Demography India Vol 22., No. 2 (1993)

From the Chief Editor’s Desk

IN the last quarter of 1994, for those who are concerned with population and development, two important events took place - one the National Population Policy draft, prepared by Dr. Swaminathan Committee, was submitted to the Government and is now awaiting endorsement of the Parliament. Second, The International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) which is organised every ten years, this time held at Cairo. Both of these events are important and should have a significant bearing on our future population policy and programme.

Dr. Swaminathan Committee report has attracted a lot of attention from different segments of the population - programme managers, researchers and women groups. While the report has been praised for several recommendations such as the withdrawal of family planning targets, discontinuation of incentives for accepting contraception and addressing to the population problem in a holistic manner where education, women's empowerment and improvement in quality of services have been considered as essential ingredients of population policy. Suggestions for decentralisation in planning and decision making and greater involvement of NGOs and Panchayat in the programme have been viewed as major recommendations. On the other hand, the draft document has been severely criticized by some women' s groups for being 'anti women' and superficial. Some of its recommendations which have generated heated debate include barring women and men from government jobs if they marry before 18 and 21 years respectively. Similarly, the suggestion that all those having more than two children should be disqualified from contesting Assembly and Parliament elections has been opposed by many. It is being argued that as girls and women have hardly any control over their marriage or reproduction, such laws will discriminate against them. Similarly, recommendations of merging the Department of Health and Family Welfare, and creation of a high powered Population and Social Development Commission have generally not received support from programme managers and policy makers.

A careful reading of the proposed policy documents, however, clearly indicates that its central principles are sound and it offers a significant shift from pure demographic orientation to a balanced approach where the well being of the people has been given importance. Before acceptance of the draft policy, more discussion is required both at the Central and State level and by a broad spectrum of the society. Further more, several changes in service strategies such as withdrawal of targets, greater emphasis on reproductive health and improvements in quality of services need not await adoption of the policy.

In contrast to the earlier two international conferences on population and development, in which economic ideologies were the guiding principles of debate, the theme of the ICPD Cairo represented a paradigm shift in the approach to the population problem. The pure demographic goals and economic considerations gave way to more holistic approach which emphasized the need for education, empowerment of women and better reproductive health. The need for increased access to safe and hygienic abortion, access to wider range of contraceptive options and right of couple to make informed choices, safe motherhood and women's right to control reproduction were some of the other important points on which the world community assembled at Cairo agreed and advocated to follow in coming years. India as signatory of the declaration, has accepted the broad mandate for policy and programme change. This would demand bringing about significant changes in the strategies and emphasis of service delivery, many of which have also been recommended in the Swaminathan Committee report. It is time that the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare make note of it before it becomes too late.

After serving for three years as Chief Editor of Demography India, 1 am handing over this responsibility to Prof. K. Srinivasan; an internationally known demographer. I am sure that he will put his best effort not only to maintain its regularity but also give new stature to its standards and circulation. I want to take this opportunity to thank all of you, particularly the members of Editorial Board and the Reviewers for the support and cooperation which I received in editing the journal. Without your support, my work would have been much more difficult and time consuming. I thank once again to all of you. Before 1 end, I would like to wish all of you a very happy and productive new year.

M. E. Khan
Chief Editor, Demography India