plan.
Like before, planners will evaluate
performance under the Seventh
fear and anxieties, particularly,
among the resistant groups. Popu-
lation education for the youth must
bring out the human survi"al
implications.
It is to be desired that subr.tan-
tially farge investments will be
Shri O. P. Bhasin, Programme
Officer, Family Planning Founda-
tion gave a brief account of several
tripartite projects implemented by
the Foundation and requested the
S.1. Chamber to set up a special
cell for family welfare activities.
Plan and evolve modified develop-
ment approaches whe;'ever desired
SUCCe3Shas eluded us. Talking
specifically of the programme to
hold down our burgeoning popula-
tion, it would be hone,3t to admit
that although 76 million preg-
nancies have been averted, thanks
to state-funded family planning
services, the birth rate continues to
hover around 32 per 1,000, and
age-specific fertility has also not
registered any s:gnificant reduc-
tion so far. Consequently, grow-
ing at the rate of 2.1 per cene, we
are adding 17 million people to our
population every year. Thus, the
current 830 million population is
well on its way to expand into the
first billion by 2000 AD. Judging
from these indications, it would be
logical to assume that whereas
the basic demographic goals adopt-
made in this (Education) sector.
It is also necess:iry to impregnate
the course-content of the
National Literacy Mission with criti-
cal messages about p:>pulation,
development and environment, so
that when we succeed in our
miss:on, we have to be content
not only with a notionally literate
p:>pulation, but also succeed in
creating a truly informed com-
munity. For, communication is
not simply shooting out message3;
it is creating, understanding swiftly,
clearly and precisely.
In both these national tasks, the
voluntary organisations should have
a decidedly important role because
they are not only close to the
peoole, they can also devise for-
mat 'more specifically answering
local needs.
In the syndicate exercise under
the (1uidance of Dr. (Mrs.) K. G.
Russia, Additional Director, Family
Welfare, G.overnmentof Tamil Nadu
in which experts like Dr. K. G. Gopal
of Lucas-TVS, Dr. (Mrs.) S. Janaki
of ESIC, Dr. (Mrs.) Sulochana
Unnikrishnan of UPASI, Shri S.
Suryanarayanan of Family Planning
Association of India, Madras parti-
cipated, management aspects of
the programme in the organised
sector came in focus. The industri-
es represented in the Workshop in-
cluded Lucas-TVS, Ashok Leyland,
Brakes India, SPIC and Tube Invest-
ments. Tl1e experience. of large
industrial enterpriSeSlike Tata Steel,
BHEL and Lucas-TVS, in running
family welfare programmes was
shared with the participants.
The consensus at the Workshop
ed by the Government were sound,
The crux of the matter, however, favoured recommending to the
the strategies were faulted, the is time. Contrary to general belief, Government to make it mandatory,
overall performance of the infra- we have very little time to spread for large industries to appoint
structure was below expectations education to propagate positive Family Welfare Officers and in the
and, therefore, the capability of values based on an integrated case of smaller units, assign family
the present population control sys- comprehension of the development welfare work to Labour Welfare
tem needs to be seriously ques- phenomena. Awareness must be- Officers.
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Positive Impact of Female Education in lowering Fertility
and Infant Mortality
It has been long e::;tablished by
of demographers that even in all
environment poverty and soc:a!
backwardness, female education
has a strong impact on the reduc-
tion of ~ertility and child mortality.
This is amply corroborated by the
evidence thrown up by the 1981
census data as revealed by the
following two tableJ:
New H. &F. W.
Minister
In the new Cabinet at the
Centre, Shn Nilmani Rautroi
is the Minister Incharge of
Health & Family Welfare.
Shri J. C. Jetli is the new
Secretary of Family Welfare
Department.
Overpopulation Leads
to Environmental
Pollution
. The quality of air, food and water
is getting worse In the Third world
Table 1: Total Fertility rate (TFR) by educational
at a time when it is getting better
in industrialized nations. That is
level of women, India, 1981
the celltral conclusion of three
United Nations reports considered
to be.the most comprehemive, de-
tailed and informative studies ever
Total
Rural
Urban
carried ou1 on environmental pollu-
tiol1. The studie~, conducted under
,,L'>
Illiterate
5.1
5,1
4.8
the Global Environment Monitoring
System (GEMS), linked the ill. to
Literate but below middle school
4.5
4.6
4.4
overpopulation. For example, the
Middle School but below matric
4.0
4.0
3.9
water-q~ality evaluation said
Matric but below graduate
Graduate and above
3.1
3.3
3.0
urbanizatioil and high birth rates
2.1
2.2
2.1
are overtaxing ""ater supPly,
sewage, and sanitation sYSotems.
Ant:. the magnituae of the problem
The fertility level declined sharply
as the educational level of the
woman increased. While the TFR
for illiterate women is 5.1, it is 2.1
only for women who are graduate
and above. There is a sharp
difference even between illiterate.
women and women who are literate
but below middle school.
Let us now look at the mortality
of children below 5 yeam of age
by educational standards of the
mothers.
It is observed (Table 2) that the
edUCAtion level of the mother in-
of her children. Wha', is noteworthy
is that the educational level of
females has a much greater impact
on child mortality than that on
fertility. This is because of the
fact that educated women are more
capable in taking better health care
of their children in their early years
leading to a sharp decline in the
mortality levels.
Moral: If we have to bring
down the fertility ana child morta-
lity in India, we must ensure uni-
versal female education at least
upto the matric level.
is expected to double every 10
years. As fsr air, two-thirds of the
wor!a's city dwellers breathe dis-
turbingly high levels of sulphur
aioxide and dust.· The third report
explores levels of pesticides, indus-
trial chemical~. and natIJr?IIvoccur-
ing toxins in hunareds of food
stUffs. Among other things. it
concludes that even a complete
ban on such persistent chemicals
as DOT and PCBs will not prevent
their entry into the food supply.
"Because of their chemical sta-
bility," the study says. "they will
remain in the w?terways and on
fluences greatly the mortality level (Economic Times Sept. 20, 1989) the land for year:>,thus making it
necessary to monitor for them in
Table 2: Number of deaths by age 2 per 1,000 live
births, India 1981
fish, meat, milk and other animal-
derived product!"."
The studies were conducted
Educational Level of Mother
Total
Rural
Urban
und€r the auspices of the World
Health Organization (WHO) and
I!literate
138
146
Literate but below middle school
96
106
99
the U.N. Environment Program
(UNEP), . with input from the
73
Monitoring and Assessment Re-
Middle school but below matric
Matric but below graduate
63
73
52
search Centre (MARC) at King's
43
55
40
College, University of London.
Graduate and above
28
37
27
(International Dateline, April
1989)
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8 Page 8 |
▲back to top |
A Better Life for Future Generations
The principal aim of social,
economic and cultural develop-
ment, of which population policy
and programmes are integral parts,
is to improve the quality of fife of
the people. To be effective, there-
fore, a development strategy must
reflect population concerns among
its primary objectives. Similarly, a
population strategy must reflect
development concerns. It must
link population programmes to
programmes on health, education,
housing and employment, among
others. Indeed, it is only through
such linkages that sustained and
sustainable development can be
achieved.
This is the burden of the Amster-
dam Declaration "A Better Life for
Future Generations", adopted at
the conclusion of the r&cel1tly held
four-day conference of the Inter-
national Forum on Population in
the Twenty- First Century. Re-
presentatives of 79 nations along
with 32 voluntary organisations
and 16 academic institutions parti-
cipated in the discussiont.
According to the Declaration,
the attainment of popuiation goals
and objectives should rest on six
main pillars, viz., strengthening of
political commitment developmem
of national strategies and pro-
grammes, acceleration and expan-
sion of resource mobilization,
strengthening of the role and status
of women, strengthening of the
quality, effectiveness and outreach
of ramify planning and MCH
services, heightening of community
awareness and participation in the
formulation and implementation of
programmes and projects.
The Forum emphasized that
national population goals and
objectives for the coming decade
and beyond should include:
* A reduction in the average
number of children born pet
woman;
* A substantial reduction in very
early marriage and in teenage
pregnancy;
* An Increase in contraceptive
prevalence in developing
countries so as to reach at
least 56 per cent of women ot
reproductive age by the year
2000;
* A reduction of the 1980 rate
of infant mortalrty to ra'tes of
50 per thousand live births
by the year 2000 ;
* A reduction in maternal morta-
lity from all causes, including
illegal abortion, by at least
50 per cent by the year 2000;
* An increase in the ave;'age life
expectancy at birth to 62 years
or more for men and women
in high mortality countries by
the end of the century.
Among the critical basic
activities needed in planning
for the attainment of these
goals are:
* An increase ir efforts to
collect, analyze. dissemmate
and use data in population
policy and programme plan.,-
i!lg;
* An expansion of re:::earchinto
contraceptive technology and
of social science research into
the dbterminants of fE'rtility
and family planning attitudes
and behaviou r ;
Programme priorities and
approaches should be sensi-
tive and aware of:
* The effects of education on
demographic behaviour and
the critical importance for
development of increasi,'9
female literacy and achieving
universal enrolment in ptlmery
school by the year 2000;
* The social and e.conomic valUE
of children in the famiiy,
community and national de-
velopment;
* The need to i"crease women's
participation in decision-mak-
ing and management of popu-
lation po Iicif'S and pro-
grammes, With the aim of
achieving equality of represen-
tation;
* 1he need to improve coverage
and quality of maternal al'1d
child health and family planll-
ing programmes;
* The h£;alth benetits of birth
sP'lcing and breast-feeding
for mothers and infants;
* The value of information, edu-
cation and communication
activities in developmental
work and in population pro-
grammes in particular;
* Th,e impact of rural aevelop-
ment and investment on
regional employment Oppor-
tUnities for both sexes and, by
implication, on the magni-
tude of rural-to-urban migr<l-
tion and the needs of slum
dwellers;
* The need to train adequate
numbers ot staff including
programme managers, so a.s
to enable'them to become self-
sufficient in carrying Ol't ex-
panded population pro·
grammes.
(Po~ulation Headliners
December, 1989)
New Members of
tbe FPF Governing'
Board
Prof. A. M. Khusro and Dr.
(Mrs.) Banoo J. Coyaji are
the new members of the
Governing Board of the Family
Planning Foundation.
Prof.. Khusro, an eminent
agrarian economist, hasserved
the country in many a respon-
sible p.Jsition - member of
the Planning Commission,
Ambassador and Vice-Chan-
cellor of Aligarh Muslim
Universi'ty.
Dr. Coyaji, Cl noted MCH
expert, has been in the fore-
front of activities related to the
welfare of women and
children, especially i,l the
field of health and family
planning. Presently, Chairman
of the K.E.M. Hospital -Re-
search Centre, Pune, she has
been associated with the FPF
as a member of its Advisory
Council.
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