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This article provides an overview on National Population Policy (NPP) 2000:- 1. Objectives of National Population Policy (NPP) 2000 2. Targets of National Population Policy 3. National Socio-Demographic Goals for 2010 4. Organisational Structure 5. Motivational and Promotional Measures 6. Implementation 7. Evaluation 8. Progress.
Objectives of National Population Policy (NPP) 2000:
There are three types of objectives of National Population Policy (NPP), 2000:
1. The Immediate Objective:
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The immediate objective is to address the unmet needs for contraception, health care infrastructure and health personnel and to provide integrated service delivery for basic reproductive and child health care.
2. The Medium Term Objective:
The medium term objective is to bring the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) to replacement level by 2010 through vigorous implementation in inter-sectorial operational strategies.
3. The Long Term Objective:
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The long term objective is to achieve a stable population by 2045 at a level consistent with the requirements of sustainable economic growth, social development, and environment protection.
Targets of National Population Policy:
The following are the targets of National Population Policy:
1. Achieve zero growth rate of population by 2045.
2. Reduce infant mortality rate of below 30 per thousand live births.
3. Reduce maternal mortality ratio of below 100 per 1, 00,000 live births.
4. Reduce birth rate to 21 per 1000 by 2010.
5. Reduce total fertility rate (TFR) to 2.1 by 2010.
National Socio-Demographic Goals for 2010:
To fulfil these objectives and targets, National Socio-Demographic goals have been formulated which in each case are to be achieved by the year 2010.
They are as follows:
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1. Make school education free and compulsory up to the age of 14 and reduce dropouts at primary and secondary school levels to below 20 per cent for both boys and girls.
2. Address the unmet needs for basic reproductive and child health services, supplies and infrastructure.
3. Achieve universal immunization of children against all vaccine preventable diseases.
4. Promote delayed marriage for girls, not before 18 and preferably after the age of 20 years.
5. Prevent and control communicable diseases.
6. Achieve universal access to information/counselling and services for fertility regulation and contraception with a wide basket of choices.
7. Achieve 80 per cent institutional deliveries and 100 per cent deliveries by trained persons.
8. ” Achieve 100 per cent registration of births, marriage and pregnancy.
9. Integrate Indian Systems of Medicine (ISM) in the provision of reproductive and child health services and in reaching out to households.
10. Contain the spread of Acquired Immuno-Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and promote greater integration between the management of reproductive tract infections (RTI) and sexually transmitted infections (STI) and the National AIDS Control Organisation.
11. Bring about convergence in implementation of related social sector programmes so that family welfare becomes a people centredprogramme.
12. Promote vigorously the small family norm to achieve replacement levels of TFR.
The Technical Group on Population Projection has projected India’s population of 116 crores in 2010, but it may reduce to 110.70 crores in 2010 if the National Population Policy, 2000 is fully implemented. This can be seen from Table 2.
Moreover, the projections of crude birth rate, infant mortality rate and total fertility rate are shown in Table 3. These projections are feasible if the National Population Policy 2000 is fully implemented.
Organisational Structure by National Population Policy (NPP) 2000:
To implement and achieve the various objectives, targets and socio- demographic goals, the following organisational structure has been proposed by the National Population Policy:
1. The appointment of a National Commission on Population to be presided over by the Prime Minister. The chief ministers of all States and related ministers will be its members.
2. There will be a State Commission on Population in every State headed by its chief minister.
3. The new policy will be implemented by the panchayats and municipalities at the grassroot levels.
Motivational and Promotional Measures by National Population Policy:
The motivational and promotional measures for adoption of small family norms are:
1. Strict enforcement of Child Marriage Act, 1976.
2. Facilities for safe abortion to be expanded and strengthened.
3. Strict enforcement of the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act, 1994.
4. Increased vocational training schemes for girls leading to self-employment to be encouraged.
5. Panchayats and ZilaParishads to be rewarded and honoured for exemplary performance in universalising the small family norm, achieving reductions in infant mortality and birth rates and promoting literacy with completion of primary schooling.
6. A revolving fund to be set up for income-generating activities by village level self-help groups who provide community level health care services.
7. The BalikaSamridhiYojna run by the Department of Women and Child Development to promote survival and care of the girl child to be continued. A cash incentive of Rs. 500 is awarded at the birth of the girl child upto two children.
8. A Family Welfare-Linked Health Insurance Plan to be established. Couples below the poverty line who undergo sterilisation with not more than two living children would become eligible (along with children) for health insurance (for hospitalisation) not exceedingRs. 5,000 and a personal accident insurance cover for the spouse undergoing sterilisation.
9. Maternity Benefits Scheme run by the Department of Rural Development to continue. A cash incentive of Rs. 500 is awarded to mothers who have their first child after 19 years of age, for birth of the first or second child only. Disbursement of cash award will in future be linked to compliance with antenatal checkup, institutional delivery by trained birth attendant, registration of birth and BCG immunisation.
10. Couples below the poverty line who marry after the legal age of marriage, register the marriage, have their first child after the mother reaches the age of 21, accept the small family norm and adopt a terminal method after the birth of the second child to be rewarded.
11. A wider affordable choice of contraceptives to be made accessible at diverse delivery points with counselling services to enable acceptors to exercise voluntary and informed consent.
12. Products and services to be made affordable through innovative social marketing schemes.
13. Creches and child care centres to be set up for income generating activities by village level self-help groups who provide community level health care services.
14. Local entrepreneurs at village levels to be provided soft loans and to be encouraged to run ambulance to supplement the existing arrangements for referred transportation.
15. The 42nd Constitutional Amendment has frozen the number of representatives in the LokSabha (on the basis of population) at 1971 Census levels. The freeze is currently valid until 2001, and has served as an incentive for State Governments to fearlessly pursue the agenda for population stabilisation. This freeze needs to be extended until 2026.
Implementation of NPP, 2000: National Commission on Population:
In pursuance of NPP, 2000, the Central Government has set up a National Commission on Population (NCP) on 11 May 2000. It is presided over by the Prime Minister, with the Chief Ministers of all States and UTs and the Central Minister, in-charge of concerned Central Ministries and Departments, reputed demographers, public health professionals and non-government organisations as members. State Level Commissions on Population presided over by the Chief Minister have been set up with the objective of ensuring implementation of the NPP.
The functions of the Commission are:
(i) to review, monitor and give direction for the implementation of the NPP with a view to achieve the goals set by it;
(ii) to promote synergy between health, educational, environmental and developmental programmes so as to hasten population stabilisation;
(iii) to promote inter-sectoral coordination in planning and implementation of the programmes through different agencies at the Centre and in the States; and
(iv) to develop a vigorous people’s programme to support this national effort.
The first meeting of NCP was held on 22 July, 2000, where the Prime Minister announced two major steps:
1. The formation of an Empowered Action Group within the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to focus on those States which are deficient in national socio-demographic indices.
2. Establishment of National Population Stabilisation Fund (NPSF) with a seed money of Rs. 100 crore to provide a window for channelising funds from national voluntary sources. The Prime Minister appealed to the corporate sector, industry, trade organisations and individuals to generously contribute to this fund and thus help in the national effort to stabilise population.
A Strategic Support Group consisting of secretaries of concerned sectoral ministries has been constituted as a Standing Advisory Group to the Commission. Nine working groups have been constituted to look into specific aspects of implementation of the programmes aimed at achieving the targets set in NPP NCP has allocated funds for action plans drawn up by district magistrates in poorly performing districts to implement programmes to accelerate the decline in fertility.
Evaluation of NPP, 2000:
This is a broad-based policy which relies more on persuasive and positive measures rather than on coercive methods. It demonstrates the Government’s concern for the rapid growth of population and its stabilisation from the long- term perspective. At the same time, it lays emphasis on both the qualitative and quantitative aspects of population.
However, this policy has been criticised on the following grounds:
1. The Swaminathan Committee of 1993 had recommended the year 2015 as the target for population stabilisation which the NPP has pushed to the year 2045.
2.TheSwaminathan Committee was against providing cash incentives to couples undergoing sterilisation because these are misused. But the NPP has proposed the same.
3. Critics point out that the NPP is soft towards the male participants. The various motivational and promotional measures for adoption of small family norms appear to convey that the women will bear the burden of population control rather than men. This is borne out by the fact that there has been a steady decline in vasectomies over the last two decades and presently over 97 per cent of sterilisations are tubectomies of women.
4. The NPP commits the same mistake which had been made by the earlier population policies. It depends upon its implementation on the bureaucracy rather than on NGOs (non-governmental organisations).
5. The proposal that the National Commission on Population (NCP) should be chaired by the Prime Minister has been criticised because being a very busy person, the Prime Minister would not be able to attend it. This would delay the taking of important decisions on population control.
Progress in the Milestones of the National Population Policy of India:
1. Bhor Committee Report in 1946.
2. Implementation of Family Planning Programme in 1952.
3. National Population Policy Statement in 1976.
4. Policy Statement of Family welfare Programme in 1977.
The National Population Policy Statement of 1976 and Policy Statement on Family Welfare Programme of 1977 were laid on the Table of the House of Parliament. But they have never been discussed or adopted by the Parliament.
5. National Health Policy was adopted in 1983, which emphasized the need for “securing the small family norm through efforts and moving towards the goal of population stabilisation.” At the time of adoption of National Health Policy, the need for a separate National Population Policy had been emphasized by the Parliament,
6. A Committee on Population under the Chairmanship of ShriKarunakaran was appointed by the National Development Council in 1991. To take “a long term holistic view of development, population growth and environmental protection” and to “suggest policies and guidelines for formulation of programmes” and “a monitoring mechanism with short, medium and long term perspectives and goals.” The Karunakaran Report had been endorsed by National Development Council in 1993.
7. A group was asked to prepare a draft of a National Population Policy in 1993 which was headed by Dr. M.S. Swaminathan. This was supposed to be discussed by the Cabinet and then by the Parliament. This report was circulated among the Members of Parliament in 1994 and the comments thereof had been invited from Central and State agencies.
It was expected that Parliament would help to produce a broad political consensus for National Population Policy which was approved by the National Development Council. But no action was taken to implement it.
8. The then Prime Minister I.K. Gujral promised to announce a National Population Policy in 1997 at the time of the 50th anniversary of India’s Independence. The Cabinet approved the National Population Policy Draft during November 1997 with the recommendation to place the same before the Parliament. But due to the dissolution of the LokSabha, this draft could not be placed before the Parliament.
9. Another Draft of National Population Policy was finalised after one more round of consultations during 1998 which was placed before the Cabinet in March 1999. To examine the draft policy, the Cabinet appointed a group of Ministers headed by the Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission.
After several meetings, the group of Ministers invited a cross-section of experts from public health, professionals, demographers, academia, social scientists and women representatives. The final draft of population policy prepared by the group of Ministers was placed before the Cabinet which was discussed on 19th November, 1999.
On the basis of the suggestions made in the Cabinet meeting a fresh draft was prepared, placed before the Cabinet and approved as National Population Policy, 2000.