‘Get Serious Over Population Control’
Saurabh Lata Singh, 65, a housewife from Jharkhand is staunch supporter of population control. She feels if Narendra Modi is serious about the issue, he must take concrete steps and not just deliver speeches to score political points.
The Prime Minister during his speech on 15th August, said population control is an act of patriotism. Many people felt he was targeting a particular community with this statement. However, it is the mindset and ignorance that should be targeted and not a particular community.
Irrespective of religion, a majority of the Indian population still believes that having a son secure their future ensuring happiness and prosperity. I have heard of mothers killing their own daughters soon after birth in the hope of a son. What kind of a society are we living in?
Women are forced to conceive several times in the hope of birthing a son. This has an adverse impact on not just the health of the mothers but also of the older siblings, who neither get adequate nutrition or attention. Many a times, in villages elder sisters end up as nannies for their younger siblings.
Even in urban areas population control measures need a push. The Prime Minister should seriously think about this problem because it impacts the whole fabric of society and should not use it to score political points. One of our neighbours had seven children and they continued wither birthing spree, even after their first and fourth-born were boys. This is the 21st Century and we are still surrounded by people who look at contraception scornfully.
The concept of adoption is still alien to Indians. Orphaned/ abandoned children (mostly girls) continue to grow up without a family in orphanages.
I recently read about a 74-year -old woman, Erramatti Mangayamma, from Andhra Pradesh giving birth to twin baby girls. She conceived the twins through IVF and the reason she gave for having babies at this advanced age was that she felt isolated from her peers. While I have my doubts about how they will raise the two girls, what bothers me the most is why did they wait for 57 years to give birth to their own two babies? Why could they not adopt?
If we sincerely want to work towards population control we also have to work towards proper communication between couples. Sex education, pre and post-marital counselling are the need of the hour. Young people must understand that as responsible citizens, they must contribute to the society and population control is one of those ways. A smaller family is a happy family.
