The Hindu : CMs of Bimaru States to monitor birth control

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jan 18, 2003

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CMs of Bimaru States to monitor birth control

By Gargi Parsai

New Delhi Jan. 17. The Chief Ministers of `Bimaru' States — Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh — have assured the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, that they would personally monitor the implementation of the family welfare programmes in their States to reach a Total Fertility Rate (or couple replacement level) of 2.1 by 2010. These States, which together account for 37 per cent of the country's population, sought more funds from the Government for strengthening the delivery system.

At a meeting convened by the Prime Minister here on Thursday, the Chief Ministers gave the commitment that they would personally monitor the implementation of the family welfare programmes in their State on a monthly basis and send a report to the Prime Minister's Office. The meeting was attended by the Chief Ministers, Rabri Devi (Bihar), Mayawati (Uttar Pradesh), Digvijay Singh (Madhya Pradesh), and the Rajasthan Health Minister.

It was decided at the meeting that the Prime Minister would take six-monthly meetings with the Union Health and Family Welfare Minister to review the implementation of the schemes.

Special focus would be provided by the States to the Universal Immunisation Programme to ensure that every child was fully covered and protected from vaccine preventable diseases.

Eligible couples with two or more children would be focussed upon for providing contraceptive services through terminal and spacing methods by strengthening the sub-centres and primary health centres with infrastructure and medical personnel.

The Chief Ministers agreed that programmes relating to women empowerment including education and delaying the age of marriage would be strengthened.

The Prime Minister cautioned the Chief Ministers that unless a concerted action was taken to focus on bringing down population growth by making it a people's movement centred on women's education and empowerment, achieving other development goals would be jeopardised. He underscored that the need of the hour was for the Chief Ministers to give a clear political direction to the implementation of population stabilisation and educating people on the linkage between population and development.

The Union Health and Family Welfare Minister, Shatrughan Sinha, drew the attention of the Chief Ministers to the "unacceptably high'' crude birth rate, infant and maternal mortality rate and addressing the unmet need for contraceptive services by gearing up the system of service delivery and fixing individual responsibility.

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