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Focus 1992 July - September |
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B U L LET I N
0 F F A M IL Y P LAN N I N G F 0 U N D A T ION
POP U L A T r 0' N
Population Control: Need ofa New
. Family Planning
National Consensus •
Fo.,mdation rums the
(c W-E~;Sg~-~~7;i.~;~f;;;; Spotlight on Pop'ltlation
.and Errutromnent. Con~erns
In obServance' of the World
ened Maharaja of Mysore in 1923. Planning p~ogramme started in 1951
Population Day this year, the
We are also aware that the founda- as a part of the First Five Year Plan
F~y,~g~,Foundation
tion of the International Planned
Parenthood Federation, and, perhaps
also the fiistworldwide organisation
succeeded, the Government gradu-
ally created a vast infrastructure
including Primary Health Centres,
"undertookanumbeI' of actiVities
'. , ".Un~5PotIight. the most
Ie twin problein of fast
was laid in India, alittle
sub-centres, community
over 40 years ago. Again,
health cen-tres, training
India was the first coun-
institutions etc. manned
try in the world to launch
by a variety of health
anall-fuclusive.nationaL
cadres. India has so far,
family planning pro-
with some results, spent
gramme and, to do so,
more than Rs. 5,000
much before most other
. crores on family plan-
countries. In fact, the
-nmgalohe.--ThEfDepa;tf-
adverse impact of quick
ment of Health and Fam-
population grow-th onily
Welfare claims in its
the national economy en-
. Annual Report that di-
gaged"-thea:ttention-----ot~rectly~asaresultof
the
our national leaders like
State-sponsored pro-
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru
grammes, aJ.most12mil-
and Jai Prakash Narayan,
who as members of the
E. conomlC.
PI .
annmg
COlmnittee of the Indian
Mr. JRD Tata releasing three lion births have been
booklets . published by the averted. There is an inter-
Family Planning Foundation •
under its "Encounter with esting way to compute
Population Crisis" series.
the value of this positive
: gmwjng ~lJ!:1l~ 'and equally
.;.,fas.t envirOlUilent degradation '
that the h~race is faced with '
" ':MiJRDTata,C~of
·.c ,t:ne .'.FoUridanon, '.addressed a
.~nalc~tion
to about
" 3000CJUef EXecutl'llesofleading
..' .tJ:iat "companies and
.,
·.,;assoc;iations all over
Irtdia. ,to.se(ure ,th~, peISOnal
.. c'" ~o~tInent ~~Ister family
.:;~".pIailmilgmovement in the
.".~_~gatti~SleC:tor. 'The letter was
.,·"so;:'timed •as ,to reach the
.' addreSseesaroun<iJuIyll, 1992
',!J1c;!Vor;lq f~pulation Day.
.... ,A special lecture entitled
-":~~p,Uiatio,ll' .'Stabilis~tion
.,S. trategies in India" by Dr Asok
Mitra,ICS (Retd), formerly
National Congress were ---------
gain. One child born,
Registrar Ge~ral of India and
responsible' for several resolutions from infancy to adulthood, costs the
recognising the crucial problem of country about Rs.2 lakhs. Thus, 12
Census Commissioner, and
Seaetuyto Government of India,.
population and urging all concerned million births prevented means that
. was organis-ed on July 24, 1992
to plan effective population regula- the country saved a hefty sum of
tion progralmnes. I myself was Rs.24,000 billion.
amongst the first to raise the alarm in
...contd. on page 7
* Abridged versioll ofMr lRD Tata'sarticIeill tIlespecialnewspapersupplementssponsored
by Govemment a/India 011 World Populatioll Day, July 11, 1992.
at New Delhi. The function
;·presided.ove!' by Mr }RD Tata
w:as.,.attended by a very
. dis~g.uished gathering of
...;contd.on page 7
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P..•O. PULATION
"Given the fact that Industry is in able and caring hands, and comprises an increasing
number ofsodally-aware persons, who know that continuing population pressures adversely
affect the quality of life, and that addressing high birth rate means addressing poverty,
support to this importanteaU5e (family planning) sho1.1Jdbe inscribed on our Agenda For
The Nirienes".'
.
..
.with these inspiring words MrJRD Tata, Chairman, Family P~g
Foundation, in
-·'··"·-a letter addres~!.o the_~tains of industry and their tepresentativeassociation5 in India,
gave a clarion call to make tne'W6tld ·PopuIation.Day.192~3!.~~icant start of a battle to
finish.
" ..c .•• .
--..-
,
Deplormg the fact that 'the growth o£popUIation. in India has been fast outstripping
.prc:>gress.Mr Jata remmded.the Org~
Sector'that the tUne at their disposal was short
.and after seveilFi . .plans and hi spite of ailirivestment o£Rs.5000crore~ 'more than .
60 per cent of those
eed.ed c~ceptive assistance were not getting it.lt was obviOUs
that Govemment alone: coUld not _~~ce,ed in solVing the population prQblem;tlie· 1\\on- .....
govemmental se<:tor mUst come in,to.aChieve more.
... .
.
..
."Industry and bUsmessmustponder~"er this grim recilily;~wem:ove. .
.billionpopulatiori~ouroptionsareclosing.
Our grand p: '., '•~.
coiripetitive'exl'ortsr~glQbal, excellence and. the rest will . idably
considerablY' slowed down", MrTata wams.·
.....' ..•... ,
.•." .".'.. ".. ,
Continuing,Mr Taeaobserved that in industry, theYlutve30 milliOnwo~brS'easi1y
accessible m.ef{~ye;family welfatecolmsening and ser\\tices. Theirconv~n
to the
'>"'> ""-:::,,,~~;.: :.(: .." ,culture of the siria1lf8iiillfcoU1d~ompass 1J141lY m()~~ons~orkingin
residingiritheneighh91tringsubur'baJ\\,orruralareaS'
'"
-lants~d
Remindfng~t~ustrybegari
birthcol1~o.~~dfamilywelf.lre~s()~~50year&
~·"q-·"·~agorMrTatapg~~9.uestion:.WhyisthenumbeipfUiUfS:~~g~:~ija1~if~
59 small and why. is' the,outreiCh and quality of $emC;:~.J.arfrom "Satisfactoryr~,. and then
proceeds t()-ansWedt~'.~l.t seems to'me that ~ kin,do(l(~ifawaren~
about, the,valueo!
a small f~mily that tn9~rated the parents in. thedev~op~ wo,rld to. llave fewer children,
and take to education; is too slow to emerge inour~o\\U\\try.Maybe, developm,enf has not
clWtged thenVes'~ft:he'poor."·. ~"C
. . ..
• ...•
,'..'
.'
,
Exhorting the buSin~ houses to build up a strong movement for educating the
worlcersand the women at large, specifically the younger eligibles, to adoptfamily p~g
asa voluntary choi~e, Mr Tata suggests,"Good 1l\\otivators have to be identified fr()m
of among the workers themselves and then professionally trained in earning the workers' ..
confidence by means friendly counsel. Industry and buSiness with the help oflocalhealth .
adminfstrators or voluntary organisations well versed in this kind of work" can achieve
notable success'at'acQst, which can easily be absorbed, since most of it is tax-exempt" •.'
Commending the model developed by the FPF inorganising smaller units into a
cluster, linked to a central family planning counselling' and service facility, Mr Tata says :
-.- '..'.'Thishad ~J~
most cost-effective. Again, innovative extension into neighbouring
rural communities Msarsobeenfound-rewardlng.
FICa, CIT, ASSOCHAM and other
Industry.organisations must share theit valuable kiiOW'ieageand-experience with their
members and affiliates to transform individual and group action into a powerful movement".
,i
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Encounter with Population Crisis: SPEGAL LECTURE BY DR ASOK 1VlITRA
Population Stabilisation Strategies in India
Under its "Encounter with
Population Crisis:' lecture
series, the Family Planning
is a small bank of obligedcheer-leaders
at the top and a large base of bounty-
seekers below. Promises and
Foundation invited Dr Asok Mitra, a expectations still beguile, but to the
distinguished civil servant with a pre- deprived, government insistence on
eminent position in the world of family planning sounds like deception
demography, to deliver this year's or counsel of despair. Numbers add
World Population Day lecture on the confidence and to election-successes
theme : "Population Stabilisation and no political party can strike at its
Strategies in India".
own roots.
The lecture presided over by
Nothing is right until the polities
Mr JRD Tata and delivered on July is right. This has been to my mind the
24,1992,beforeeminentnationaland basicimpedimentwhichhasstymied
international personalities devote4 the family planning movement all
to population and environment issues, along, despite so much endeavour,
is a landmark critique of India's investment, service infrastructure,
population stabilisation policies and information .campaign, research
C--.-;·----strategiesmade ina.broad.historical--competenceand
dedication in the
and global perspective. (It has since last forty years.
been published in booklet-form for
wider dissemination).
Due to limitations of space, we
present here a brief edited version of
Dr Asok Mitra's learned presentation:
Women - the captive labour
Whoever has reflected over the
women's question cannot but recall
Abraham Linc<;>Infa'smouswords that
Basic Impediment
a people' cannot endure permanently
half-slave and half-free'. Despite all
The biggest impediment to the the struggle for emancipation down
resolute political will for any political the ages, every country has persisted
to parijlnm'dlatoaii")Fnasoeen"aoiibly.· . - this day inholding down half of its
compounded by the frantic :population, that is, that of women, in
competitionfor acquiring assured vote virtual slavery, however flatteringly
banks for the periodiclegislative"C:disguised·:and .. denie4 .. them:the
elections. The essence of a vote bank freedom enjoyed by the other half,
'(
C
that is man. Women constitute the
last and largest reservoir of captive
labour which yields, to use KarlMarx's
works, most assured surplus value.
The law in this country has beeen
more liberaland folWard-lookingthan
the reality of the patchwork quilt of
our multi-ethnic, multi-lingual multi-
religious, .economically unequal
society would otherwise warrant. We
have equal opportunity between the
sexes guaranteed as a fundamental
right in our Constitution. The
revolution that employment outside
the home has brought to women of
all social classes in this country will
be evident from the reproductive
behaviour of women in the middle
and upper-income groups at the one
end and very low paid day-labourers
and domestics at the other extreme.
There has been steady improvement
in height and weight of girls and
women of these families in the last
three decades.
The Silent Revolution
At the upper levels, aspiration-
oriendted family planning limits
reproduction to not more than two,
usually one. At the lowest level, a
Illore thorough-going revolution -
unfortunately despair-oriented - is
now almost equally
inexorably under way,
and that too without fuss.
A very significant
proportion of such wo-
. Jnen, between 25to 40 in
both rural and urban
areas, have taken to
tubectomy after the
second or third parity
whenever the facilities,
are available, or even to
medically - unassisted
abortion, defying the
wrath of their spouses
and seniors in the family.
There is a growing
realization among this
class that the parity
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shouldnotexceed two. Whatismore, behaviour. It will be the fault of the India, Nehru must have realised that
their proportion is steadily on the bureaucracy and the social worker if his own country, to recall Abraham
iI!crease.They will not be browbeaten. this process is not assisted to snowball Lincoln, was less than one quarter
If the worst comes to the worst, they into a movement. At the same tiIna, free and more than three quarter slave
would rather divorce, run away, or women must keep putting the heat if one includes among the latter not
live single lives than lose their freedom on the government to expand their only the majority of our women but
This silent revolution has become professional livelihoods in the modem the population of the scheduled castes
the object of envy of even upper class technologies and employment outside and sch~duled tribes as well. The fact
women who are often afraid of taking of home fast enough.
that one quarter free, or two hundred
such extrelne steps for fear of losing
their goodies. All across the board,
India less than one
and fifty million people, which is
more than the population of a major
women are in a hurry to order their quarter free
portion of Europe, is ripe for holding
destiny and their own fertility
In his voyage of discovery of its own in the world's free-market
economy, perhaps tempts our
Why this colossal Indifference?
...~... '.....
political masters to ignore the
truth that slavery thrives on
. Mr]RD Tatawhile iritrodUCiritg:he'speuerand the Subjectmade vexysignificant
prefatozy and concluding observations, Some excerpts:
.
. .. .'A feW,days.ago•.it.was ..announced that thecworld'~ population had already
reached 5.6 billion. This is anonUnous portent insofar as if relates to India for, I am
told, we as I:ndiansaredoing the maximum damage to the pOpulationprorue of the
world!
.
5"eriou:; It was in 1951 tlli\\!fofM..gn:atrhymeoueason.Ihappened to talk in a speech
-ofihe
population robleril India was faced with and proposed the setting up .
a Population Cq,minis . . ~!,:ljt, at the'back of my mind was the ~ling that
ouis was a poorc9uniiY.Wi a Ui ". '.g pOpuIati9~andJf the population went
high fertility, high infant and
maternal mortality, illiteracy,
malnutrition and lack of
hygiene, shelter and low
productivity through lack of
knowledge and technological
skill. This slavery eventually
costs more, and yields less
productivity than free labour.
. on increasing, poverty ~ill~
.Ever smce then,.I hav.e
ouralmostexplo~po
'. rease:" , .
ttin'~y;obsessed
,
.
..
with Neglect of
ustw~nderwhatit
the female infant
can do to a countIy .
tnY",whichisyerunder4feveloped!" .
I was lucky that my
"Ili i9Si, iildia'spo
. ~~y~t~liti,<t3S(hwm6ti:tnl991'tfie'yearcif
the childhood memories and later
Census, which me~, d~gJ1}e la.Sf40 years, it became 844niillion~The figure is my life as a civil servant gave
really mind-bOggling. ';' '.::' .'. .. ,0 .• ;
."...
me certain insights into
Now how to getoutofit? To mymind, thesolutionli~s in alleViatingthe plight demographic behaviour. My
,..of women and eradicatingfheoverw-heInlfugpovertythey live in. Ourwomen have boyhood recollection of an
been greatly deprived of whafthey should have had '7" not today, not 40 years ago, evening, listening in to my
but perhaps for ever~thcltis, education and equal status.
, We shouI4,E..~_~h~!i.ofthe fact.that. wom~in India even today are back-
wal-dill education, in emploYmentFand in 'health opportunities, though I strongly
.believe that they are the olleS,lN'jlQarge.oing.to playa much m01'eslgnificantrole in
shapillgthecountrYsfu!~'
' '7'"
'-~',':'
... ' : .... .
father and his friends, soon after
the first 1931census results had
been published, left an abiding
impression of the reasons
Ioften talkto young .
'IITs ahd univeiSities~'Pre······tothexn
do so. Instead, I engage th'
~~~IIl£1!":,a.bleandl>right,drawnfrom. behind and continuous decline
''fI
~er moreofteiiButaow,r don't
... ~ssions:.Ilis~pleasure to listen
e of the proportion of females
per thousand males in our
to them talking withkno~ . .' ".aria confidence: Bui:o/~f),~~~:al~Cly~struck. populat;ion, Alarmingly, this
me is their apathy abdutthe:~pufil"tron'proliteil:'Sc57ili'~"'e¥dof each session, I do decline seems to have received
ask thema question, 'Whatda: ycnit!\\inkOi the PO:PulatiorH>roblem~H6wCoineyou a fresh lease of life in the last
have talked of evexything~eXcepf thiSnlOstbnportant an4 intractable problem? census decade. Home truths
Are you not interested in it?" And curiously enough, I get no response~Manyof them like the inordinate preference
are in the marriageable age-group. ¥aybe some of them-arealready married. Then for male childen together with
why this colossal indifference?"
.
deliberate as well as
I cannot account for the' reason of the general apathy towards population unintentional neglect of
problem which, in my view, is the nation's number one problem. Gradlially, unwanted female infants and
however, Ihave come to tlle conclusion that they are not concerned about it nor have children, the facts of our
they proper awareness of it ~. ause
their parents were indifferentto it. Butas it has
,.
/
happened in Western Europe, it is the parents who have to plant in their minds the
vital dea that to make a child a resporisible citizen, is a pretty costly affair, and
therefore, they must keep the family-sizema~g.eab.!Y.2...~~ <_. ... .._.
,_.,"~_._,,_.u .• __
._-:-:- __
-:-~-
.....L.
phenomenally high maternal
mortality,
the gross
discrimination in intra-family
distribution of nutrition against
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EDITORiAL
Dr Asok Mitra's assessment of India's Population Stabilisation Strategies as ably expounded by him in his
lecture organised by the Family Planning Foundation in obsexvance of this year's World Population Day is a
perceptive and candid critique - and in a way incisive indictment - of our population control policies and
programmes since 1951when this countIy earned the distinction of being the first in the world to launch a national
family planning programme with the blessings of the State. Instead of capitalising on this early start we have
woefully f~len behind late starters like China, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the philippines artd even Sri Lanka
and Bangladesh.
_
Analysing the reasons for India's poor performance, Dr Mitra puts the blame squarely on the lack ()fPQlitical
will as evidenced by the short-sighted strategy of political parties to acquire assured vote. banks for the periodic.
legislative elections. This, according to him, has been the biggest and basic impediment which hclsstyDlied'the
family planning movement all along.
.'
.
.... .•. .•...••. . .•..•.......'...'...•.....••• '.
Fail.u,re to acme.ve th•.e constitutiOn.a•l.'.go..a..l.of Ul.U. ·vers.a•.l..p.nm'.' ary. .e. dUCa.tio.nWhi·.gt.CO.u.d.l.•h.ave..'.lX!. rved..t.h.•e...b.igge..s.t
lever of change, has been equally responsible in. not bringing down fertilitY. ....•.••..•....•............( ...•.• ••
But Dr Mitra's dia~nostic finger touches the real raw nexve of our national trait when heobsexves : "We
have spawned no end of excellent ideas and mechanics of securing them inwhaieverareas ofhumandeyelopment,
one comes to thirikof,b"-t never had the patience or will to pursue anyone oftheD.lto i~logical ell.d/'We.are
adept at producing excellent. plans but when it comes to impleJ1lenting themwcr lose,asitwere, oW-eJ.l.ergyaJ.ld
will-power. Whilesomec0tln~es having borrowed ideas.iromusbad made excel1entprogressinctheir·national
programmes of family plannill~and child welfare, India is still dithering and lost in the labyrin~ofpolentics
...~..~~~c!'?~.~g .!. !!~!'!~£~~~~!.~.h.'.?9~st(h)u~lc~:l(~)t¥!~"P!aiJ.l..cmi\\ugl1~t.policy~layingaction..en~rgjsitlgape"
body like the 1'1a~~lla10evelopment Coullcil1lavirl~endles~ ~~ussions on elelllentalJ'~~~s~hich'1lad })een
. taken care of 10ngllgo.¥dta!kinS()fCiction \\VeclllU\\otJorgef to inyolve eachCllld~e"YP~no~Jhisgre~t
...•...R..ep~blicby·telliItg~rna~·t.o,the~.l'()lein· tllisgrinl. '!>a.t~eCi~t ganopingll.llm~r:;>'.. .•...•.•..•.•..•..(...,.
~m~~t~~~~~ , .>/ ..·•·•·•··Evenintheyearofgrace,~992 ~heJ.l.tllespeetreof onelnllioll pc>PuIati~lleig~~··yearsIleJ.l.ccr~h()l.tlc:l1la~cr
..g•.e.aredust0\\11"gelltacti()n,therl! ~.' t(.)1:Jeno,~~o.f Ul"gency"·aJ.l~.wegoab4:l~!iin,
.collcerning Inc.iia·5.veq'~urvi"al as a nation,<\\s if~e ha"e an the ~~in, tlie~orld.~p,.~~E!'.isrU~gc)~t
fastAs.MrfflI>.Tatari~htly.\\Varns "l'hes~d.with~hich.\\Ve
work aJ:ld·~.·firnUl~~l~}\\'hif.J:\\·.}\\'crg~~ue
..p..opuratic:lrtst<\\lli1isclti01l~O~'Nill make.'orntar()urfutu.~"· Jrtdiaca.I\\ ilnd sh()~c:l~thisJ'<\\ttJ~~!l;I:~tm()st
speed as we have to make our future. . ..
..
.
.
.
females in the family right from
infancy, left an indelible impression
on my mind, which I got surveyed in
the sixties and seventies.
Keyrole Ofgirls' primary
education
A sample survey of human
fertility that we had taken in the West
Bengal Census of 1951, convinced
me of the effect of even four years of
traditional institutional primary
education, not to speak of secondary
level education or higher, in lowering
fertility and a woman's ability to take
her own decisions and stick by them.
I fOWld confirmation of my census
findings shortly after in Ajit Dasgupta
and Pramod Poti's "Couple Fertility
(in Greater Calcutta)" and C
O1andrasekharan's "Mysore Study"
These gave me valuable insights into
synergistic, interacting and multiplier
effects of improvements in elementary
social, cultural and economic
attributes of the household on the
fertility behaviour of women. At the
demographic session of the Indian
Science Congress in 1967, at which I
Was asked to deliver the keynote
address on the population problem, I
ventured to postulate, with supporting
linkage-models, that every rupee
invested on imparting four years of
primary schooling to girls would yield
returns worth ten rupees invesbnent
ontheadvertisementofronha~ptive
technologies.
Where media failed
The .unprecedentedly high
decadal growth in 1961 which
continued unabated in 1971 confirmed
that the high trend was in fully cry.
Looking back on the third and fourth
Plan presentations around 1962-63
and 1968-69, it is difficult to avoid the
impression that while in the early
sixties a certain philosophical
approach was strident, quite another
was struggling later in the decade for
recognition Both these approaches
assumed that reduction of the birth-
rate, irrespective of the social, cultural
and economic milieu, was a straight
function of the state of the art in
contraceptive technology. People
seemed to be in a tearing hurry to
launch what was called the cafeteria
approach, sponsored by media
celebrities. This'was based ona series
of KAP (Kriowledge, Aptitude and
Practice) surveys. Most suxveys
seemed to be tailored to elicit the
answers of the promoters' choice. All
that was needed was to offer products
attractively packaged and publicised
with aggressive salesmanship. They
were largely single-approach
campaigns. Even to this day attempts
are seldom made to relate how the
nationallly broadcast slogan of do
bachche bas (Two children only) holds
the key to conservation and
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planning and child welfare. But right
in May 1992, we find the National
Development Council still mulling
over what may be called rudimentary
problems of programme organisation,
mobilisation and the education, which
one should have thought had been
quite satisfactorily worked out in these
crucial areas as early as the early
seventies.
Crucial Agenda for India's
survival
The National Development
A view of the distinguished lnvitees who made a very lively and fruitful interaclion
after Cr. Asok Min's learned presentation
Council has been 4ithering all along
with population and conservation,
as though they were just another job
improvement in each element of our No will to pursue
quality of life.
Isn't it a pity that despite so
excellent ideas
or conversation piece. The people of
India have received little signal of
urgency even in 1992 of this aera
much talent and development in such
We have spawned no end of being the most central for the survival
.. _. . lJ,J:!~q1:,1oe.tworksas Akashvani·and excellent ideas and the machanics of of India as the still living cradle as
Doordarshan in the last forty years, securing them in whatever areas of well as promoter of civilization. The \\
no satisfactory, graduated mass human development, particularly three most crucial things for the
instruction modules should have been family planning and child survival of India to my mind, are :
developed for various categories of development, one cares to think of, 1. A timebound programme targeted
audiences on the vital role of but never had the patience or will to
at each stage for graduated
population in the context of social pursue anyone of them to its logical
reduction of population growth
and economic growth and end. To .mention but one or two
preservation of the environment? Even instances like the ICDS, ORT, the
and the conservation of critical
areas of our eco-subsystem:
the government institutions of mass Tamil Nadu Nutrition Project. or, say, 2. A relook and, if necessary, a vital
communication and social welfare
do not seem to be interested at all!
Biggest lever of change
As early as 1971, the prime
emphasis on primary education as
the biggest lever of change and
acceptance of family planning was
accepted by the Govemment of India,
a fact which the International Planned
Parenthood and family planning
organisations and the- international
bodies like the UN System and World
the community forest programme in
villages for firewood. The Population
Edcuation Programme Service of the
UNESCO Principal Regional Office
for Asia and the Pacific at Bangkok
has produced most excellent modules
and Instruction Manuals for
Population Education and Family
Planning, much of the material for
which has been drawn from field
experiements conducted in various
parts of India .. A similar situation
obtains in the area of child
amendment of our Constitution
to ensure equal accountability and
equal responsibility on these
matters, even in those fields where
the Constitution so. far has
entrusted primary responsibility
to States which suffer from lack of
direction and commitment.
3. The need of harnessing our great
experts in different fields in
meaningful and responsible task
forces to advice, monitor and make
midcourse corrections to
timebound programmes to ensure
Bank. took another ten or twelve years development with the UNICEF (India
to espouse
p
as an act of faIth and
• can claim credit for oral rehydration
the convergency and multiplier
effects of the various concurrent
plank of primary motivation in family
planning practices. Simultaneously,
the famed Intensive Child
Development Scheme - ICDS for short
- was also accepted as the prime ally
of the Family Planning movement, as
infant and child mortality was
demonstrated to be indissolubly and
positively correlated with reduction
in fertility.
and ICDS) and still another with
conventional and non-eonventional
contraceptives and reversible as well
as irreversible sterilization with WHO.
Other countries like Indonesia,
Malaysia, Thailand, the Phillippines,
Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have
borrowed a few ideas from India at a
time and made excellent progress in
their national programmes of family
programmes. The National
Development Council stands for
the mountain of direction and
leadership, and the Task Forces
for the men who must be called in
instead of being made to stand
and wait in the corridors.
"Great' things are done," as
William Blake had said long ago,
"when men and mountains meet"!
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population growth.
JRD Tala Receives 1992 U.N. Population Award
I have always believed that no
real social change can occur in any
~ a glittering c:eremony· arid amidst. thunderous ovation from a select gfobal
audience. at the. U.N. headquarters in New York, Mr. 8oI.J,,"os8oI.Jtros-GhaJi United
Nations Secretary Generaf.presented the1Q92 U.N. Population Award to Mr. JRD
Tata, Chairman of thel=amily PlannirlgFolJndation •.on.Septembert7,,199.2. •..•..•.•.•.
society unless women are educated,
self-reliant and respected. Woman is
the critical fulcrum of family and
Mr. Tata Is the secondln~an after our late PrimeMmisterSrntlndi~~~hi
~ •.•.•.•.•• community prosperity. Frequent re-
the first industrialist In the VtfOridto have txaen honoured f)ythjs piSstigiolJs awai-d for . assertion by the Prime Minister of
his role and efforts ai~at stabilisationofwpulation gr9wth.fcJ~'Ii811C)ver~year~'
these objectivesisheartwarming, but
We will present a detallecl report 0fttle Award giving ceremony and¥t'"fata's
acceptance speech in our next issue~ . .
..
.
'.. ;.,.-:.,:;
we hope that his visionary enthusiasm
will transform the thinking of the
rank and file of the ruling party, and
contd. from page 1
Popu.lation Control .....
Another positive result of these
that other parties who had accorded
small improvement in litera,-]' and an important place to the population
even in the birth rate, but it has problem in their election manifesto
emphasised that the annual growth . in the last two elections, will come
efforts has been an increase in rate is still exponential at around 2.11 forward to participate in the forging
awareness and knowledge about and that the sex ration is still adverse of a powerful national consensus to
family planning. But it is a,sobering
thought that after an effort of 40 odd
. years, only 45 per cent of the 150
to women. An analysis of the present
total population of 860 million or so
fur.ther highlights the fact that most
give the popualtion
programme real strength.
control
million eligible couples in the country of it consists of the younger age group
""-;'-"-usesoll\\e forrn.of cOll.uaceptioll.:-The"" which means that the present
remaining couples are exposed to the momentum of population growth is
threat of' unwanted, untimeiy and likely to continue till at least the middle
stressful pregnancies which usually of the next century. It is now
change people's lives beyond universally accepted that India's
recognition.
population will cross the one billion
The question arises as to why so mark by the year 2000, only 8 years
many people choose to remain at risk hence and, if international projections
when modem technology places at are to be believed, it could still be 1.5
their disposal several simple and billion in the year 2025. We have
effective means of contraception. One arrived at the threshold but have yet
could go mtotne'enfuecomple5tof to enter the stage of demographic
contd. from page 1
Spotlight on.....
experts devoted to the cause of
population stabilisation and
environment friendly development,
leading lights of indusny and
commerce, policy makers and
planners as also representatives of
international organisations in India.
In the same function Mr Tata released
three booklets published by the
Foundation under its "Encounter with
Population Crisis" lecture series.
reasons - cultural, social and economic, stability. The speed with which we
The Minisny of Health and
institutional and the rest - but the work and the. firmness with which
Family Welfare sponsored a special
simplest reason in my judgementis we purslle populaimnstabilisation
World Population Day supplement
that the pleple of India have so far goals will make or mar our future.
in leading newspapers in the countxy
failed to acquire that sharp and keen
It is customary for India to be
on July 11, 1992. In this supplement
awareness of the value of a small compared with Otina though both
Chairman, FPF, Mr Tata made a
.,-It" £am'ily.whichEuropeandseveral
countries have followed different
significant contribution in the shape
countries of Asia and the Pecific approaches guided by a different set
of an article entitled "Population
acquired in the current century, as a of political principles. The Chinese
Control : Need of a new National
result of which their demographic
transition was smooth and fast While,
during my own childhood in France,
I often saw or met large families,
today the size of most. families has
shrunk to 2 to 3 members, and a
whole new matrix of values
concerning economic fulfilment has
taken firm roots in French society.
The 1991 census, of which the
provisional results were made public.
early this year, has rendered a good
service to the country and to!ts~4ers
and administrators. It has noted a
population reached 1335 million in
1990 as compared to India's 853
million. The population projection
for Otina for the year 2025 is 1.7
billion as against India's 1.45 billion.
That means that by 2050, India will
overtake Otina's population. Since
both these great countries are in
competition for changing the lives of
their peoples and laying firm
foun:da~ons of self-sustaining
economic growth,. it would be a matter
for continuous anxiety if our aims
were thwarted bythe pressure of our·-
Consensus."
As a follow-up to its recently
conducted project "Family Welfare
in the Organised Sector" QIlderwhich
nine regional workshops and a
national symposium were organised,
the Executive Director of the
Foundation Mr Harish Khanna,
addressed a communication to the
Secretaries General of Chambers of
Commerce and Indusny who had
helped organise' these··workshops,
requesting them to intensify their
partidpation in thefamily planning
movement.
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8 Page 8 |
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Family Welfare in Organised Sector: 11th Workshop Held at Cuttack
Orissa's Minister for Health & family welfare
Family Welfare, Shri Bairagi Jena services to the
assur~dth~StateGovernment's full workers. He also
supporttoCllambersandAssodations read out the
of Industry and Voluntary message of 5hri
Organisations in their endeavour to Biju Patnaik,
spread the message of small family Chief Minister of
norm among the industrial workers Orissa, assuring
for improving their quality of life his government's
and increasing efficiency for greater whole-hearted
production.
support for an
Shri Jena was inaugurating the effective fa!1'ily
11th Workshop on Family Welfare in
Organised Sector held at Cuttack on
18thJuly,1992under the jointauspices
welfare
programme.
Shri Bairagi Jena, Orissa's Health and Family Welfare Minister
inaugurating the Family Welfare Workshop at Cuttaek
Shri Durga -----------------
_
of the Utkal Chamber of Commerce
and Industry, Family Planning
Foundation, New Delhi an£Rotary
International.
Shri Sukumar Sen, Governor of
Rotary International District 326Q,in
·'--'·'··--nEf·mfrodi.iCforyremarkS·'saI'f"tha£
Cllarana Mohanty, General Secretary,
All India Tracie Union Cqngress,
stressed the need for effective
motivationalapproach in mining areas
of the State, where there was heavy
concentration of Adivasi Workers.
Dr J C Das, Director, F~ily
The industries represented in
the workshop included M/ s TISCO,
M/ s Straw Products, Orissa
Synthetics, Rourkela Steel Plant and
Paradeep Phosphates, ICCL, IMFA,
& I.D.C. etc.
the Family Welfare Schemes which Welfare, Govt. of Orissa, advocated
RESPONSE
had not been properly implemented
could onl.y..takeoff if the Voluntary
Organisations and the Government
worked together.
Shri Trilochan Kanungo,
Chairman, Cuttack Municipality,
assured that Cuttack Municipality
would render all assistance if a joint
drive was organised in the slum areas
of the city by the Voluntary
Organisations.
Earlier, in his welcome address
Shri S S Singh Deo, President, Utkal
raising of marriageable age of girls
to 20.
Shri 0 P Bhasin, Programme
Officer of Family Planning
Foundation, New Delhi assured the
Foundation's help to generatedemand
forfamilypalnningamongindustrial
workers.
Shri RN Senapati, lAS,Director
of Census, Orissa, underscored the
need for an integrated anti-poverty
and family welfare programme.
ProfGyana CllandraKarof Utkal
. Recently I came ;across a
cummtvolume of your Newsletter.
Your efforts to highlight the most
sensitive issues like population
controland enviro~ntwill sexve
a great input to the individuals!
. groups working in thosefields.As
an NGOworkingfora ~imiJarcause
we need your .documentation
service and infopn,ltion.·, .'
. UDameI
'.
....;.,.;:",it~~;~b,r
Chamber of Commerce & Industries University, acted as the workshop
. . .. 'Pist:l<oraput, ORISSA
emphasised. that. there was need for coordinator in conducting five group
the Indushy to take a lead in providing discussions.
:'We h~~ejust~eived a copy
of theFocus(April~Jun1e992issue).
India to Host Family Planning Meet
On the last page in the write~up
"Summing up the Summit", there
India will play host to the Expert
Group Meeting on Family PIanning,
Health and Family Well-Being in
Bangalore from October 26-30,1992.
The meeting, one of six expert group
meetings preceding the Intemational
Conference on Population and
inter-governmental and non-
governmental organizations, and
United Nations officials.
'Despite the success ofa number
of family planning programmes in
developing regions of the world,
implementation problems continue
~ a mention about Shri Ani} Agcuwcil .
of the Centre of Science and
Environment (CSE),A. hmedabad.
Shri Agarwal of. CSE is of New
Delhi and not of Ahmedabad.
VJ Raghuvanshi
Nava Vadaj,Ahmedabad
Development,1994,will bring together to hinder progress in some countries.
Thank you, Mr Raghuvanshi.
renowned experts in family planning, The meeting will attempt to address We stand corrected:
policy-makers,representatives of both these problems.
-- Editor
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