Family Planning in Tribal Areas: Simple Acceptance or Coercion?
Item
- Title
- Family Planning in Tribal Areas: Simple Acceptance or Coercion?
- Date
- 1987
- extracted text
-
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FAMILY PLANNING IN TRIBAL AREAS: SIMPLE ACCEPTANCE OR CORSION?
The planners of the family planning policy felt that the
different segments of the Indian polity had accepted the family
planning programme in verying propotion and thereby contributed
differently to the ultimate outcome of the same. This was consi
dered to be particularly applicable to backward and lower income
communities i.e. scheduled caste and scheduled tribes, who it
was believedhad a very low rate of family planning acceptance.,
HOWEVER, Several tribal districts in various states of India, for
example Bharuch in Gujarat, Gadchiroli in Maharashtra and Dungarpur
and Banswara in Rajasthan have mostly ranked highest or second
highest in achieving the family planning targets during the last few
years. This paper attempts to examine the possible reasons for this
phenomenon and its probable long term implications on tribal
demography.
Family Planning Acceptance Higher in Tribal Areas
A Statistical
computation was done by Prof. K.G. Tolly to identify then various
social and economic variables that explain differential performance
in family planning programmes in all the districts of the states of
Gujarat, M.P., Maharashtra and Rajasthan. These together contain
52% of the total tribal population of the country. The study based
on figures mainly available before 1981 census considers several
social and economic variables viz. general literacy rate, female
literacy rarw, percentage scheduled caste population, percentage
Scheduled Tribe population and ownership of land, agricultural
productivity, male and female participation rates, surfaced roads,
cropped area etc.
According to this study based on stepwise regression
procedure for a combined social and economic variables and analy
sis, the third most important various affecting the cumulative
acceptance rate of family planning at the district level is the
percentage of scheduled tribe population. Percent literacy rate
was found to be the most important variable influencing the
cumulative acceptance rate of family planning at the district
level, followed by percent female participation. Other variables
like percent s rfaced road, percent electrified villages,
percent commercial crop and other economic variables had a
lesser effect on the family planning performance at the district
level.
This study indicates two significants trends:
the acceptance of family plan ling js significantly high
in districts with higher S.T. population.
although comparable in economic status to the S.T.population,
the existence of a higher Scheduled Caste population has
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not been a sifnificant variable on the performance of F.P.
in such districts.
Prof. Jolly's study does not ventrue into the reasons for
this higher performance of F.P. in the districts with a large
population. Conventionally, some of the important factors for
higher acceptance of F.P. in an area have been high female literancy,
high economic status, effective health services and better infrastrictural facilities. Tribal areas lack alll these factors to a
major extent. Yet, tribal areas show a significantly higher family
planning performance in comparision to other backward communities.
What could be the reasons for this situation?
State Policy of Coercion - Various social marketing strategies
have been used for the promotion of the F.P. programme. In tribal
areas an important strategy is that of giving higher monetary
incentives. The amount is almost doubled for tribals accepting
terminal methods of F.P. Cash incentives exploit the economic
need of the poor and thereby indirectly coerce them into accepting
terminal methods without much choice and without any consideration
to their specific F.P. needs. The economic deprivation combined
with a higher one time monetary gain offered for sterlizations
result in a double catch for tribal people from which they can
hardly escape. In a study done by the Tribal Research Institute,
Udaipur it was found that the tribals showed a greater willing
ness to accept family planning if higher incentives were given.
In some states, the Government has blatantly linked the provision
of employment in famine affected areas with adoption of sterlization. In a recently issued notification in Rajasthan which is
a chronically drought prone state, the Government has declared
additional employment generation programmes worth Rs. 10,000.00
to each village which has achieved its F.P. targets.
Tribal Economy- Tribal economy is generally a combination of
settled agriculture, shifting agriculture, animal husbandary
collection and marketing of forest produce. For tribals the
forest continues to sustain them through loan periods. Fertility
behaviour among poverty groups is largly determined by the
necessity to have enough hands that can ensure the surviaal of
the family as a unit especially in periods of searcity. For the
Tribal communities inhabiting hilly and forested regions, the
forest economy takes care of this aspect to a great extent.
This probably affects the choice of family size. (However, with
the changing forest policy of the Government and depleting forest
resources,‘what turn the situation will take is a matter of
speculation.)
- 3 Social Organization ;
Historically, tribal communities have lived
in isolated pockets and a culturally homogeneous evironment,
The social structure inherently provides social and psychological
security, irrespective of their relation with non-tribal
communities. It is probable that they are thus saved from feeling
the 'minority syndrome' which creates the desire to have more
hands, and find security in numbers. Such a minority syndrome has
are in minority to the dominant population.
Status of Women : Most tribal communities are known to have (aleast
upto recent times) less discriminatory social structures for women.
Living within hemegenous and a more or less self dependent
economic system, the women work very hard and therefore are
significant economic assets. The mean age at marriage for tribal
women is higher (16.39 as compared to 15.39 for the general
population). The sex ratio emong S.T. population is higher (983 as
compared to 933 for total population). Further some tribal
communities have matrilineal/materiarchal social structures. It
is probable that such position of tribal women provides greater
acceptance of F.P.
The above mentioned probable reasons for the higher F.P.
acceptance can be classified into (1) these that are external state imposed and (2) those which are internal to the tribals as
an ethnic group.
Impact on tribal population
If infact certain secial, cultural
and ecnomic factors are somehow contributing to higher accepta
nce of F.P. among the tribal population, then the invasive,
coercive state intervention in promoting mainly sterilizations
of tribal men and women in the country can lead to serious
implications fbr the existence of these
ethnic groups in the
long run. The Government of India hopes to achieve a target of
>+2% "effective couple protection rate" by the end of 7th five
year plan. Being politically and economically weak, the tribals
having already higher acceptance of F.P. will mainly bear the
brunt of this. If the present policy of monetary incentives and
disincentives of the State continue in the present form,9 the
tribal communities will be affected more than any one else. Even
the present growth rate indicates that the tribal population is
declining in proportion to the total population.
- M- In comparision to 1971 cansus, the 1981 census figures
show this declining trend in some states. In Bihar the
proportion of tribal population to the total population has
declined from 8.75$ to 8.31%; in M.P. from 23.56% to 22.97%;
in U.P. from 0.22% to 0.21% In the predominately tribal distrieets
of Rajasthan too, this situation seems to hold true. In Chittorgarh
district the percentage declined from 19.67% to 18.16% and in
Banswara district from 72.93% to 72.63%.
However the proportion of the tribal population to the total
population for the country as a whole seems to have gone up from
7A% in 1971 to 7.76% in 1981, but these figures are misleading
as they do not take into account the increased number of
communities brought under thenetified list of S.T. during this
interval. For example at the begining of sixth plan in 1980,
thenumber of primitive tribes identified rose from 52 to 72 thus
increasing the actual and proportionate tribal population in the
country.
Although other factors such as high mortality could also
be influencing this proportion, there is no doubt that the
aggressive. F.P. operation will further accentuate this gap.
This could result in a disequil ibrium in the population pattern
to the disadvantage of the very community that is both anthropo
logically and econologically significant, At the moment tribals
constitute only 7.1+% of the total population. Therefore is it
morally and ethically right to adopt such aggressive methods
to reduce their numbers?
Conclusions There is need to seriouly reconsider the monetary
incentive policy. If additional incentives are infact found to be
an important factor' for higher acceptance of F.P. in tribal
communities, should they not be dispensed with? Also should the
Government be allowed to use this inhuman practice of linking
compulsive F.P. with provision of employment in scarcity situat
ions like famine?
N 0 TE : No conclusive corelations are being made in the above
paper. Certain issues are being raised, which need to be prebed
into and examined further.
NARENDRA GUPTA.
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- 5 REFERENCES :
1.
Seventh Five Year Plan 1985-90 Volume II (Draft), Govt.
of India,
2.
A few Points e for Consideration in Respect of Tribal
Demography in Central and Western Belt- B.K. Roy Burman
(unpublished) 2SX IASP Symposium 198b-.
3.
Family Planning Performance in Tribal Areas - K.G.Kolly,
IASP Symposium 198b-.
h-.
Family Planning Programme and Motivational Factoras,
A study of Jhadol block of Udaipur District. T.R.I. Udaipur
5-
District Census Handbook, Chittorgarh, Census of India
1981 (6) Provisional Population Tetals; Series 18 Rajasthan,
Bensus of India 1981.
/Chayan./
Npn.
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