Ostriches Galore

Azad’s remark derogatory: AIDWA
Aarti Dhar


NEW DELHI: The All-India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) has described as “derogatory and untrue” Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad’s statement that rural population produced more children for lack of recreation.

“His views on late marriage as the only way of checking population growth quite unrealistically proposes to recognise only marriages contracted after 30 years. The reality that lack of development is the biggest driver of high birth rate has been ignored,” said a resolution passed by the AIDWA central executive committee.

Provision of TV sets or enforcing coercive measures was not the way forward, rather it was lowering maternal and infant mortality rates, providing education and health facilities and addressing the huge unmet demand for family planning.

The AIDWA expressed disappointment over non-passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill despite President Pratibha Patil’s assurance.

Expressing deep concern over the Gujarat liquor tragedy, in which more than 180 people died, the committee demanded stringent action against the guilty and adequate compensation to the bereaved.

The resolution also expressed concern over growing violence in J&K, particularly at the Shopian incident, which, the committee said, showed the State government’s insensitivity.

At last a minister is talking of family planning.
I thought they had forgotten the word and wiped it from their dictionary after the emergency excesses of Sanjay Gandhi and having the RJD boss Lalu Yadav in the last UPA ministry.
However, what the AIDWA is bickering over is like splitting hairs.
What Azad has said may not be the only reason but it is one of the reasons and and important reason.
The basic reason is poverty.
It is the poor who have hordes of children.
Here caste or religion plays no part, it is poverty.
The poor people think that the more hands they have, the earning members will be more and they will gain. They forget the additional expenditure which may be incurred for they do not intend to send their children to school.
Hence, although child labour may be banned, the parents would like their children to work as they bring in additional income and there is no way the government can stop it.
Having more than two children should be banned or punished by depriving the parents of government facilities like ration cards, facilities in Government Hospitals and government jobs.
I know this is counter-productive as it will bring additional sufferings to the people. But the people should realize that the government has (using our PM's favourite phrase) zero tolerance for large families.
No person in any family should remain hungry.
Work should be provided and they should be paid so that they get money for at least minimum sustenance.
No beggars should be allowed.
All beggars should be removed, provided work and given food, shelter and clothes.
Why should a person have to beg another for his food?
What is the government doing?
The government should eradicate corruption.
This one step, together with disbanding all future pay commissions would go a long way to provide the finance for the above mentioned projects.
Regular Pay Commission awards every five years fuel inflation and make the life of these poor people even more difficult, pushing them down the ladder of BPL, EBPL ...
The awards also disrupts life through strikes and other coercive methods adopted by government/semi-government/PSU employees who are dissatisfied with what they have got, forgetting there are crores of fellow countrymen who do not get even 1/100 of what they are earning.
A recent example is the strike by government doctors and teachers in Maharashtra