Even after 17 years of the formulation of the National Population Policy (NPP), India has fallen short of achieving its goals. While NPP 2000 required that the total fertility rate (TFR), that is the average number of children born to a woman over her lifetime, must not be over two in number, the country is still reeling under the burden of high TFR.
Hundred-and-forty-six high-burden districts in seven states — Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Assam and Jharkhand — that have TFR of three and above have been identified.
"These high-burden districts contribute to 28 per cent of the population, 25-30 per cent of maternal deaths and 50 per cent of infant deaths in India," said an official from the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW).
Union Health Minister JP Nadda said that of all the seven states, Uttar Pradesh is the most affected. UP has 57 high-fertility districts, followed by Bihar (37), MP (25), Rajasthan (14), Jharkhand (9), and Assam (2) and Chattisgarh (2).
Of these, up to 11 districts in UP, eight in Bihar and two in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh each have TFR of four. "We clearly have to multiply our efforts at tackling the family planning issue," said Anupriya Patel, Minister of State for Health.
Close to 4 crore women till date have no access to safe contraception options, Nadda said.
Injectible contraceptives — which provide protection to the woman from conceiving for three months after taking the jab — have now been included in the basket.
"These injectibles, though, have been around in the private sector for close to 20 years, and were not introduced in public health facilities earlier because of controversial debates around them," said Dr SK Sikdar, Deputy Commissioner, Family Planning, MoHFW.
Injectible contraceptives have been rolled out in UP, Bihar, Maharashtra and Delhi by the central government.
A toll-free helpline — 1800 116 555 — for family planning is receiving a good response and MoHFW is further expanding it to make it app-based along with a function for live chats, officials said.
