Government should
lose no time in
reorienting the thrust areas of its activities and give proper
emphasis on population control on very high priority basis
The other skeptical view of population control
Faridul Islam
There are hardly any differences of opinion among economists and other experts that population control activities have been taking a back seat in the agenda of successive governments in Bangladesh. The result has been a rapid swelling of the population size. It is credibly feared that with no significant further reduction in the annual population growth from the current 1.47 per cent, this countrys population would double to become some 300 million within another 40 or 50 years from the present about 150 million. The population size would indeed become unsustainable even well before that happening. The population time bomb is ticking away while hardly proportionate concern is being shown towards this very great problem.
Every year some 2.5 million to 3 million babies are being delivered to add to the population but the acceptors of family planning methods are only about 55 per cent of fertile couples and others in the present population. Population control, thus, deserves to be recognized as the number one economic and social problem of the country. But hardly such recognition and follow up actions have came from successive governments in this area.
The urgency of population control was not even highlighted at the top of the agenda of the election manifesto of the present elected government. But it is better to be late than never. Government should lose no time in reorienting the thrust areas of its activities and give proper emphasis on population control on very high priority basis.
So far, a balance could be maintained between the countrys growing population and the production increases needed in various sectors to rear this population. But production capacities are likely to reach such a state some years from now when maintaining of this balance will become very difficult indeed.
Cleary then, hardly there is any room for being complacent in the population control drive. The population growth rate in Bangladesh will not be brought down to zero level like in the Scandinavian countries. There would be encountered strong social and cultural barriers against such initiatives. But it can be tried to effectively bring it below one per cent in a decade from now if the same goal is earnestly pursued. This decrease in growth will mean a manageable population by the middle of the present century.
But population growth going down below one per cent will dependent on extending contraceptive practices very extensively at the grassroots level among the poor and running the official population control activities with much greater efficiency and in a corruption free manner.
Keen observers at field levels know it that the official family planning programme is not running well. The door to door visitors of the family planning department to households are hardly seen doing their job. Although they are paid from the public purse to at least visit each home in the areas where they are posted to advise all males and females with reproductive capacity, they turn up only casually and at long intervals.
Contraceptives meant for free distribution or at nominal prices among users are actually found to be sold at market value that usually discourage the latter from buying them for use. There is a programme of operating on men and women who opt for the same for permanent control of reproductive capacities. Awards are to be provided for those who submit to the operations.
But the award money and other prizes are actually found to be misappropriated in many cases. Besides, lack of its publicity has also meant its not gaining in popularity. Therefore, the greatest need seems to be flushing very clean the various corruptions in the official population control programmes and much revamping the same for achieving real effectiveness.
The writer is a researcher on demographic trends
