The grandmother has come of age. And surprise, family elders too appear to have had a makeover. On July 17, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare gave its nod to four commercials as part of a communication strategy to emphasise the importance of family planning. Mission Parivar Vikas with its special focus on 146 high fertility districts in seven States also involves directly reaching out to people via radio and television. In a throwback to the 1970s, when All India Radio (AIR) beeped Hum Do Hamare Do ditties, the new commercials are the government’s way of asking people to not be in a hurry to have children. Three of the commercials on air are perfect. The fourth is a bit problematic.
The commercials, which have been on air since the last month, have a new focus. The spotlight is on people usually seen as stumbling blocks to family planning in the country: the grandmothers, grand uncles, aunts and sundry family elders. The audio-visual campaign cleverly uses them as props to spread the message. They can now be seen and heard advising restraint, caution and choice to their grandchildren and children after marriage. The change in tack was sparked off by surveys in seven districts which, among other things, also revealed the attitudes of elders towards newly married couples. Often, they pressurised young couple to have their first child. “I want to see him before I die,” was the refrain. Enter the dadi (grandmother, a professional actor) who can be heard on radio and seen on Doordarshan advising her grandchildren to read available literature on family planning methods. “Read this,” she tells her grandson, thrusting family planning literature in his hands. To the young man’s wife, she orders: read on the available methods. “I am in no hurry to die or see the face of my grandchild,” she says.
There is another family elder who is heard admonishing his nephew for being ignorant on family planning methods to adopt. I found that genuinely funny. There is the Man Friday, Lacchu, making all the arrangements for a wedding in the family. Enter the uncle who is quizzing the young groom. “What will you say when the young bride asks you about the ideal time to start a family?” he is heard saying. “Will you say Lacchu will handle it?”
Open to interpretation
While it is early days yet to measure the success of the campaign, the four slots currently on air aim to change the image of family elders. The focus, as officials say, is to offer a basket of options for planning a family instead of preaching about the number of children young couples should have. There is a slot, the problematic one, on the controversial injectable contraceptives too that has divided women and brought the focus again on how it is more often the woman who has to bear the responsibility of planning a family. Officials say they are not forcing women. But the campaign surely does not convey that. Officials remain hopeful their communication will not be mis-interpreted.
