Thanks to the concern of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who advocates to plan a family for every couple. After his voice from the Lal Kila on August 15, politicians and the concerned people of India have raised their voices against the growth in population. They put the blame in the increase on the failure of the government schemes. This is not the first time when the government has woken up after a long time. There is a Family Planning Department in the Government. But it has been always sleeping like Kumbhkaran.
Prime Minister also appreciated the role of educated class in controlling the size of family by producing only one or two children. In his view it is also a step towards the service of the nation. It is a fact that the middle class of the society of India has become more and more concerned about the population growth in the country.
About 20 years ago, India started adopting one child norm. Maybe these people followed China’s norm of one child. But we all know that the Chinese government had adopted one child norm for the country’s couples. However, the same government withdrew the ruling after only five years, realising that one child norm was not proper for the suitable development of child’s personality and also the society. However, it continues in India.
When meeting young couples with only one child, I got into conversation with them and asked: “Is this your only child?” All of them tried to convince me by pointing out to the over population of India. The next reason they cited was “we cannot afford to raise two children.” For more than five years, I have been listening to such examples. Some couples even say they have no time to have a child and raise it.
Another group of couples will reason out saying the cost of living is so high that raising one child is also out of question, arguing that another child will be a burden to the nation.
I am not convinced by their arguments. Every time after listening to their reasoning, I came to the conclusion that they are lazy and self-centred people. It is my belief that raising and caring one child is more troublesome and costlier.
We all know that in life, we have to care for others. We are aware of the observations. Experiments of child psychologists have led to conclusions that family is the first school where the child begins to learn good habits. They learn more and more from their siblings. It is a fact that whatever they learn, they try to experiment on the other sibling. From the beginning, the siblings start caring for each other and also learn about sharing from each other. They love each other and share valuables at the same time quarrel for even a smallest thing.
For living a successful life, all of us need to acquire habits which we learn in our childhood. We can say that the seeds of good or bad behaviour are sown in the childhood.
We can imagine when the kid is the only child of parents, how it will behave in the society. Of course they will become selfish. What type of society will it grow up in being the only child of a middle and upper class couples?
In our society, we find another type of problem. There are more and more couples who are not concerned with the number of children they have. They do not have enough to feed ten or twelve children. They are not bothered of their clothes, cleanliness, health or education. If you draw their attention towards the number of their children, they will answer, “Alla Talaki Marji. Bhagwan ka diya hai sab.”
What a humorous and contrast situation that prevails in our country? To the couples who show concern regarding the problem of not producing more than one child, I always give them advice – “Go and see the nearby area where parents are producing even more than ten children. If not ten, 5 and 6 children in every family are common in those areas. I try to convince them to produce at least half of the number they are producing. If they are convinced with your argument, they may come down to 5 or 6 and 3 to 4.” However, the new generation will always limit the number to only two.
I am surprised to see contrasts in the society. I have come to the conclusion that India is not only suffering from a huge population, but also an uneven population in society. There is no need of controlling child birth by each and every couple, but the couples producing children in the name of their creator, should be taught to plan their family in the interest of the country and have only two children. The couples adopting the norms of one child or ‘double income, no kids’ should realise that in the name of helping the country, they are ruining the future.
The government is constructing highways stretching to thousands of miles. Ministers see that the road should be smooth so that the vehicles run comfortably. Likewise, uneven population is not helpful in the proper growth of the country. In the process of making ‘New India – 2022”, the population growth of India should be controlled even in a place of uneven population. Let us try for this at present. Only Government’s efforts are not enough. People should show concern about this big problem of the country.
Come forward, join the movement – ‘A couple should not produce less than two and more than two’.
(The writer is the Governor of Goa)
