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Journalism of Courage
Perhaps it was the arrival some time ago of the billionth Indian baby that shook up state governments. Perhaps it is the push from below for better living conditions and the visible strains on the environment and the political system. Whatever the reasons, the good news is that some states are newly energised and engaged in a race to the bottom of the population growth chart. Maharashtra is among them and in an effort to bring down the birth rate has announced measures to affirm the two-child norm. The effort should be commended. However, not all the steps intended to be taken, which are in the nature of penalties on couples who have more than two children after May 1, 2001, are desirable. There is nothing wrong with denying certain kinds of benefits to government servants who exceed the norm. But it is grievously wrong to deny subsidised food and elementary education to the third, fourth or nth child born to a poor family. It is a very poorly designed policy that makes children suffer.
The government should examine the socio-economic issues more closely andavoid imposing penalties on poor families. In general, incentives are preferable to penalties. Incentives reward and encourage good patterns of behaviour; penalties are liable to be imposed on those whose life chances are low to start with. It is reasonable to withdraw housing or scooter loan facilities from erring government servants. They are educated, have a reasonable standard of living and job security. They are aware of or can be made aware of the options available to couples who wish to limit the size of their families, and they have access to low cost medical services. None of that is the case, say, with an agricultural labourer whose seasonal income is small and uncertain, who will probably be illiterate, who may not be able to find a primary health centre in the vicinity of the village, who has no pension fund or provident fund to rely on in his/her old age and who usually is working off debts to moneylenders. In short, in the matter of having children, government servants can exercise choice,agricultural labourers rarely. Child mortality rates are high among the rural poor and that gives families a strong reason for having more than two children. When designing incentives/penalties, it is essential to take into account the very different circumstances of groups of people.
