It is vital for parents to understand that producing a child is not a one-time event, but a lifetime responsibility
He who gives a mouth shall feed it too.” This fatalistic, age-old adage so often used by the poor in the subcontinent conveniently passes the buck to the Almighty as a cover-up for our own inadequacies. Next in line of assault is the establishment for “failing” in its duty towards the country’s underprivileged population. Human rights activists use poor people’s helplessness as a means to achieve their own goals. A photo shoot of a family showing an emaciated mother with an infant in her arms, a sickly husband by the side and a line of malnourished offsprings speaks louder than a thousand words. Still the words, “No, one ever came forward to give us any help either from the Centre or from the State”, go viral and capture the hearts and imagination of the privileged.
A country progresses step by step, but the fruits of progress and development are usurped by the ever-increasing number of mouths to feed and more hands being continuously added to the workforce, looking for employment. As a result, we are back to square one. Man-made advancements in the fields of agriculture and technology ensure materialistic growth, but it is superseded by the unsustainable population growth. Unfortunately, since the Emergency, family planning has been regarded as a touchy subject and no politician wants to talk about it. Become rational, talk sense and lose the chair! Consequently, the mindset of the establishment, of shying away from addressing the topic aggressively, still has not changed to the extent needed. This is despite the incumbent Government at the Centre being in a majority.
Social, religious or cultural orientation are great impediments in the realisation of the importance and benefits of smaller families. A widespread network of accredited social health activist (Asha) workers are doing a good job in many States in promoting hospital deliveries against home deliveries, where contraception advice is routinely given. However, an inaccessible maternal healthcare system is still a problem in the remote areas. Fortunately, the country is self-sufficient in the production of food grains and the States are heavily subsidising it for the poor. As the farm land holdings get divided with each generation, urbanisation is inevitable. Therefore, the biggest task before the establishment is sustainable development along with tackling the paramount problem of unemployment through job creation.
One of the steps the Union Government plans to take is emphasising on privatisation and monetisation of some State-owned companies. The aim is to generate Rs 2.5 trillion that will be used for developmental purposes, along with job creation. However, it is easier said than done as there are many challenges before the Centre. Already there are several voices and demonstrations against the divestment of State-owned companies and the privatisation of nationalised banks. The insecurity of the employees is palpable and they fear that the number of Government jobs could further decrease with this move.
Ultimately, merit and the skills of the candidate would have the upper hand and, in the times to come, parents would have to invest more money and time that ever before in educating and skilling their children to increase their employability. The more the number of children, the more the burden on the guardians. It is highly imperative for parents to understand that producing a child is not a one-time event, but an additional responsibility of bringing them up properly. The Government gives adequate importance to strengthening the federal structure, thus district-level establishments can be authorised and empowered to implement innovative methods for promoting family planning programmes. The media can play a positive role by highlighting the far-reaching benefits of smaller families and making people aware of their responsibility towards their children and the need to bring them up as an asset to the nation and not a liability.
(The writer is an author. The views expressed are personal.)
