The Hindu : Front Page : And now, condoms for women

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Tuesday, Jul 12, 2005

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Front Page

And now, condoms for women

Staff Reporter

Government will give top priority to stabilising population growth, says Anbumani "We are not going to force it [population control] on anyone and it will be a voluntary process"

PONDICHERRY: The Government is planning to introduce condoms for women, Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Anbumani Ramadoss said on Monday.

"Our cultural traditions do not even now allow talking about sex, which is still a taboo. In the larger interest of the country and to make family planning a success, the public has to be educated on the use of contraceptives," he told a World Population Day function organised here.

Insisting that population control would not be done through coercive measures, he said: "We will give top priority to stabilising the population growth. But we are not going to force it on anyone; it will be a voluntary process."

A "massive population" awareness campaign will be undertaken throughout the country. But the focus will be on States in the North, which had failed to arrest the population growth.

The Government was committed to replicating the success of family planning in Goa, Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry in other parts of the country.

Sex ratio

A related issue in population stabilisation was the huge divide in the sex ratio, especially in the North.

"It is a worrying factor that even in developed States such as Punjab, Haryana and Delhi the sex ratio does not favour the girl child". Measures targeting these States to bring a balance in the sex ratio would be taken at the national level, he said.

Speaking on the sidelines of the function, P.K. Hota, Health Secretary, said that by the middle of next month a National Surveillance Cell would be constituted to address the problem of female foeticide. Retired policemen would be recruited as members.

"They will be given powers to conduct surprise checks in clinics," Mr. Hota said.

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