Opinion - Letters to the Editor

Population policy

This has reference to the article ‘Population policy and legal prescriptions’ by V.R. Krishna Iyer (August 13.) His legal prescriptions are thought provoking. We need an effective birth control programme in India. It may be difficult because of the superstitious minds of the people. It is the government’s responsibility to spread awareness among the people.

George Matthai,

Kochi

Justice Krishna Iyer’s advocacy of punishment for violation of the two-child norm, and “penal infliction on culpable parents” is unexpected and unfortunate.

There is substantial data and evidence which link the family size to development parameters. The 1980s slogan that “development is the best contraceptive” is as relevant today — given the high levels of infant mortality rates at 57 per 1000 live births — as then. Amongst the SCs and the STs, it is disproportionately high at 66.4 and 62.1. It is estimated that the infant mortality rate in the poorest 20 per cent of the population is 2.5 times higher than that in the richest 20 per cent of the population. (70.4 : 29.2 per thousand births). The unmet need for family planning is 18.2 in the lowest quintile as compared to 8.1 in the highest quintile. This clearly shows that for a significant section of poor women, lack of access to contraceptive measures is one of the major contributors to increased fertility. Thus, penal measures are a means to punish the poor for their poverty.

We uphold the rights of Indian women to safe and effective contraception. Fertility rates in India have been steadily declining, especially in States like Kerala, Tamil Nadu, etc., which have better development parameters. Only a combination of better levels of education, decline in the maternal and infant mortality rates, better access to health services, including safe contraception, and improved gender equity can make the choice of a small family a realisable goal. In the absence of these, any attempts to target women or go in for disincentives and penalise parents would amount to an assault on their democratic rights. The two-child norm is also contributing to sex–selective abortion and a serious fall in child sex ratios in a context of son preference in our country.

Sadly, Justice Iyer’s views on population control contradict his often expressed concern for the rights of the poor.

Sudha Sundararaman,

General Secretary, AIDWA,

New Delhi

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