JRD Tata Oration Nine

JRD Tata Oration Nine



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JRD Tata
Founder Chairman
Population Foundation of India
(July 29,1904 - November 29,1993)

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JRD TATA
MEMORIALORATION
NINTH
SHRI SOMNAnI CHATIERJEE
Hon'ble Speaker, Lok Sabha
on
TOWARDS POPULATION
STABILIZATION: ROLE
OF GOOD GOVERNANCE
MARCH 30,2005
i
,.f,.',.
POPULATION FOUNDATION OF INDIA
New Delhi

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Preface
Established in the year 1970, by a dedicated group
of industrialists and population activists led by Bharat
Rama, the late Mr. JRD Tata, the Population Foundation
of India has dedicated itself to the cause of Reproductive
and Child Health (RCH) and other population related
programmes.
Being a pioneer organization for funding and
promoting population related activities in the country,
the Foundation has displayed a vision since its inception
to make planning for small families a socially acceptable
and sustainable behaviour norm. Its activities have
reached beyond family planning to reproductive and
sexual health and rights, HIV /AIDS, child health and
rights, women's health, adolescent health and
development, and female foeticide. Its commitment and
work for the welfare of people at large, has placed it
amongst the leading non-government organizations at
the national level.
(i)

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As a part of its advocacy programme, Population
Foundation ofIndia instituted in 1990 "Encounter with
Population Crisis," a lecture series inviting important
International and Indian celebrities to deliver lectures
once a year to focus on critical issues related to
population and development and to carry the debate
forward.
.
Since 1995, the series was re-christened as "JRD
Tata Memorial Oration", in memory of the founder
Chairman of the Foundation, and were delivered by Mr.
Ramakrishna Hegde~ followed by Mr. Chandrasekhar,
Dr. Najma Heptullah, Mr. I.K Gujral, Dr.Nafis Sadik,
Mr. K.C Pant ,Mr. Digvijay Singh and Dr. Manmohan
Singh
This year we invited Mr.Somnath Chatterjee,
Hon'ble Speaker of the Lok Sabha, to deliver the ninth
JRD Tata Memorial Oration on "Towards Population
Stabilization: Role of Good Governance". Mr.5omnath
Chatterjee has had a dynamic career as advocate, trade
unionist, social worker and politician. He has been a
member of many important committees and has led
delegations, representing India, at several national and
international fora. He was conferred the outstanding
Parliamentarian Award for the year 1996, besides several
other honours and awards. Mr Chatterjee is also well
known for his orations and writings.
(ii)

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We hope that this Oration will stimulate the
Government and non-gover:nmental organizations to
come forward through a coordinated and integrated
approach to achieve better results in population
stabilization efforts. It is also expected that it will provide
the necessary thrust to make the various components of
good governance work cohesively.
New Delhi
March 30, 2005
A.R.N anda
Executive Director
(ill)

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NintbJRD TataMemorial Oration
Addressby
Dr. Bharat Ram, Chainnan, PFI
Hon. Shri Somnath Chatterjee Ji, Speaker Lok Sabha
and distinguished friends,
Population Foundation of India
is honoured to have Shri Somnath
Chatterjee speaker Lok Sabha, in our
midst to deliver the Ninth JRD Tata
Memorial Oration in memory of the
late Mr. JRD Tata. It was actually
under Mr. JRD Tata's initiative that the
Foundation instituted the lecture series
in 1990under the title "Encounter with
Population Crisis". In the Silver Jubilee year of the
Foundation in 1995, this lecture series was re-christened as
"JRD Tata Memorial Oration" .
The Population Foundation of India, as most of you
may know, was established in 1970 by a group of socially
committed industrialists, the late Mr. JRD Tata, myself and
a few others. Mr. Tata carried on a relentless crusade for the
promotion of family planning. He realized the importance
of Family Planning for improving the standard of living of
the people. He also considered the role of non-government
organizations as important for the success of family
planning. Since 1970, the Foundation has been in the
forefront of non-government efforts to promote and fund
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population related activities in the country. Its activities
have reached beyond family planning and the immediate
concern with contraceptives, to holistic reproductive and
child health programmes, under the wider canvas of
population and development.
Currently India's Population is estimated at 109 crores
and we are growing at 1.7 per cent per year. During the
past 50 years, the birth and death rates in the country as a
whole have declined by almost the same extent, by about
15 to 17 points, keeping the high population growth rate
almost unaltered. As we all know, in 1952, India was the
first country in the world to launch a national programme
emphasizing family planning for population stabilization.
Since then, the Indian Family Planning Programme has
gone through several phases, from population control to
human centered sustainable development and recognition
of the need for comprehensive reproductive health care. The
International Conference on Population and Development
(ICPD), 1994 triggered a paradigm shift in the thinking on
the issue of population. As signatory to the Programme of
Action of the ICPD several countries have taken steps to
integrate their population concerns within their development
strategies. In India the National Population Policy (NPP)
2000 forms the blue print for population and development,
asserting the centrality of human development, gender
equity and equality, adolescent reproductive health and
quality of care in Family Planning service delivery among
other issues towards stabilizing India's population.
During the past fifteen years, there are large
demographic differentials that have occurred across the
states within the country. The post independence
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demographic transitions achieved, especially after 1970,are
remarkably different. Over the past two decades, some states
have been able to reduce the growth of population to
replacement levels of fertility while others are lagging behind.
Several pathways have emerged. Kerala, for instance, does
not have a very strong economy, but it enjoys the best social
development indicators specially those favouring gender
equity and has gone much below the replacement level of
fertility. The same is the case with Tamil Nadu. Haryana, on
the other hand, has much better economy, but lies far behind
in matters of social development and population
stabilization.
As we all know, stabilizing population is an essential
requirement for promoting sustainable development with
more equitable distribution. Sustainable development is very
closely linked with gender, equity and equality.
Unfortunately, adequate steps were not taken to tackle the
issue ofpopulation stabilization and sustainable development
immediately after independence.
The Population Foundation of India has played an
important role in advocating and lobbying with successive
Prime Ministers, political parties and Members of Parliament
on the critical issues of Population and Development. The
suggestions put forth by the Foundation through such efforts
have fortunately been considered by the Government in
formulation of the National Population Policy.
The National Population Policy, 2000 has taken into
consideration the issue of population and development in a
holistic and comprehensive manner. Population stabilization
has been recognized as a multi-sectoral endeavour requiring
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constant and effective dialogue among a diversity of
stakeholders, and coordination at all levels of the government
and society. Spreading of literacy and education, increasing
the availability & accessibility of affordable and quality
reproductive and child health services, convergence of
service delivery at the village level, participation of women
in the paid work force, together with a steady improvement
in family income have been envisaged in this policy.
Shri Somnath Chatterjee Ji is here with us to share his
thoughts on the topic "Population Stabilization: Role of Good
Governance" .Although he needs no introduction, I would
like to say a few words about him.
Shri Somnath Chatterjee hails from Bengal, born in
Tezpur, Assam and received education in Calcutta University
and Cambridge University. His is a dynamic career as
Advocate, Trade Unionist, Social Worker and Politician. He
has been member of many important committees and has
led delegations representing India at national and
international fora. He was conferred the outstanding
Parliamentarian Award for the year 1996. besides several
other honours and awards.
Shri Chatterjee is also well known for his writings and
orations.
His talk, I am sure would be enlightening and his
insights about Indian society, Political System and
Governance will put the issue of Population and
Development in a proper perspective.
I would now request Shri Somnath Chatterjee Ji to
address the audience. Shri Somnath Chatterjee Ji- -
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TOWARDS POPULATION STABILIZATION: ROLE
OF GOOD GOVERNANCE
March30,2005AtPHDChamberOfCommerce&IndustryN, ewDelhi
Shri Somnath Chatterjee
Hon'ble Speaker, Lok Sabha
Chairman of the Governing
Board, Population Foundation of
India, Dr. Bharat Ram; Vice-
Chairman, Mr. Harishankar
Singhania; Executive Director, Mr.
A.R. Nanda; Ladies and
Gentlemen:
I am greatly honoured to be here
today to deliver the Ninth JRD Tata Memorial Oration on
the important subject, Towards Population Stabilization: Role
of Good Governance. I am grateful to the Population
Foundation of India for giving me this opportunity to speak
on a theme which was very close to JRD Tata's heart. At the
outset, I would like to pay my humble tributes to the
memory of the doyen of Indian industry who was also a
pioneering crusader for the promotion of family planning
and welfare in our country.
Late JRD Tata was indeed a multi-faceted personality
- a visionary, a pioneer, a creator of wealth who laid the
foundation of Indian industry, a builder of institutions, a
social activist with great sensitivity and, above all, a fine
human being, who became a legend in his own life-time.
He activelypromoted and assiduously fostered several causes
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in the service of the nation. Of utmost priority to him was
the need to put a check on our rapidly rising population.
JRD, as he was affectionately called by his friends and
admirers, advocated population stabilization not only as an
instrument of curbing the exponentially rising population
of India but also to secure for our people a new meaning of
life and thus enjoy the fruits of progress and development.
His view of the gravity of the crisiswas reflected in his utmost
concern in addressing the problem of poverty and protecting
the environment which, he felt, were wider dimensions of
the population crisis.He called upon successive governments
to confront these challenges on a high priority basis. JRD
also stressed how important it was to ensure good
governance practices in enabling development and
population stabilization. It was at his initiative that the
International Institute of Population Studies was set up in
1956 to study the related issues in perspective and provide
inputs in meeting the grave situation. JRD's ceaseless
endeavours in population stabilization saw him being
honoured with the 1992 UN Population Award. He
articulated his concerns in his acceptance speech thus:
I wasmotivated by nothing more importantthan aldnd
ofpersonal protest against the continuing poverty of most of
our people whjch had deprjved them for so long of even
minimum acceptable condjtions of living and in theproces~
had undermined all efforts at rajsing the nation's sodo-
eronomicdevelopment 1hesubjectbecameapersonal obsessjon
wmch still haunts me.
It is highly gratifying to see that his other brainchild,
the Population Foundation of India, has been doing
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outstanding work towards population stabilization and
establishing a balance among our resources, environment
and population and in different areas relating to population
policy, namely, universal primary health care, including
reproductive and child health services, empowering women,
involving communities and so on.
The subject of today's talk has two specific components
- population stabilization and good governance. Indeed,
these are closely inter-related, especially in the context of a
country like India. We cannot facilitate good governance
in all its manifestations unless we make concrete efforts
towards population stabilization; at the same time, good
governance has a very crucial role in stabilizing the growth
of our population apart from providing amenities and
opportunities to them. For a country like India with over a
billion population - and we are stillgrowing exponentially
- we need both population stabilization and good
governance in good measure. And for that to be achieved,
it is imperative that all stakeholders should take proactive
measures to facilitate the related processes. The thrust should
be on making the various components of good governance
practices work cohesively as a means to stabilizing our
population. In particular, our policies and programmes
must ensure accountability and legitimacy of the
government; respect for the rule of law and fundamental
human rights; transparent and consensus-oriented
administration; and the promotion of social and economic
development in an equitable and inclusive manner.
The concern for population stabilization and good
governance, indeed, must become the concern of all -
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whether we are part of the governing structures of the
country or outside. Statistics tell a tale of their own: of how
we are adding to our population - rather the world
population - by seconds, minutes and hours. As experts in
the field, you are all fully aware of the related facts, figures
and terminologies. What we need to keep in mind is that
India is the second most populous country in the world,
sustaining 16.7per cent of the global population on 2.4 per
cent of the earth's surface area.
It may be contended that high population growth is
to a certain extent inevitable, especially during the early
stages of demographic transition; what is important,
however, is to facilitate the acceleration of the pace of such
demographic transition. The issue is how to transform our
population into an asset, converting our human potential
into a high value added workforce resource for contributing
towards raising the standards of living of the entire
population in a sustainable manner. These aspects should
be kept in mind while discussing the role of the State in
achieving the goal of population stabilization through
appropriate good governance policies and programmes.
The issue of population is complex and varied and it
has many facets. It was used as an excuse for colonialism, as
an explanation for colonial famines, as an explanation for
poverty in all countries, especially Third World countries.
Thus civil wars in Africa, refugee flows, 'war for water', etc.
are all attributed by some to population growth. It,however,
does not explain the continuing, and increasing, transfer of
resources from the poor countries to the rich ones, which
only points to the fact that the so called 'less' or 'optimally'
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populated countries are not able to run their affairs with
their own resources and, conversely,even the over-populated
countries do have resources which can be spared. This
makes it imperative to talk not so much of numbers as of
consumption. But the focus in many circles is still on the
numbers, which only explains part of the issue.
Of course, no one can suggest that birth control is
unnecessary or unimportant. On the contrary, measures
for birth control have been an extremely important part of
the global ~ and indeed Indian women's - struggles for
equality and justice. As has been observed by an analyst,
"we do not need family planning for neo-Malthusian
reasons, for economic development or for the good of the
country, but we do need it for enhancing the freedom of
women. We also need it for the well being of children, indeed
for the well being of people, precisely for the same reasons
people need health services."
It was rightly recognized in the formative years of our
Republic that freedom from foreign rule would be incomplete
without freedom from want, deprivation and destitution.
At the time of Independence, we had a population of nearly
35 crores, with a substantial portion of them living below
poverty line. As Dr. B.R. Ambedkar rightly pointed out,
political democracy would have no meaning without social
justice and economic uplift of all sections of society. It was
this realization which made Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru stress:
We have to come to grips with this problem of
population. It does not become some kind of a theoretical
concept Wehave toplan in terms of food dothing housing,
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education health work etc/ and we realise that some kind
of limitation of the rapidly growing population becomes an
urgent matter for us.
. .. the most vital thing in India is for us to advance on
the economic and sodal fronts. Uin oureagemessfor family
planning we ignore thismajor aspedofeconomic advance or
educational advanc~ we wiDbe buildingon wholly insecure
foundations. Foreconomic and educationalprogressis the only
foundation on which wecanhaveanyeffective progress with
regard tofamily planning
Thus, emphasis was laid on food, shelter and clothing
as important components of the country's developmental
process. That we were fully conscious of the seriousness of
the situation is evident from the fact that India was the nrst
country in the world to formulate a National Family
Planning Programme, as early as in 1952. The Five Year
Plans formulated since 1952have also been addressing the
concerns of the population growth. The First Five Year Plan
itself underlined the need for population stabilization thus:
The recent increase in the population of India and the
pressures exercised on the limited resources of the country
have brought to the forefront the urgency of the problem of
family planning and population control. ... It is, therefore,
apparent that population control can be achieved only by
the reduction of the birth rate to the extent necessary to
stabilize the population at a level consistent with the
requirements of the national economy. This can be secured
only by the realization of the need for family limitation on a
wide scale by the people.
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Over the last five decades, successivegovernments have
come out with various schemes, policies and programmes
to confront the challenge of population growth. We had
taken the steps for promoting economic development by
integrating the population aspect also into the planning
processes. The Third Five Year Plan clearly put the
population issue at the centre of planned development, with
greater emphasis on changing the attitude of the people.
The Fourth Five Year Plan emphasized that the benefits of
economic development could be passed on to the people
only if the population was controlled. During the Ninth Plan
period, the emphasis shifted to decentralized planning at
the district level based on an assessment of community needs
and the implementation of related programmes. Some of
the major concerns, during this period, were to reduce the
rate of population growth by meeting the need for
contraception, and reducing the infant and maternal
mortality. It is also due to intensified efforts to enhance the
quality and coverage of family welfare services that we could
achieve declining trends in the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) or
the average number of births per couple.
Even though we had an early start at family planning,
we have not been successful enough in putting a check on
the rapid rise of our population. Between 1947 and 2001,
there has been a trebling of India's population. Much money
was spent, many programmes announced and put into
operation; in between, we graduated from family planning
to family welfare and from population control to population
stabilization. We also witnessed a critical phase of these
efforts during the days of the internal emergency. In the
eighties and the nineties, there was a greater awareness of
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the extent and gravity of the problem, corresponding to the
global campaign for population control and stabilization.
But, in real terms, these efforts have not curbed our
population growth as is evident from the fact that we are
fast catching up on China and are set to overtake our
northern neighbour by 2040.
Notwithstanding the trend of the declining fertility
rates, our falling infant mortality and increasing life
expectancy will spur an increase of at least 300million people
by 2020.According to the Planning Commission projection,
the total population of India will exceed 1.3billion in 2020.
A marked slowdown in birth rates will leave the under-IS
population at roughly the same size as it is today. It goes to
show that the pressure for expansion of the educational
system will come from increasing enrolment in our
educational institutions. The population over 60years of age
is estimated to double from 60 to 120million people and the
Government will be duty bound to adopt special measures
to support the vulnerable group, which will include a high
percentage of illiterates who are also susceptible to both
malnutrition and health-related problems. Unless we take
appropriate action, we may have to face a great challenge
posed by unequal rates of population and economic growth,
which is likely to further aggravate the regional disparities
within the country.
A number of factors have to be addressed when we
talk of population stabilization in our country. These include,
besides the size of our population, various political, social
and economic consequences of such unbridled growth. India
is pluralistic in more ways than one - political, climatic,
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linguistic, religious and many more. Development itself has
been lopsided across the Indian landmass. In the years since
Independence, economic iniquities have widened - within
the country as a whole and more importantly within
individual States. We find islands of affluence surrounded
by poverty, privation and penury. The social and economic
costsof such dichotomy in development have been enormous,
putting considerable strain on the nation and its governance
structure. We see the consequences all around us -poverty;
youth unrest; unemployment; lack of educational
infrastructure; conflicts between the landlords and the
landless; pitiable conditions of women, children, the working
class; migration from rural to urban centers, putting further
pressure on the already strained civic infrastructure; crime
and violence; adverse impact on the environment; strain on
the available land and resources, inadequate health care
facilities, etc. We also have to confront issues like shortage
of clean drinking water, electricity, food, problems related
to PQllution, sanitation, hygiene, waste management, etc.
All these issues have to be confronted and resolved not only
for the sake of our polity and society but for the economy
as well. In spite of our economy growing fast, the economic
and social investment required to support our present
population would thus have to be highly substantial.
One has to keep in mind that there are sizeable inter-
state differences in population, population growth rates and
the time by which the Total Fertility Rate of 2.1 and
population stabilization will be achieved. There is an
emergent need to narrow down these disparities among the
States; otherwise, it will have a major impact on the health
and nutritional status of their population, education and skill
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development, employment and emoluments of the people,
rural-urban and inter-state migrations, and above all on
social and economic development. In fact, it has been
assessed that the performance of the more populous states
of Rajasthan, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and
Bihar would determine the year and size of population at
which India achieves the replacement level of fertility. We
need to make special efforts during the next two decades to
break the vicious circle of poor performance, poor per capita
income, poverty, low literacy and high birth rate for
prevenPng the widening of disparities between the States.
A rational population policy and an appropriate
development strategy will have to be synchronized. We
cannot ignore the fact that uncontrolled growth of
population has detrimental implications for development
plans, aggravating the problems of food supply, nutrition
and employment and, above all, hampering our efforts in
ensuring a decent and dignified life to our people. A
perceptive population policy should be an essential
component of the overall development programme;
otherwise in the limited resource situation that we are faced
with, the population factor is bound to disturb the social,
economic and political life of the country as well as its
governance. . Amartya Sen and Jean Dreze have warned
us about the /compounding' of the impact of population
increase and economic growth. They have pointed out thus:
...There is a compounding of the impact of population
growth and economic growth to which we have to pay
attention. Even when the impact of population growth today
happens to be small, if we consider the long-run effects of
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today's population expansion in the light of prospective
prosperity in the future, we have to take into account
compounded aggregate effects that can be quite large and
are likely to grow over time. . .. In all the spheres of concern
to which we have already referred (food and nutritional
adequacy, environmental degradation, infrastructural
pressure, etc.) we have to look at the cumulative effects of
growth in population size and increase in economic activity.
Many people often link population growth and related
problems to food sufficiency in a simplistic manner. JRD
Tata cautioned us long back about this when he said:
There has, in the past, been an extraordinary reluctance
to consider the population problem at all or an equally
dangerous tendency to oversimplify it by relating it only to
food production. Even if the latter could be made to keep
pace indefinitely with the rise in our population, the problem
would be solved only in part because even the poorest of
our people are not likely to be satisfied for long merely with
a sufficiency of food.
The country has made significant strides in food
production. However, in spite of progress, nearly half of
our population still suffers from chronic under-nutrition and
malnutrition. The most vulnerable among them are children,
women and the elderly from the low-income groups. Linked
with this is the question of generation of sufficient
emploYment opportunities, which has to be worked out as
part of a strategy for national food security as food security
is an essential requirement for raising the level of
productivity of our work force.
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I believe that equal access to gainful employment,
which is a constitutional right, has to be backed by the full
commitment of the government. While it is likely that the
population growth comes down to replacement levels over
the next two decades, our greatest challenge will be to provide
employment opportunities for all the job seekers. According
to the Planning Commission's estimates, it is likely that the
working age group population will expand by about 45 per
cent, leading to a rapid growth of the working people and
the number of job seekers. To meet the situation, India will
need to generate around 200 million additional jobs over
the next twenty years. Thus, a major thrust of our economic
policy should be ensuring generation of employment
opportunities for such additional requirements.
We also have to seriously work out national
development strategies that can achieve sustainable and
equitable human development and empower people. We
should go beyond social safety nets and focus directly on
providing jobs and raising incomes of the marginalised
sections of society, through explicit policy interventions. We
need to frame and implement public policies that enable
income generation and facilitate equitable distribution
especially to benefit the poor and the vulnerable.
Measures should also be taken to improve the process
of governance with the objective that our public policy
fundamentally protects the general public interest, especially
the interests of the weaker sections of society. One need
hardly stress that human development and good governance
should go hand in hand. The real challenge before any
society is to create a system of governance which would be
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capable of promoting, supporting and sustaining human
development to realize the highest potential and well being
of all by eliminating poverty and all other forms of exclusion.
In the process of strengthening the foundations of
democracy, we should ensure that the core characteristics
of good governance, which besides ensuring participation,
rule of law, transparency, responsiveness and consensus-
orientation also encompass in their fold equity, effectiveness
and efficiency, and a strategic vision. Our strategies for
human development must aim at generating economic
growth, productive employment, social integration and
environmental regeneration as also ensure extensive public
participation and empowerment of the vulnerable groups.
The public needs to be involved more purposefully in the
process of policy formulation and their participation in the
action programmes must be encouraged at all levels.
It is in the fitness of things that decentralized planning
and programme implementation has been made one of the
strategic themes of the National Population Policy to achieve
the national socio-economic goals set for 2010. The 73rdand
74thConstitution Amendment Acts of 1992have enabled the
involvement of the local bodies in healthcare, family welfare
and education of the people. As the National Population
Policy is to be largely implemented and managed at the
Panchayat and Nagarpalika levels, we should address the
issue with a comprehensive approach with multi-sectoral
coordination of planning and implementation between
health and family welfare schemes and include in its ambit
the provision of education, nutrition, women and child
development, safe drinking water, sanitation, rural and
urban development and environment protection. The
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increasing involvement of the Panchayati Raj Institutions
(PRIs) in ensuring inter-sectoral coordination and
community participation in planning, monitoring and
management of the programmes for population
stabilization, can be of great help if it is coupled with the
empowerment of women, which is a pre-requisite for the
successful implementation of any family welfare
programme. As such, the Department of Women and Child
Development and the Ministry of SocialWelfare should take
new initiatives, as indeed they have already taken a few
measures, in training and capacity building, employment
and income generation, welfare and support services. This
would go a long way in economically and socially
empowering women.
The focus of India's health services should be on the
health care of women and children. Family limitation and
spacing of children are necessary conditions, which will help
to secure hetter health for the mother and better care and
upbringing of the child. If the reproductive goals of families
are fully met, the country will be able to achieve the National
Population Policy goal of replacement level of fertility by
2010. Our ultimate medium and long-term goal should be
to continue this process so as to accelerate the pace of
demographic transition and achieve population stabilization
by 2045. Early population-stabilization will enable us to
achieve our aim of improving the economic status and
quality of life of the citizens, which is directly linked with
the state of governance in any democratic set-up.
A higher level of economic development can only be
the outcome of good governance practices that can help
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stabilize population over a period of time. I believe that by
integrating our population policies into our economic and
developmental strategies, we will not only be able to speed
up the pace of sustainable development and poverty
alleviation but we will also be able to contribute to the
achievement of our population policy objectives and ensure
an improved quality of life for our people.
Family planning measures alone are not sufficient to
contain the growth of population in a country; what is more
important is economic and social transformation. We have
examples of several countries like Japan where the impact
of their human resource development, especially education
and skill development, is reflected not only in their economic
growth, but also on population control. Nearer home, we
have the example of Kerala where there has been a
remarkable success in population stabilization which,
experts assert, have been made possible because of the high
rate of literacy, awareness, health care and the like. The
human development indices in Kerala are also highly
commendable. States like Tamil Nadu and Goa have also
been able to address the challenge of population growth to
a considerable extent.
Thus, we have to fully recognize the necessity of
enhancing the State's capacity to carry out new functions
and redefined roles. I believe that eradicating extreme
poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education,
promoting gender equality, reducing child mortality,
improving maternal health, combating HIV/AIDS and other
diseases, and ensuring environmental sustainability should
be on top of the agenda in every country, especially in the
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caseofIndia,with a population ofover one billionto sustain.
It is essential that the gap between the rich and the poor
should be narrowed down, leading to balanced development
of our human wealth. Affordability of treatment and access
to methods of prevention like immunization and family
planning contribute to a more economically productive
population. If anti-poverty strategies are linked with
improved health care for the poor with education at all age
and ability levels, it will prove to be a key ingredient in
reducing or even eliminating poverty. The effectiveness of
anti-poverty and healthcare programmes depends
substantially on the e#iciencyand accountability of both
the Union and the State Governments. The civil society also
plays an important role in this regard.
The National Population Policy provides a policy
framework for advancing goals and prioritizing strategies
during the next decade. It is particularly important to meet
the reproductive and child health needs of our people. Our
health workers and healthcare providers should be well
equipped with the necessary skills to effectively manage the
programme of comprehensive reproductive and child health
care as envisaged in the Reproductive and Child Health
(RCH) Programme and the National Population Policy. If
we look at some evaluation studies, we can see that the
coverage under immunization is not universal even in the
best performing States, while coverage rates are very slow
in several States.
So, it is very necessary that special efforts are made to
improve access to and utilization of the services in States/
Districts with high mortality or fertility rates. We also have
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to streamline the functioning of the primary health care
system, both in urban and rural areas, and provide good
quality, integrated RCH services at the prima~ secondary
and tertiary care levels and improve referral services. It is
highly desirable to cover the underserved population living
in urban slums, remote rural and tribal areas, with improved
access to good quality services. It would be of great benefit
if the involvement of the industry in the organized and
unorganized sectors, agricultural workers and labour
representatives is also sought in improving access to RCH
services. A meaningful association among the communi~
government and the civil society partners would help to
ensure effective delivery systems at the grassroots level.
Several studies have shown that some regional and
cultural factors too affect fertility patterns in different States.
Even the status of women stemming from cultural factors
accounts for the difference. We have a long history of social
reforms in India. Besides the equality of status granted in
the Constitution of India in all matters, special statutes and
pronouncements have been made in national policies for
the development of women. In spite of all these measures,
the dominance of a patriarchal mindset has worked against
securing equality of status for women and perpetuated
several cultural norms that are oppressive for them.
The mindset has to change and a strong societal and
political will has to emerge if we want to see the
empowerment of women in the real sense. Our policies and
programmes must be gender sensitive and should also be"
directed to create awareness among them about their rights
and responsibilities. It is equally necessary to generate a
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suitable environment to enable them to take decisions
impinging on their health, to exercise their rights and to
discharge their responsibilities. This will entail greater
responsibility for all of us to see that a higher level of
education is achieved not only with a focus on girls' education
but for the whole population for bringing about behavioural
changes in society.
It is interesting to find that several States/Districts have
shown encouraging results in achieving steep reduction in
mortality and fertility envisaged in the National Population
Policy within the existing infrastructure and manpower. But
the inadequate performance of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh,
Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Orissa could well be
explained by the operation of innumerable factors requiring
special attention in these States. Initially, these States, along
with Uttaranchal, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, which have
been identified as Empowered Action Group (EAG) States,
have been extended the facility for the preparation of area
specific programmes to address unmet needs. The success
of the EAG will depend to a large extent on how far inter-
sectoral coordination has been strengthened to improve the
family welfare service at the grassroots leveL We also need
to ensure that government and non-government agencies
function in harmony and provide integrated service delivery.
I believe that decentralization is necessary to help
create an enabling environment for a holistic, people-centred
approach and broaden local participation in planning,
implementation, monitoring and evaluation. At the same
time, we should keep in mind that participation is no less a
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social and political activity which requires awareness,
organization and mobilization;if it is to become an effective,
reliable and predictable mechanism of decision making and
action. So,for a successful implementation of a decentralized
policy, we must follow a process of gradual and strategic
capacity building and trust, besides fixing our goals
according to the needs and priorities for the well being of
the local population as the central guiding consideration.
It is in this context that I wish to draw attention to two
factors. One, the recent efforts to bring in the two-child norm,
and, two, the alarming situation of gender imbalance, that
is, the Child Sex Ratio (CSR). Despite the slight overall
improvement in the Sex Ratio, the CSR, in India as a whole
has declined significantly -from 945 in 1991 to 927 in 200l.
It is estimated that there are 35 million missing females -of
all ages - in India as per the 2001 Census. A part of the
declining CSRis due to continuing anti-female rates of infant
and child mortality. In India, a figure of 105 male births for
100female births isconsidered the norm. However, estimates
for 1998 reveal an all-India figure of 111 males per 100
females. One reason may be sex-selective abortion (SSA)of
females.
As some studies have indicated, the decline in CSR
has spread to regions and populations hitherto considered
immune, namely the States of the south and west of India
and populations of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
Indeed, the adverse CSR has been particularly high among
the Scheduled Caste population. What is also distressing is
that the decline is more marked in the more developed and
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better-off regions and in more literate and better-off social
groups. The questions that emerge are: is population
stabilization being achieved at the cost of female lives? Do
punitive population policies contribute to this?
On 30 July 2003, a three-judge Bench of the Hon'ble
Supreme Court upheld a Haryana Government law
prohibiting a person from contesting or holding the post of
a sarpanch or panch in the Panchayati Raj Institutions of
the State if he or she had more than two children. The Bench
observed that" disqualification on the right to contest an
election for having more than two living children does not
contravene any fundamental right, nor does it cross the limits
of reasonability. Rather, it is a disqualification conceptually
devised in the national interest" .
Earlier, the Rajasthan High Court, hearing a similar
set of petitions, in its ruling, observed: "These provisions have
been enacted by the Legislature to control the menace of
population explosion. ... The government is spending large
sums of money propagating family planning. One of the
agencies to which the project of family planning has been
entrusted for implementation is the gram panchayat. The
panches and sarpanches are to set the example and maintain
the norm of two children. Otherwise what examples can they
set before the public?"
In this context, it will be worthwhile to recall the
Programme for Action of the International Conference on
Population and Development (ICPD), to which India has
subscribed, which defined reproductive health as follows:
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Reproductive health is a state of complete physical,
mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of
disease or infirmity in all matters relating to the reproductive
system and to its functions and processes. Reproductive
health therefore implies that people are able to have a
satisfying and safe sex life and that they have the capability
to reproduce and the freedom to decide, if, when and how
often to do so. Reproductive rights rest on the recognition
of the basic right of all couples and individuals to decide
freely and responsibly the number, spacing and timing of
their children and to have the information and means to do
so and the highest standard of sexual and reproductive
health. It also includes their right to make decisions
concerning reproduction free of discrimination, coercion and
violence, as expressed in human rights documents. Sexual
health aims to enhance life and personal relations, and not
merely counseling and care related to reproduction and
sexually transmitted diseases. (ICPD, 1995:31)
Haryana is not the only State that has a population
policy wit);l such features, which are not only at variance
with the National Population Policy 2000, but also strike at
the heart of the commitments to reproductive health and
rights made by the government at the ICPD. Other States
such as Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and
Uttar Pradesh have also provided such prescriptions in their
population policies. Between them, they also advocate a host
of incentives and disincentives: restricting schooling in
government schools to two children; restricting employment
in public services to those with two children; restricting ration
cards to two children; linking financial assistance to the
Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) for development activities
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and anti-poverty programmes with performance in family
planning; linking assessment of public health staff to
performance in family planning and so forth. Indeed, service
rules for government employees have been altered in several
States making the two-child norm mandatory.
Such approaches represent a misunderstanding of the
close interaction between population and resources and can
be characterised as anti-people both on fundamental and
pragmatic grounds. Actually, such approaches can become
counter productive and are also demographically
unnecessary. As has been argued by Dr. Mohan Rao: "...they
are also morally compromised as they violate the principle
of natural justice, creating two sets of citizenship rights on
the basis of fertility. ... such policies represent going back to
the days before universal suffrage when property rights
decided citizenship claims."
It appears that during the period of about six and a
half years between the publication of the National Family
Health Surveys I and II, the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) has
gone down by almost half a child. Replacement level fertility
has been reached in several States. However, it is still high
in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan
although there is a declining trend even in these States. To
achieve a sustained fertility decline, we must invest in the
social sectors like health, education, employment, food and
other areas, to which, unfortunately, no proper attention has
been given so far.
From a study of the relevant surveys, it appears that
the fertility rate that is sought to be achieved is lower by
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about 25 per cent than the current TFR, which is 2.85 per
cent. The TFRwould drop to the replacement level of fertility
if unwanted births can be reduced. When there is a trend
of reducing fertility rate, we should consider very seriously
whether punitive measures need to be adopted at all.
We should bear in mind that' demographic transition
is not merely a geographical phenomenon, but is deeply
imprinted by social inequalities.' The people who are assured
of steady incomes, child survival, social security, health and
education have completed their demographic transition. On
the other hand, vast sections of the population - particularly
the dalits, the adivasis and the Other Backward Castes -
who have not so benefited are lagging behind in such
transition.
In view of the laws enacted by some States, linking
'the two-child norm' with the right to contest elections to
the Panchayati Raj Institutions, which have since received
judicial endorsement, the majority of the populations in
these States are, in effect, deprived of their right to contest
such elections. Needless to say,this is not in consonance with
and may be said to violate the spirit of the 73rdAmendment
to the Constitution. The largest number of cases of
disqualification from contesting elections was with reference
to this law. Women formed 41 per cent of those disqualified
and the dalits, adivasis and the OBCs formed an
overwhelming 80 per cent of those disqualified.
It is thus clear that given the strong patriarchy in the
country and thus the ideology of son-preference, particularly
marked in the high fertility areas of the country, a vigorous
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pursuit of the two-child norm is likely to have most
undesirable consequences as it could degenerate into sex-
selective abortions. Indeed, it was the recognition of this link
that compelled the Chinese government to officiallyabandon
it's one-child per family norm.
In fact, one of the points where the objectives of
population stabilization and good governance should
converge is on need for universal education in the country,
with special emphasis on the education of girl children. What
is being sought to be achieved through legislative or punitive
measures can be best realized through literacy. Only
through education, especially in the States which are far
behind in terms of reproductive health, can we bring about
an attitudinal change among the large sections of the
population, firstly on the social and economic implications
of large families and secondly, on the importance of
maintaining gender balance and equity in society.
Women's education is the best means for their
economic iridependence as also the tool for empowering them
in deciding on issues like spacing childbirth and for making
gender sensitive choices. In most cases of sex selective
abortions, female foeticide, and gender discriminatory
practices in the country, the women have hardly any choice.
The areas that are substantially lagging behind in
reproductive health and population stabilization are also the
areas that are educationally backward, particularly in the
education of females. This is one lesson we can learn from
the experience of Kerala, which is demonstrating the best
indices in areas related to population. More than anything
else, it is universal education that has made all the difference
and has made this possible in Kerala.
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The other factor is healthcare. Over the last one and a
half decades, our commitment to health has unfortunately
shown a decline. As the National Health Policy notes, at 0.9
per cent of GDp, India spends the fifth lowest in the world
on health, less even than countries of Sub-Saharan Africa.
More significantly, perhaps, India has one of the highest
levels of private financing of healthcare expenses, with out-
of-pocket expenditure estimated to account for 87 per cent
of total expenditures. Only Cambodia, the Democratic
Republic of Congo, Georgia, Myanmar and Sierra Leone
show a higher proportion of private funding.
We may compare this with 85 to 95 percent public
funding in the European countries and 45 per cent in the
United States. As the National Health Policy notes, medical
expenditure is emerging as a leading cause of indebtedness,
poor families typically cutting down on even their nutritional
requirements in order to meet their health needs. We must
also note the fact that India has the largest and least regulated
private health care industry in the world. Costs of both out-
patient and in-patient care have increased sharply in both
rural and urban areas, compared to the mid-eighties. Thus,
it is not surprising to note that the rate of decline of the Infant
Mortality Rate (IMR) has significantly slackened in the last
decade since reforms were initiated: in the decades 1971-81
and 1981-91, the percentage decline in IMR was more
marked than in the period 1991-99.The percentage decline
in IMR between 1971-1981 was 14.7; between 1981-91, it
was even more marked at 27.3 percent. However, in the
period 1991-99, there has been a marked stagnation with
the rate of decline in the IMR at 10 percent.
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At the same time, levels of hunger appear to have
increased. The per capita availability of food grains can be
deceptive. As Nobel Laureate Prof. Amartya Sen's work on
the Bengal famine, among others, revealed there need be
no decline in per capita availability before distress or even
before famine occurs. Indeed, it is possible to have increasing
per capita availability, with increasing levels of hunger in
the population, if employment and incomes collapse.
But decreasing per capita availability, surely, cannot
be matched with decreasing levels of poverty, when data
also indicate that there have been decreasing employment
opportunities, especially in the countryside and it is coupled
with the fact that the rates of decline of IMR and Child
Mortality Rate (CMR) have stagnated, and the Maternal
Mortality Rate has apparently increased.
A decade after the ICPD, and five years after the
National Population Policy influenced by it committed not
to demographic goals, but to people's well being, it is time
for reflection and for sober stocktaking. We have to learn
lessons from our past about where we have gone wrong. I
have raised some issues about our failures, which may be
said to be failures of governance, of policy, and of priorities.
One may also suggest that these are failures of the civil
society, for not adequately highlighting these failures.
Friends, some components of the political system and
civil society too have a crucial role in enabling good
governance for a more equitable population and
development strategy.. I believe that the political leadership
should rise to the challenge and come out with coordinated
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actions to faCilitatepopulation stabilization. Political parties
and their leaders should mobilize public opinion in this
regard and their election manifestoes should clearly place
before the people their prescriptions and policies to achieve
this end.
Several countries have all-party consultation groups
on population issues. For example, in Australia, they have
an All Party Parliamentary Group on Population and
Development, which is a forum for discussion on population,
development and reproductive health issues. We may
consider constituting one such Group within our Parliament
also.We should recognize the need for a consensual approach
to population issues. What is of utmost import is a firm
political will and political commitment to a rational and
sensitive population policy.
As you know, by virtue of a Constitutional
Amendment, we have already frozen the number of
representatives in the Lok Sabha on the basis of the
population at the 1971Census levels. The freeze now stands
extended up to the year 2026. I trust that this should work
as an incentive to those States which are lagging behind in
population stabilization rather than as a disincentive to those
States which are already doing well in this regard. Trade
unions, workers' associations, non-governmental
organizations and other civil society stakeholders should also
be involved in all our efforts at population stabilization.
Awareness generation can be enhanced through the
Panchayati RajInstitutions, educational institutions, etc. The
school and college curricula should inevitably lay emphasis
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on the imperative of population stabilization. Community
leaders should also be encouraged to motivate people
towards the need for stabilizing our population and the
adverse impact of the rapid population growth on the
nation's socio-economic health.
The media too has a special role with its wide reach in
disseminating information, creating awareness and building
opinion in favour of population stabilization. Information,
Education and Communicatio~ as identified by the National
Population Policy of 2000, should be key components of all
our strategies. Issues like, choice of contraceptives, abortion,
limiting and spacing child bearing, family size preferences,
economic compulsions, etc. need to be addressed as essential
aspects of population stabilization and good governance.
All these warrant a paradigm shift in our approach to the
issues involved. In short, all our efforts should be geared to
involve our population and all stakeholders as active partners
in our endeavour to stabilize the population.
As I said at the beginning, we should not take an
alarmist view of our population growth- we should rather
try to transform our human potential into an asset. On a
positive note, Amartya Sen and Jean Dreze have stressed,
and I quote:
... roncemaboutpopulationgrowthmustnotbesimply
dismissed asgroundless. Thesize of the Indian population is
already larg~ and its continued rapid expansion can certainly
be a source of anxiety for the environment in addition to the
problems it raises for improving the living standards and
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economic and sodal well being of the people. And yet
the population situation is not as t~rrifying as it is made
to look based on the dtation of selectively chosen statistics
(or non-statistics). First food supply has not been falling
behind population - quite firmly to the contrary; The
possibility of accommodating considerable increases in
food consumption per head - both quantitative and
qualitative - is still quite favourable. Seconcl the fertility
rate is falling quite rapid~ and may decline faster still
with sensible polides/ espedally related to child health
and womens empowerment. Thircl the fertility rate
varies widely between different regions in India/ and
there is much to learn from those that have already
achieved low fertility rates/ and also much evidence that
these achievements areindeed spreading to other regions
as well. [Unquote)
JRD Tata had acknowledged that we could learn from
our experience and try to further improve upon our
performance in this regard. Speaking at the National
Seminar on Population Management in New Delhi in
August 1987, he had said, and I quote:
While there is much to bemoan/ there is no cause for
despair. Wehave leamt from our failures and shortcoming as
well asfrom ourfewsuccesses. Wehave today the knowledg~
the skills and the tools to tackle the obstacles in the way;
.. . While there i~ therefor~ no reason for pessimism/ clearly
much more must be don~ and done more effectively than in
thepast HOuradvance towards ourgoal is to beaccelerated. A
task of thismagnitude and complexitynecessarily concems a
vast number of different elements and measures to be
coordinated into a coherent whole. {Unquote}.
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If we recognize the importance of a participatory
process as the key element of good governance, our
policies and programmes for population stabilization will
find wider acceptance among the people and would lead
to better results. We would also do well to recall Pandit
Nehru's emphasis on "economic and educational
progress as the only foundation on which we can have
any effective progress in regard to family planning". Our
population stabilization goals are reachable in the
foreseeable future if we can also achieve much progress
in the key areas of education, especially girls' education,
public health, water and sanitation, nutrition,
employment and poverty alleviation based on equity and
gender-sensitivity, all of which have a bearing on our
population.
JRDTata'svision and passion,letus hope, will permeate
our decision-making processes towards Population
Stabilization and Good Governance.
Thank you.
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Copyright 2005 by POPULATION FOUNDATION OF INDIA
Published by
Population Foundation of India
B-28, Qutab Institutional Area
New Delhi- 110 016
Printed by
SPELLADS
New Delhi
Compiled & Edited by
A. BaneIji, Consultant (Advocacy & Communication)