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V. Mohan Rao*
“Every One Counts” is the theme
of World Population Day 2010. Which falls on 11th of
July. This is an annual event, which seeks to raise
awareness about global population issues. This
year’s theme is about encouraging people to
participate in their official census and other
methods of collecting data on populations. The
event, established by the United Nations Development
Programme in 1989, seeks an increased public
awareness of population issues like importance of
family planning, gender equality, poverty, maternal
health, sexual and reproductive health, and human
rights which have a serious impact on the world’s
development and environment.
World – India
The World population is estimated to be around 6.8
billion by end of June 2010 as against 5 billion in
July 1987. At the current rate of growth in
population, the number of people in the world is
likely to reach 7 billion by October 2012, according
to analysts. The population in India has increased
more than three times from 350 million in 1947 to
1.15 billion in 2010. As per Report of the Working
Group on Population Stabilization - 11th Five Year
Plan (2007-2012), Indian population is expected to
overtake that of China by the year 2030 and the
country will be the largest in the world with an
estimated population of around 1.53 billion. The
annual growth rate of population in India has fallen
from 2.14 during the decade (1981-1991) to 1.93
during the decade (1991-2001), according to the
population census data released by the Registrar
General of India. (Population projections upto the
year 2026 were done by a Technical Group constituted
by the National Commission on Population and
according to these estimates, the population of
India in 2026 is expected to be around
1.40 billion.)
National Population Policy 2000
The Government has adopted a National Population
Policy in February 2000, which provides for holistic
approach for achieving population stabilization in
the country. It affirms the commitment of the
Government towards voluntary and informed choice and
consent of citizens while availing of reproductive
health care services and continuation of the
target-free approach in administering family
planning services.
Initiatives To Check Population Growth
In pursuance of the National Population Policy, the
Government had set up “National Rural Health Mission
(NRHM)” and “Jansankya Sthirata Kosh (JSK)” to check
the growth of population. The aims and objectives
include encouragement of Fixed day, Fixed Place
Family Planning Services round the year through 24X7
Primary Health Centres and other facilities under
the Health Mission, increasing the basket of choice
by systematically and carefully introducing new and
effective contraceptives in the programme, increase
in the compensation package for sterilization. To
support this, a National Family Planning Insurance
Scheme was also started since November 2005 to
compensate the sterilization acceptors for failures,
complications and deaths. With a view to achieve
good health for people, especially the poor and the
underprivileged, the 11th Five Year Plan (2007-2012)
aims at reducing the Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR)
to one per one thousand live births, Infant
Mortality Rate (IMR) to 28 per one thousand live
births and the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) to 2.1.
Infant Mortality
India’s infant mortality per 1000 live births is 53
in 2009 as against 46 across the world. The total
fertility rate in the same year is 2.68 as against
world’s 2.54. The 11th five year plan aims at
raising public health spending to at least 2 per
cent of GDP as against the present 1.45 (as per
2009-2010 budget estimates.) In this direction, the
allocation for the Rural Health Mission and a number
of other programmes has also been enhanced
substantially in the first four year of the Plan
period. As per the Sample Registration System of
Registrar General of India under the Ministry of
Home Affairs, the infant mortality rate is estimated
to be 53 per thousand lives for the year 2008. As
per a report published by UNICEF, India is ranked 49
with 143 countries having a lower Infant Mortality
Rate (IMR) than India. Another UNICEF report in 2010
said India ranked at 49th out of 193 countries in
descending order of the Under Five Mortality Rate
(U5MR). The government has launched a new training
programme called “Navajat Shishu Suraksha Karyakaram”
for providing care to the new born at birth to
reduce the neo-natal deaths. The programmes takes
care of the main components of care at birth like
resuscitation, management of hypotherimia, infection
prevention and promotion of early initiation of
breastfeeding. The new progamme will complement the
existing programme and will be of help in reducing
Infant Mortality Rate (IMR). Several states are also
setting up Sick New Born Care Units (SNCUs), Child
Stabilization Units and New Born Care Corners under
the National Rural Health Mission.
Sex Ratio & Girl Child
The Ministry of Women and Child Development is
implementing the scheme of “Dhanalakshmi” as a pilot
programme to provide a set of staggered financial
incentives for families to encourage them to retain
the girl child. The Government has also declared
24th of January every year as a “National Child Day”
to bring to centre-stage the problems faced by the
girl child and create national awareness. The
Government has also taken several measures to
improve the sex ratio at birth in the country.
During the 1991 Census, sex ratio in the country was
927 females per one thousand males, which increased
to 933 females per 1000 males during the 2001
census. The Government has enacted the
Pre-conception and Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques
(Prohibition of Sex Selections) Act, 1994 under
which stringent punishments have been prescribed for
using pre-conception and pre-natal diagnostic
techniques to illegally determine sex of the foetus.
Life Expectancy At Birth
The average global life expectancy at birth reported
in the “Human Development Report” 2009 is 67.5 years
whereas the average life expectancy at birth for
India is 63.4 years.
U.N. Millennium Development Goals
The Millennium Development Goals (MDG)-5 mandates a
reduction in the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) by
three quarters, between 1990 and 2015. The targets
set by India under the Rural Health Mission
(2005-2012) are in line with the MDG goals and aim
to reduce MMR to less than 100 per one lakh live
births by the year 2012. As per the recent survey
report released in 2009 by the Registrar General of
India, the MMR has declined from 301 per one lakh
live births during the period 2001-03 to 254 per one
lakh live births during the period 2004-05. The
Government has taken several steps to reduce
maternal mortality. They included “Janani Suraksh
Yojana (JSY)”, a cash benefit scheme to promote
institutional delivery with a special focus on
pregnant women belonging to below poverty line and
scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.
National Rural Health Mission (NRHM))
The Government has launched the flagship programme
of National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) to improve
primary health care system and to provide medical
facilities to citizens with special focus on 18
states. Population stablization is one of its
objectives. The Mission provides a thrust for
reduction of child and maternal mortality and
reduction of the fertility rates. The main aim of
the Mission, launched in April 2005, is to provide
accessible, affordable, accountable, effective and
reliable primary healthcare facilities, especially
to the poor and vulnerable sections of the
population. It also seeks to strengthen the public
health delivery services at all levels. The
initiatives launched by the Health Mission aim to
reduce mortality and morbidity so that the life
expectancy of the people will improve. The Mission
also includes, the second phase of Reproductive and
Child Health Programmes (RCH-II), which intends to
improve the performance of family welfare by
reducing total fertility rate, maternal and infant
morbidity and mortality and unwanted pregnancies. It
provides assistance to state governments for
strengthening the public health system by way of
improving health infrastructure, augmentation of
human resources and community involvement in
delivery services. One of the Goals of the Mission
is to achieve the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) of 2.1
by 2012. TFR in India, which was 2.9 in 2005 has
reduced to 2.6 in 2008. So far, under the Health
Mission, 7.49 lakh “Accredited Social Health
Activists (ASHAs)” have been selected and 5.65 lakh
trained. Around 18,776 doctors and 87,973 para-medical
personnel have been engaged on contract basis.
Health Expenditure
The Government has raised the plan outlay for the
health sector to Rs.72,731 crore in the first four
years of the 11th Plan (2007-2011) from an actual
expenditure of Rs.36,079 crore in the 10th five year
plan (2002-03 to 2006-07). The World Bank has
committed to extend an assistance of 360 Million US
Dollars for RCH-II programme during the period from
August 2006 to September 2010.
Women Empowerment And Youth
The Government has been implementing several
projects since long to contain population growth on
its own and also in collaboration with several
external agencies. Realizing that women empowerment
is key to success, the Government had already
launched several schemes to ensure good health,
quality education and reduce poverty among the
people. All out efforts are also being made to focus
on country’s youth population. The country has
nearly 315 million young people aged 10-24 years who
are needed to be educated about sexual and
reproductive health choices. (PIB Features)
Disclaimer : The views expressed by the
author in this feature are entirely his own and do
not necessarily reflect the views of PIB
RTS/VN
SS-113/SF-113/08.07.2010
*Freelance Writer
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