Education, welfare and birth rate

It's been a few weeks since the death of some women who were subjected to a sterilization treatment in the Indian state of Chattisgarh.

Beyond the pain and just indignation, the fact shows once again the futility and harmfulness of sterilization programs aimed at reducing the birth rate.

Now the statistics and studies on the subject are clear. Rarely initiatives aimed at male sterilization and/or women have been successful and India should know it.

Large and expensive sterilization campaigns organized by the governments of Indira Gandhi, and run by his son Sanjay, have proved failures. And so the next, often encouraged by a few thousand rupees, but rarely effective.

In 2012 in India were made about 4.6 million female sterilizations and about 110 thousand men, 37% of sterilizations worldwide. Yet India is the country with one of the highest rates of population growth in the world and in 2050 will be the most populous country in the world surpassing China and failing all demographic targets that had been given (click here). On 7 billion and 300 million inhabitants on earth, currently 1 billion 200 million Indians.

What does it take then? Let's see some data collected from the site Indiastat and two publications of Amartya Sen that I recommend: "The Other India" and "An uncertain glory".

For example, "the link between female literacy and fertility is particularly evident", equally important is the level of participation of women at work and the level of benesse general in Kerala - considered one of the most socially advanced states of India, the rate fertility (births per woman) is 1.8 compared to 2.4 in the rate of India

Low birth rates are also those of Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh

Well the poverty level (population below the poverty line) of Kerala is 12% of the population, that of Tamil is 17% and that of Himachal is 9.5% compared with an average of 29 nazioanle, 8% with peaks of 53.5% in Bihar and 48.7% of Chattisgarh.

As for the female literacy instead, compared to a national average of 65.5%, Kerala has a rate of 92%, 76.6% of the Himachal and Tamil 73.9 while in Bihar is the 53.3% and 60.6% in Chattisgarh.

The data on fertility are inversely proportional: Bihar is 3.6%, in Chattisgarh is 2.7%, in Kerala and Himachal is 1.8% and 1.7% is in Tamil.

In short, the birth rate is higher where there is more poverty and less education.

Indian populations

Today I want to publish this report that a friend of mine shared on Facebook. This is the comparison between the populations of the various states of India and that of some Countries. It seems to me highly significant.

Census 2011

The second phase of Census 2011 began today in India with enumerators seeking information about the first citizen of country, President Pratibha Patil.

This second phase of Census, called the Population Enumeration Phase, starding today is being conduct simultaneously all over the country till February 28. All 640 districts, 5,767 tehsils, 7,742 towns and more than six lakh villages of the country will be covered in the exercise. This is 15^th Census of the country.

The Indian population should about one billion and 200 million, the world’s six billion and 900 million.

In this respect, I mark the web site Indiastat that, in addition to some interesting statistics on India, has a box in which the world’s population and Indian population are constantly updated. It’s awesome.

India to miss 2045 population target

NEW DELHI:  India will miss its target of reaching population stabilization by 2045 with the Union health ministry now looking at 2060 as a plausible target.
India had set itself the goal of attaining replacement levels of fertility - 2.1 by 2010 - to achieve the larger goal of population stabilisation by 2045 - a gap of 35 years. However, by the end of 2010, only 14 states achieved the target. In fact, six states have fertility as high as 3-4.
This has made the ministry feel that instead of reaching population stabilization in 2045 at 145 crore people, it will reach the target around 2060 at 165 crores.
Union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad feels improving use of any form of contraceptives - male and female condoms, IUCDs or pills - will help India reach its target.
The government has, therefore, under a pilot project involving 150 districts, decided to use Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) to deliver contraceptives to the doorstep of villagers.
In an exclusive interview to TOI, Azad said instead of sending the contraceptives to states and "let them rot in their godowns", ASHAs will be given contraceptives free of charge by the Centre who will go from door to door in designated villages and sell them at 10% the cost.
"This way, the condoms will not cost the ASHAs a penny. However, by selling them to villagers at 10% the cost, they can keep the money as commission. On the other hand, villagers who now travel miles to get contraceptives will have it at the lowest price right at their doorstep," Azad said.
According to Azad, villagers give up using contraceptives because they have to travel far for a shop. Second, they feel shy to ask a chemist in a town for condoms or pills.
Azad added, "We can't fool ourselves anymore. Unless the rapid growth of population is contained, it will be difficult to ensure quality education, healthcare, food, housing, clean drinking water, sanitation, hygiene and a healthy environment for all."
Azad, however, made it clear that no legislation or law would be brought to contain population.
The minister is expected to discuss the issue of population stabilization at the state health ministers' meeting in Hyderabad on January 12 and 13.
"I believe we can achieve our target of population stabilization by improving contraceptive use and not by any legislation. At the Hyderabad conference, we will discuss not just TFR but how to reduce maternal mortality rate and infant mortality rate," Azad added.
Population stabilisation is a stage when the size of the population remains unchanged. It is also called the stage of zero population growth. Global population is said to be stabilizing when births equal deaths.
So what are the factors that influence population growth?
According to India's Population Stabilization Fund, natural increase denotes the difference between the number of births and deaths. India has seen declining death rates but the birth rates remain high. This is due to two factors -- unwanted and unplanned fertility and the desire for larger families.
According to officials, children who are born because of lack of poor access to contraceptive services -- also known as the unmet need -- are a major cause of India's population boom. The birth of three and above three children accounts for 45% of the 26 million births that take place each year.
Preference for a male child and high infant mortality accounts for 20% of births.

From Times of India: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/India-to-miss-2045-population-target-/articleshow/7261882.cms