‘Population versus Planet’ Conference

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    In News: Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare expressed his views in the Population v/s Planet Conference on 21st Feb 2021.

    • It is a part of WION and Zee Media’s year-long campaign called ‘Mission Sustainability: Population Vs Planet’.

    Key Highlights of the meeting

    • The world population has increased from 1 billion in 1800 to 7.8 billion today.
    • Pressure on Resources increases drastically due to the high population.
    • Indian Efforts related to Family Planning:
      • India was one of the first countries in the world to formulate a National Family Planning Program way back in 1952.
      • It was later expanded to cover maternal and child health as well as adolescent health and nutrition.
      • Even though India’s population has increased from 36 crore in 1951 to 121.02 crore in 2011, the country has witnessed a significant decline in both fertility and mortality.
      • The crude birth rate which was recorded at 40.8 per 1000 in 1951 has declined to 20.0 in 2018.
      • Total Fertility Rate (TFR) has declined from 6.0 in 1951 to 2.2 in 2015-16.
      • The death rate in India has declined from 7 in 2012 to 6.2 in 2018.
    • India has been an important and active member of the Family Planning 2020 partnership, advancing collaborative efforts to address the policy, financing, delivery and socio-cultural barriers to women.
      • Since 2012, India increased modern contraceptive use to 55%.
      • The Partnership helped India add two new contraceptives to the National contraceptive basket:
        • Injectable MedroxyProgesterone Acetate (MPA)
        • Centchroman
    • The success story of Mission Parivar Vikas, 2016 was also highlighted:
      • Family Planning Logistics Management and Information system was developed under the Digital India initiative for last-mile availability of contraceptives.
      • Demand Generation: A holistic media campaign covered all aspects of Information Education & Communication as well as Behaviour Change Communication
      • Post-pregnancy contraception: More than 10 million pregnant women benefiting through Post-Partum Intra-Uterine Contraceptive Device (PPIUCD).
      • With persistent efforts on three key fronts of Supplies, Services and Information, India was able to provide modern contraceptive access to 14.2 Crore beneficiaries.
        • It averted 5.6 Crore unintended pregnancies, 18.6 lakh unsafe abortion and 30 thousand maternal deaths in 2019.
    •  National Family Health Survey 5 (NFHS-5) has also applauded India’s remarkable achievements in Family Planning.
      • Out of 22 states which were surveyed
        • 20 have shown an increase in modern contraceptive use.
        • 21 showing a decline in unmet needs for contraception.
        • 19 of them have shown declining fertility.
      • India is on the verge of achieving the replacement Total Fertility Rate with 28 out of 36 states & UTs having already achieved the replacement Total fertility rate of 2.1.
    • Other Highlights:
      • Demographic transition in India:
        • The youth population in the age group of 15-24 years is projected to decline from 233 million in 2011 to 227 million in 2036.
        • The proportion of the working-age population is expected to increase from 61% in 2011 to 65% in 2036.
        • India is adding 12 million people to the working-age population each year.
      • Over 9 lakh ASHA workers in the country are the drivers of health and represent the empowered rural women.
      • The Aspirational Districts Program is based on Health, Nutrition and Education as important pillars.
      • India made remarkable progress in the past by reducing teenage marriages from 47% to 26.8% and teenage fertility from 16% to 7%.
      • India has also expanded women’s education and female workforce participation.

    Benefits of population control and family planning

    • Less Burden on Resources and Infrastructure
    • Better education and skilling opportunity
    • More spending capacity of the family on each child.

    Demerits of Over-emphasis on Family Planning and Population Control

    • Sudden Population Decline: As per Economic Survey 2018-19, India is set to witness a sharp slowdown in population growth in the next two decades.
    • Ageing Population: As evident from Japan and China, the population is a great resource but old age people are not.
      • The ageing population has brought down economic productivity.

    Conclusion

    • Rather than focussing on reducing population, the focus must be on managing demography and seeing population as a Resource. (Economic Survey 2018)
    • Further, family planning must continue as a voluntary scheme.
    • The government should focus on diversifying contraceptive methods available to cater to the needs of diverse sects of people.

    Source: PIB

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