Take responsibility to plan but not limit

The world Population Day was observed across the state on July 11 along with the rest of the world. The UN led annual event not only focuses on controlled growth of population but also to increase the awareness on population related issues across the world. Family planning, sexuality education, gender rights, STI, child marriages, reproductive health etc are some of the topics that are given prominence during the observance on the day. This year’s UN theme for the day is “Investing in Teenage Girls” specifically targeted to reduce early and child marriage among teenage girls, curb adolescent pregnancy and to empower girls to make informed choices about their health and lives. The relevance and importance of this year’s theme is self explanatory as it is a serious concern accepted around the world in recent times.

In India, though with its history of child marriages, the fear of ever growing population somehow takes the prominence and slogans were as always focussed mainly on family planning on this day. It is agreed that some of the programmes targeted for girls are already ongoing under the Ministry of Women and Child in the country. However the government is yet to come out of the hangover of the “Hum do, hamare do” slogan though it has stopped using the slogan officially. People across the country were greeted with the face of the Prime Minister imploring the citizens to have a plan for their families just like they have dreams for their families. Further it talked about the benefits of the smaller families that will ultimately build the economic health of the Nation. It ended with the slogan, Zimmedari Nibhao, Plan Banao (Take responsibility, make plans)

Likewise, Nagaland also toed in line with the directive of the central ministry and the department of Health and Family Welfare had to take a step further to list out all the family planning options available for planning a family in their advertisements. It stated it could all be availed free of cost during the population stabilization fortnight from July 11 to 24. The icing on the cake was the reward of money for those opting for permanent family planning methods viz. vasectomy and tubectomy.

Nagaland with a mere population of 1978502 (Census 2011) and a density of population of just 119 per Sq.Km in contrast to the country’s density of 382 per Sq.Km surely do not fit into the family planning agenda of the country. It is agreed that family planning has its own benefits for a more stable, healthy and a secure family but for a state that is known for its low population and the associated problems, focusing excessively on the national agenda will have a negative effect. On the other hand, it was quite relevant for a state like Nagaland to give some more importance to the global theme since there are around 2 Lakhs number of girls between the ages of 12 to 21 presently in Nagaland according to the last census. This is another example of why most of the centrally sponsored programmes are not suited for the state of Nagaland but huge amount of money no doubt gets spent on these programmes in the state.