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PFI Brochure 1997 |
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POPULATION
FOUNDATION
OF INDIA
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INTRODUCTORY
The Population Foundation ofIndia (formerly known as the
Family Planning Foundation) came into being in 1970 and has
ever since been in the forefront of non-governmental efforts to
check the mnaway growth of the population of the country and
establish a balance between resource, environment and
population.
The Foundation was established by a dedicated group of
industrialists and population activists led by Bharat Ratna, the
late Mr JRD Tata who guided it as the Founder Chairman until
his death in 1993. The Founding Fathers believed that a
movement of social development such as family planning
should not and cannot remain the sole concern of the
govel11ment and it ought to be supported and supplemented by
private voluntary enterprises. The Foundation has, therefore,
always worked in close co-operation and coordination with
official agencies and programmes. In its independent role, it has
tried to guide and influence the national population policy and to
serve as a catalytic agent to promote programmes at different
levels directed towards the ultimate goal of population
stabilisation. The Foundation's activity, in the words of the late
Mr JRD Tata, has been focused on "advancing the cause of
human welfare through family planning".
AIMS
The basic aims of the Foundation, as enunciated by its
founders, were
T to help raise the level of family planning beyond its
traditional confines, by focussing on critical variables
restricting its operation;
T to SUppOlt innovative research, experimentation and social
action from the point of view of bringing the grey areas of
the programme into bold relief, and throwing up viable,
replioable models for furthering the objectives of the family
planning programme;
T to serve as a forum for pooling of experience and sharing of
professional expertise to strengthen and enlarge the
operational base of the programme; and
T to assist official and public agencies in the advancement of
the cause of promoting human welfare through family
planning and other development programmes.
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GOVERNING
BOARD
The Governing Board is headed by Dr Bharat Ram who
succeeded the late Mr JRD Tata as Chairman in 1993. The Board
determines the policies and programme strategies of the
Foundation including priorities of funding. The other members
of the Board, all distinguished in their respective fields of
interest, are:
Dr B KAnand
Dr (Mrs) Banoo J Coyaji
Prof. Ranjit Roy Chaudhury
Mr Y N Chaturvedi
(Ex-officio as Secretary,
Ministry of Health
& Family Welfare)
Mr B G Deshmukh
Mr S P Godrej
Begum Bilkees Latif
MrH PNanda
Mr J C Pant
Dr V A Pai Panandiker
Ms. Justice Leila Seth
Saleem I Sherwani
Mr Hari Shankar Singhania
DrD P Singh
Mr Ratan N Tata
Mr B G Verghese
Mrs Avabai B Wadia
Dr K Srinivasan
(Executive Director)
A DVISORY
COUNCIL
An Advisory Council consisting of eminent experts in related
fields such as Sociology, Demography, Communications, Health
Services, Environment, Education, Management, Women's
Development, Bio-medical Services etc. contributes to the
formulation of the Foundation's policies and programmes and
reviews its achievement from time to time. Its present members
are:
Dr M S Swaminathan
MrT V Antony
Mrs Rami Chhabra
Dr S H Hassan
Dr (Ms) H Helen
Mr Ajay S Mehta
Ms Poonam Muttreja
Mr P Padmanabha
Prof. Ramlal Parikh
Prof. Udai Pareek
Chairman
DrYashPal
Dr Saroj Pachauri
Dr Ragini Prem
Prof. V Ramalingaswami
Dr Vimala Ramachandran
MrT L Sankar
Mr K S Sugathan
Prof. G P Talwar
Dr K Srinivasan
(Executive Director)
INTERACTING
EMINENT INSTITUTIONS
Since its inception, the Foundation has supported or initiated on
its own some 300 projects. Prominent non-government
institutions, research institutions, universities and individuals with
outstanding contribution to their areas of specification were
associated with these projects. Some of the institutions are:
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I. Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore
2. Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad
3. Indian Council of Medical Research, Delhi
4. National Institute of Immunology, Delhi
5. Mohanlal Sukhadia University, Udaipur
6. United Planters Association of Southern India, Kunoor
7. Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi
8. Gandhigram Institute, Dindigul
9. Indian Institute of Health Management Research, Jaipur
10. International Development Research Centre, Canada
II. Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and
Research, Chandigarh
12. All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi
13. UNICEF
14. UNFPA
In fulfilment of its primary objectives, the Foundation has
all along striven to supplement the efforts of the government.
Towards this end it has submitted policy papers and memoranda
to the government based on action research projects and
research studies supported by it.
A REAS OF ACTIVITY
The areas covered by the projects can be broadly classified under
the following categories:
T Interface with policy makers at different levels, programme
administrators and the voluntary sector to co-ordinate
activities
••. Promotion of attitudes and opinions in favour of the small
family norm
T Encouragement to group and communities for active
involvement in the programme
••. Encouragement to research and experimentation on family
planning determinants
••. Development of strategies to take care of existing and fresh
challenges
••. Promotion of field based action projects as programme
supplements
••. Identification of gaps in action programmes and finding
remedies
••. Development of contraceptive technology
The Foundation has supported, sponsored and funded
projects covering these areas and continues to do so. Of late, it
has started developing its own projects based on in-house
research in priority areas. These are carried out through suitable
field agencies with the expertise and capacity to handle such
projects. The Foundation helps them in pre-project surveys,
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FINANCIAL
SUPPORT
The major areas of activity in which the Foundation extends
financial support to other agencies are:
.•. Integrated Population - Development - Environment
linked Policy Research, Programmes/ Action- Demonstration
Projects
.•. Reproductive health aspects of population and their
relationship with fertility regulation and mortality control
.•. Gender equity and demographic transition
.•. Medical aspect of family planning and bio-medical and
contraceptive technology to a limited extent before the stage
of human trials
.•. Information, Education and Communication strategies in
population-development-environment issues
.•. Management, Marketing and Community Distribution
Technique and involvement of Organised Sector in
. population issues
.•. Special Sector programmes linking family planning and
reproductive health with agriculture, industry, labour and
employment, education, health, social development and
environment
.•. Demographic Surveys/Studies on special topics of current
interest
GLIMPSES
OF WORK DONE
Some of the major and more important projects supported or
implemented by the Foundation in recent times are:
Action Research Projects
.•. Strategic Interventions for Accelerating the pace of
decline in Infant Mortality & Fertility - Tikabali (Orissa),
Tehri Garhwal (D.P.) & Damoh (M.P.)
.•. Fertility Reduction among women in the inner-city of
Hyderabad
.•. Promotion of Family Welfare Planning through
practitioners of Indian Medicine Systems in rural Rajasthan
.•. Promoting Health and Family Welfare in Dharavi slum in
Bombay
.•. Promotion of the Happy Family Concept with involvement
of Panchayats in Pune
.•. Empowerment of Rural Women with focus on Family
Welfare in Aurangabad district Bihar
.•. Rural Family Welfare programme with Community
Participation in Muzaffarpur district in Bihar
.•. Study of Fertility and Contraceptive Behaviour of Schedule
Caste Peasant Women in Tirupati
.•. Integrated Health and Development projects in Lalitpur
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Reproductive Health
T Promoting responsible sex behaviour among youth in
Bangalore slums
T Community resource mobilisation in improving
Reproductive Health in Wardha
T Intensive Reproductive Health and Family Welfare project
in the industrial belt of Ghaziabad
T Reproductive Health package for married women in
industrial rural and urban slum areas and study of its effect
on the use of spacing methods
B io 111edical
.• A biomedical study group of leading scientists developed
strategy for contraceptive research for the whole country
T Status Report on contraceptive technology and
identification of research areas
T Career Development Scheme for young scientists in the field
of Reproductive Health and Contraceptive Technology
T Research on
(a) Mechanism of Secretion of Chorionogonadotropins in
pregnant monkey and human placental tissue culture
(b) Canoier proteins for water soluble vitamins in
pregnancy
(c) Clinico-phannaceutical evaluation of indigenous plants
including 'Banjauri' and 'Neem'
(d) Injectible contraceptives
(e) Development of anti-pregnancy vaccine and pregnancy
training kit
Training
T Training of Panchayat members from district to village
level to shoulder Constitutional responsibilities in relation
to Reproductive Health and allied programmes -
Dharampuri and Dindugul (Tamil Nadu), Chitradurga
(Karnataka), Pune (Maharashtra) Sawai Madhopur
(Rajasthan), Bankura (W.E.) and Lalitpur (D.P.)
T Differentials in population growth of Hindus and Muslims
in India, 198 I-91
T The Crisis of Migration: Population and Politics
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••. Population Atlas of India containing Basic Demographic
and Development Indicators (1981)
••. An Atlas of the Child in India (1985)
••. Population in India's Development - 1948-2000-an
anthology of welI researched papers by eminent scholars
(1974)
••. India's Population: Aspects of Quality and Control by
Dr. Asok Mitra
••. Population Policy and Reproductive Health (1996)
- An anthology of research papers by eminent scholars
••. India: Population, Reproductive Health, Human
Development - A WalI Chart (1996)
J RD TATA MEMORIAL
ORATION
The Foundation instituted in 1990 a lecture series under the title
'Encounter with Population Crisis' which was renamed 'JRD
Tata Memorial Oration' after the death ofMr. JRD Tata in 1993.
The Foundation invites important international and Indian
celebrities to deliver these lectures once a year. Speakers so far
include Dr. Norman E. Borlaug, Dr. M S Swami nathan,
Dr. Asok Mitra, Dr. Abid Hussain, Mr. Vasant Sathe,
Mr. Ramakrishna Hegde and Mr. Chandra Shekar.
J RD TAT A AWARD
The PFI has introduced national level awards for the best
performing States and Districts which have done welI in the
field of Reproductive Health, in memory of its founder
Chairman the late Mr. JRD Tata. The inaugural awards were
announced on 29th July, 1997 coinciding with Mr. Tata's
bilihday. Kerala has won the inaugural award for the best State
while the districts of Palakkad, Chidambaranar and Kurukshetra
have won the award in their respective population categories.
The Award wilI henceforth be given once in two years.
N EW THRUST AREAS
In view of the recent population projections which indicate
continued rapid growth in the next 20 years and the country's
commitment to the policy of promoting family planning in a
package of reproductive health programme and improvement in
the quality of life, the Foundation has readjusted its priorities to
concentrate on certain selected areas. These include:
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.• Advocacy role in moulding community attitude in
favour of family planning as part of development
programme
.• Enlistment of political commitment towards
promoting family welfare and reproductive health
.• Involvement of the Corporate Sector in promoting
reproductive health programmes
.• Promotion of integrated health and development action
projects
The profile of the more important projects listed earlier is a
reflection of this new thrust in activities consistent with the
principle of Reproductive Health Rights of men and women.
SOURCES
OF INCOME
The income of the Foundation is derived from donations made by
the private sector industries as well as return on its investments.
Donations to the Foundation are exempt from Income Tax under
Section 80(G)2(a)vii of the Income Tax Act 1961 and the income
by way of interest and rent is also exempt from income tax under
Section 10(23C)(vi).
TOWARDS
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
The Foundation has come a long way since 1970, marching with
time and reshaping its activities in the light of the changing
priorities. Beginning with pure research oriented studies, its
activities now cover the entire range of population problems in a
developing society. While controlling the runaway growth of
population remains the main concern of the Foundation, it is
now active in the wider field of development through family
welfare and reproductive health programmes in the true
perspective of development and environmental issues faced by
mankind.
Produced by: POPULAnON FOUNDAnON OF INDIA
8-16 Tara Cresent, Qutab Institutional Area, New Delhi-lID 016.
Designed & Printed by: Reproductions India, 6233269, 6216287.