Elephantine conclave

The gargantuan dimensions of the newly-constituted National Commission on Population NCP which incidentally comprises over a hundred mem...

The gargantuan dimensions of the newly-constituted National Commission on Population NCP which incidentally comprises over a hundred members and which met in Delhi recently means one of two things. Either the Vajpayee-led government is totally committed to the idea of bringing about a stabilisation of India8217;s population levels urgently or it is terribly anxious to win friends and influence people who matter by inducting them into a national-level committee. Even if it is the former objective that is driving the government, it does seem that such a commission may only end up getting bureaucracies to proliferate at a faster rate than the country8217;s population! Already the NCP has given birth to yet more committees and sub-committees.

Yet, the whole experience of administering family welfare in India indicates that committees and sub-committees do not effect substantial and lasting change in the country8217;s demographic profile. What does, is effective, enlightened and targeted governance that approaches the population issue in a holistic and multi-sectoral manner. Indeed, the army of babus required to organise bi-annual chat sessions in Delhi involving 100-odd VVIPs would be far better employed in overseeing the institutions meant to deliver health and education the two great engines moderating fertility behaviour to India8217;s millions.

To get back to the NCP8217;s deliberations, a National Population Stabilisation Fund was one of the proposals mooted and a sum of Rs 100 crore has already been earmarked for it as 8220;seed money8221;. But how this money is to be used is unclear apart from the vague statement that it will go towards supporting 8220;projects contributing to population stabilisation8221;. How will such funds help existing programmes supported by the ministry of health and family welfare? Will they not lead to duplication of effort and the scattering of resources? These are legitimate questions. After all, the family welfare programme has been an extremely costly one and it has yet to yield satisfactory results.

As Union Health Minister C.P. Thakur himself observed at the recent conclave, the country has already spent, since the First Plan, Rs 19,519 crore and all it has to show for it is a population of one billion!The one good idea that was agreed upon at the recent meeting was the need to focus energies and funds on the areas that really need them, especially high population growth states like Bihar and UP, which are expected to achieve stabilisation levels only by the end of this century or early in the next one, even as India as a whole hopes to achieve stabilisation levels by the year 2045.

The marked contrast between a state like Rajasthan and one like Andhra Pradesh one of the poorer performers among southern states demonstrates the kind of effort that is needed if India is to meet the population goals it has set for itself. The latest National Family Health Survey 1998-99 indicates that while Rajasthan had recorded a percentage increase in population of 22.4 between 1991-2000, Andhra Pradesh8217;s figure was 14.1.

This is also reflected in the contraceptive prevalence levels in both states 59.6 per cent in Andhra and 40.3 in Rajasthan. It is in bringing the northern states more on a par with the southern ones that the greatest challenge lies and it certainly requires something more substantial than speeches, tea and sympathy.