NEWS RELEASE - NEWS RELEASE - NEWS RELEASE India: Racing to Catch up with China BY MAHESH UNIYAL NEW DELHI, APR 1 (IPS) - INDIA IS PREPARING FOR A WORLD MEET ON POPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT THIS YEAR, ADMITTING FAILURES BUT OPTIMISTIC OF CHECKING THE BABY BOOM WHICH EXPERTS WARN CAN MAKE IT THE MOST POPULOUS NATION EARLY IN THE CENTURY. CRITICS, HOWEVER, QUESTION THE CONFIDENCE AND SAY A LOPSIDED FAMILY PLANNING PROGRAMME IS FRUSTRATING GOVERNMENT EFFORTS TO REDUCE FERTILITY, THUS WORSENING POVERTY AND ENVIRONMENTAL DECAY. THE COUNTRY WILL HAVE TO WAIT LONGER TO REACH THE GOAL OF MANAGEABLE POPULATION GROWTH, WHEN IT CAN FEED, CLOTHE AND HOUSE WITHOUT OVERUSING NATURAL RESOURCES, THEY SAY. "THE VOLUNTARY NATURE OF THE (BIRTH CONTROL) PROGRAMME EXPOSES IT TO CONSTRAINTS OF SOCIAL, CULTURAL AND ECONOMIC FACTORS," SAYS INDIA'S STATUS REPORT FOR THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON POPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT (ICPD) TO BE HELD IN CAIRO IN SEPTEMBER. A PANEL OF HEALTH, DEVELOPMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL EXPERTS, CHAIRED BY EMINENT FARM SCIENTIST M.S. SWAMINATHAN, IS FINALISING A POLICY STATEMENT FOR THE CAIRO CONFERENCE. THE REPORT IDENTIFIES A "CULTURAL PREFERENCE FOR MALE PROGENY", THE LOW SOCIAL STATUS OF WOMEN, POVERTY, WIDESPREAD FEMALE ILLITERACY, EARLY MARRIAGE AND HIGH CHILD MORTALITY AS THE MAJOR OBSTACLES. EARLY MARRIAGES ARE STEADILY DECLINING BUT STILL ABOUT 60 PERCENT OF THE WOMEN OF CHILD BEARING AGE ARE LESS THAN 30 YEARS OLD, SAYS THE STATUS REPORT. BIRTH CONTROL IS A TOP PRIORITY IN THE WORLD'S SECOND MOST POPULOUS NATION AND PROGRESS IS MONITORED REGULARLY AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL BY THE PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE AND ONCE A YEAR BY A PARLIAMENTARY PANEL. THE OVER FOUR-DECADE-OLD FAMILY PLANNING PROGRAMME IS THE WORLD'S OLDEST AND IS ESTIMATED TO HAVE PREVENTED 155 MILLION BIRTHS TILL APRIL 1993. ANNUAL POPULATION GROWTH HAS SLOWED, FROM 2.22 PERCENT IN THE 1970'S TO 2.14 PERCENT IN THE 1980'S. BUT, DESPITE A MASSIVE INFUSION OF FOREIGN FUNDS AND LOUD OFFICIAL RHETORIC, THE COUNTRY IS TRAILING BEHIND EVEN ITS POORER SOUTH ASIAN NEIGHBOUR BANGLADESH WHERE CONTRACEPTIVE USE HAS GONE UP DRAMATICALLY IN THE LAST TWO DECADES. IN INDIA, THE PERCENTAGE OF ELIGIBLE COUPLES PRACTISING BIRTH CONTROL HAS BEEN STUCK AT ABOUT 40 PERCENT, WITH STERILISATIONS, MOSTLY OF WOMEN, MAKING THE BULK. IN FACT, INDIA HAD TO EXTEND BY A DECADE ITS TARGET OF COVERING 60 PERCENT OF ELIGIBLE COUPLES BY THE YEAR 1990. DEMOGRAPHERS SAY, ACHIEVING THIS WILL PEG ANNUAL POPULATION GROWTH AT A MANAGEABLE ONE PERCENT. AS A RESULT, THE NATIONAL HEALTH POLICY GOAL OF A TWO-CHILD FAMILY BY THE YEAR 2000, HAS ALSO BEEN REVISED. THE STANDING COMMITTEE OF EXPERTS ON POPULATION PROJECTIONS ESTIMATES THERE WILL BE A BILLION INDIANS BY THE YEAR 2001. "IN TRYING TO UNDERSTAND THE REASONS FOR LOW FERTILITY, WE HAVE TO LOOK AT DYNAMICS WHICH ARE VERY COMPLEX AND CONTRACEPTIVE TECHNOLOGY IS ONLY ONE OF THE FACTORS," SAYS K. GOPALKRISHNAN AT THE NEW DELHI OFFICE OF POPULATION SERVICES INTERNATIONAL. HOWEVER, THE QUALITY OF CONTRACEPTIVE SERVICES IS VITAL. A 1990 GOVERNMENT STUDY FOUND THERE WERE 24 MILLION INDIAN COUPLES WHO WANTED BUT DID NOT GET BIRTH CONTROL SERVICES. HE THINKS THAT BIRTH CONTROL IS ULTIMATELY THE GOVERNMENT'S RESPONSIBILITY BECAUSE WHILE NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS (NGO'S) CAN DELIVER GOOD QUALITY SERVICES AT LOW COST, THEIR REACH IS LIMITED. THE GOVERNMENT PROGRAMME CAME UNDER FIRE FROM NGO'S AT A SERIES OF WORKSHOPS ORGANISED LAST YEAR BY THE U.N. POPULATION FUND (UNFPA) AND THE FORD FOUNDATION IN PREPARATION FOR THE ICPD. A MEETING OF SOME 40 NGO'S IN TAMIL NADU, A SOUTHERN STATE, CONCLUDED THE PROGRAMME WAS PREOCCUPIED WITH STERILISATIONS AND DID NOT ANSWER USERS' QUERIES ON VARIOUS CONTRACEPTIVE METHODS AND THEIR SIDE EFFECTS. HEALTH WORKERS ARE PREOCCUPIED WITH MEETING TARGETS AND TEND TO IGNORE WOMEN'S OVERALL HEALTH. GOVERNMENT RURAL HEALTH CLINICS HAVE VIRTUALLY BECOME MOTHER AND CHILD HEALTH CENTRES, WITH NO ROOM FOR MALE CONTRACEPTIVE SERVICES, THE PARTICIPANTS SAID. THEY DEMANDED PRE-MARITAL COUNSELLING, AND CHEAP AND SAFE ABORTION FACILITIES INSTEAD OF THE PRESENT EMPHASIS ON STERILISATION AND OTHER FORMS OF CONTRACEPTION. PARTICIPANTS AT ANOTHER WORKSHOP, IN THE WESTERN STATE OF RAJASTHAN, SAID THAT MOST RURAL WOMEN WANT SMALL FAMILIES, BUT THEIR QUESTIONS AND DOUBTS ON CHILD SURVIVAL AND CONTRACEPTIVES GO UNANSWERED. A PROGRAMME THAT COMBINES BIRTH CONTROL WITH POVERTY ALLEVIATION AND SOCIAL JUSTICE WOULD GO A LONG WAY IN ENSURING INDIA WILL NOT OVERTAKE CHINA AS THE WORLD'S MOST POPULOUS COUNTRY, THEY SAID. Back... [c] 1994, InterPress Third World News Agency (IPS) All rights reserved