The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : "Our model can help northern States in population control"

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jul 11, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

"Our model can help northern States in population control"

T. Ramakrishnan

Political leadership given credit for changing the mindset of people

CHENNAI: : The Tamil Nadu formula can make wonders in the highly-populated northern States for ensuring population stabilisation at an early date, says T.V. Antony, national adviser for population stabilisation, and former Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary.

"Political commitment at the highest level, involvement of administration, a strong information, education and communication (IEC) system, high-level care for acceptors and mothers coming for delivery and, above all, aftercare are the ingredients of the Tamil Nadu model," says Mr Antony, known for his contribution to the steep reduction of the State's Crude Birth Rate (CBR) during 1984-94. (The fall meant the avoidance of half-a-million births a year).

Identifying Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh as the problematic States, he says the population of the four northern States accounts for 360 million, with four children a family. On an average, the CBR is a little more than 30 per 1,000, whereas the national average is 25 per 1,000.

"These States can very well achieve what was accomplished by Tamil Nadu. They can also bring down the CBR level to 21 per 1000 in five-six years," says Mr Antony, in an interview with The Hindu on the eve of the World Population Day.

Tamil Nadu was in the same position in the early 1980s as the northern States find themselves today. "In our State, the CBR went down from 28/1000 in 1984 to 19/1000 in 1994."

Among the important features of the Tamil Nadu formula are "mind change, high level of services for contraception/sterilisation and aftercare." For changing the mindset of the people to go in for a small family, the credit should go to the political leadership of the State. "In the 1930s, E.V. Ramasamy Naicker had talked about the concept when it was considered sinful," he recalls. The successive Chief Ministers, M. Karunanidhi, M.G. Ramachandran and Jayalalithaa, showed a keen interest in the idea and propagated it in their own way.

Considering that the family planning measures, adopted crudely in the mid-1970s in the north, led to serious political ramifications, Mr. Antony says the emphasis should be on contraception and never on compulsion or disincentives. "This is what we did in Tamil Nadu. It was a mix of persuasion and the provision of highly-improved and imaginative facilities for contraceptive acceptors."

The contraceptive acceptors were provided special treatment when they went to hospital or special camps for sterilisation. They were reassured that they would not face any mental or health problem because of contraception. This was done from the moment they checked in till they left. To make them feel at home, the mass media such as radio and television were used to entertain them. A special section for children was provided at the camps.

The aspect of "aftercare" was given due importance. The acceptors and their attendants were given free treatment. Each acceptor was given a card for reporting back to the health authorities and receiving medical attention on a priority basis.

Mr. Antony says the task of population stabilisation is not just the work of the Health Department but of the entire district administration. Panchayat institutions and voluntary organisations have an important role to play in popularising the concept.

He feels that Rajasthan has the potential to show the way to other northern States, because of the interest shown by its Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje. He addressed the Collectors' conference at Jaipur in May on this topic. "Most of the Collectors had evinced considerable interest in the Tamil Nadu model," Mr Antony recalls.

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