Fwd: [reprohealth_india] Materials on Two child norm and its impact
Right to Food
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Vandana Prasad <chau...@yahoo.com>
Date: Feb 8, 2007 8:11 AM
Subject: [pha-ncc] Fwd: [reprohealth_india] Materials on Two child norm and its impact
To: pha...@yahoogroups.com
--- Abhijit Das <abh...@sahayogindia.org> wrote:
> To: <
reprohea...@yahoogroups.com>
> From: "Abhijit Das" <abh...@sahayogindia.org
>
> Date: Wed, 7 Feb 2007 15:48:14 +0530
> Subject: [reprohealth_india] Materials on Two child
> norm and its impact
>
> Dear Friends,
> The Bihar Government has decided to implement the
> two child norm in the PRIs. Even though a cabinet
> decision may have been taken to this effect we can
> still try to build some public pressure. It may be
> recalled that in MP the cabinet decision was taken
> in November 2005 but the amendment took place in
> June 2006.
> We have put together an infokit on PRI and two child
> norm that includes
> 1. Newsclipping of removal of two child norm from
> Haryana
> 2. Newsclipping of removal of two child norm from
> Himachal
> 3. Cabinet decision taken on removing two child norm
> in MP
> 4. Newsclipping of impact of two child norm in
> Rajasthan
> 5. Note from PRI Ministry GoI stating the Mr Mani
> Shankar Iyer has sent a note to all states for
> removing two child norm
> 6. A note outlining the impact of two child norm in
> Hindi and in English
> 7. Critique of Supreme COurt Judgement on Two child
> norm case
> 8. Press note issued by SAMA on impact of two child
> norm in MP
> 9. A presentation on impact of two child norm
> Please use this information in anyway you find
> suitable for creating public opinion against
> introducing the two child norm in Bihar.
> In solidarity,
> Abhijit
---------------------------------
_uacct = "UA-107634-6";urchinTracker();
Date:26/09/2004 URL:
http://www.thehindu.com/2004/09/26/stories/2004092602281000.htm
---------------------------------
Opinion - News Analysis
Small family or the two-child norm?
By Gargi Parsai
NEW DELHI, SEPT. 25. In the wake of the raging
controversy on the inclusion of the two-child norm in
the population programme, the Central Government
has stated that it is "against coercion,
incentives and targets''.
The reiteration of this philosophy last week was
suited to the occasion — the release of the
State of World Population Report, 2004, which
reviewed the population and development goals set by
the International Conference on Population and
Development (ICPD) in Cairo in 1994. India was
one of the signatories to the target-free,
non-incentives/disincentives approach that was set at
the ICPD conference.
At the same function, the Minister for Health and
Family Welfare, Anbumani Ramadoss, declared that
the controversial two-child norm Bill for MPs
and MLAs — first introduced in 1972 in the Rajya Sabha
— was "still alive'' and could come up in
Parliament in any of the coming sessions. The
Bill is awaiting political consensus and among the
parties opposed to it are the Left parties who
are now supporting the ruling alliance.
The contradiction in the Government statements
reflects the confusion in the approach. For all
practical purposes, to accelerate achievement of
the Total Fertility Rate (or replacement level of
fertility) of 2.1 by 2010, the Central Government is
known to be toying with the idea of facilitating
"two safe deliveries and a quality procedure for
sterilisation''. But for public consumption, the
approach is "against incentives or disincentives
and coercion'' and for "voluntary
sterilisation''. The new approach is also directed
towards the "Below Poverty line Population''
(BPL) linking higher population growth to
poverty.
At the press conference to release the World
Population Report, when he was asked about
several State Governments taking a stand
contrary to the Centre on population, Mr. Ramadoss
said: "How can they?'' On further reflection he
said he would convene a meeting of State
Ministers on this.
However, there have been umpteen missives sent from
his predecessors' desk to the States without any
perceptible amendments brought about. It is
therefore important for the United Progressive
Alliance (UPA) to sort it out within its alliance
partners first.
The UPA's National Common Minimum Programme (NCMP)
calls for a "sharply focussed family control
programme'' on the lines of Tamil Nadu where the
Government is said to have helped private doctors to
set up facilities for conducting safe deliveries
and sterilisation procedures. The Centre
proposes to ask banks to provide loans to doctors and
insurance companies for indemnity insurance
against doctors being taken to consumer courts
for failure of procedure or post-operative
complications.
With money as an incentive at several rungs of the
scheme — for doctors, the Trained Birth
Attendant, the "sakhi'' who would counsel and
bring in women and finally the woman — questions are
being raised on whether this ambitious scheme is
not profit-oriented and based on incentives and
disincentives, despite a posturing to the contrary.
Biggest votary
The previous NDA Government was gradually veering
towards a two-child norm which formally found
expression at the recent conclave of BJP Chief
Ministers. The Vice-President, Bhairon Singh
Shekhawat, is the biggest votary of this
approach. As Rajasthan Chief Minister, he was in
the forefront of adopting a State Policy that called
for a two-child norm for government
functionaries. Other States that have taken a similar
route include Maharashtra, Haryana, Himachal
Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Madhya
Pradesh. But probably what gave the two-child norm its
momentum under the NDA was a Supreme Court
decision last July that upheld Haryana's
two-child norm policy for all communities.
The proposed and pending Constitution (Seventy-Ninth
Amendment) Bill, 1992, as the central legislation
called, seeks to disqualify a person for being a
member of either House of Parliament or the
Legislative Assembly or if he/she has more than two
children with prospective effect.
The Bill has been opposed by several NGOs and women's
groups on the ground that it targets women and
would encourage female foeticide, which is
already rampant in some of the States that have
adopted the two-child norm.
Instead they prefer strengthening the delivery system
and provision of enabling atmosphere for
lowering infant and maternal mortality rates.
Integrated approach
For an integrated approach to population stabilisation
that includes health, education, nutrition,
water and sanitation, the previous Government
had set up a National Population Commission under the
Prime Minister with more than 100 public
luminaries as members. Initially the Commission
had a corpus of Rs. 100 crores. But gradually, the
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare devoured
the fund saying there was over-lap in the
functions. And now, the Commission has become a
toothless, almost defunct body.
With such a flip-flop in approach, and the country's
population racing towards 186 crores in 2050,
there is need for a larger, vigorous,
all-inclusive national debate in the country on the
two-child norm.
Religious leaders and male populations need to be
taken into confidence on the pressing need for
population stabilisation.
India cannot afford to wait. Nor can it afford a
further decline in the female sex ratio.
It has been shown the world over — as well in some
States in India — that whenever services are
available and awareness created for people to
know the benefits of a smaller size family, they have
always opted for it.
© Copyright 2000 - 2006 The Hindu
---------------------------------
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Date:22/07/2006 URL:
http://www.thehindu.com/2006/07/22/stories/2006072207150500.htm
---------------------------------
Other States - Haryana
Govt. to abolish two-child norm in panchayat bodies
Special Correspondent
Govt. to promulgate
Ordinance in this regard
CHANDIGARH: The Haryana Cabinet on Friday decided to
promulgate an Ordinance to amend Section 175(q) of
the Haryana Panchayati Raj Act, 1994,
retrospectively with effect from January 1, 2005 to
omit the section according to which no person
having more than two children could be a
Sarpanch or Panch of a Gram Panchayat or a member of a
Panchayat Samiti or Zila Parishad or continue as
such.
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda told media
persons that the Assembly not being in session,
it was decided to promulgate an Ordinance to
amend the Act. He said that it was felt that the
two-child norm resulted in social distortions
including giving children away in adoption,
forced abortion and non-registration of births. Even
studies assigned by the Central Government had
indicated that the two-child norm resulted in
adverse effects on women's empowerment, especially in
the case of Dalits and weaker sections of
society.
The Cabinet also decided to amend Appendix-I of Punjab
Civil Services Rules Volume-II relating to
Family Pension Scheme, 1964, to provide that the
pension would be admissible in case of widow or
widower up to the date of death or re-marriage,
which ever is earlier. At present, the benefit
is restricted till the age of 25 years or re-marriage
which ever is earlier.
It also decided to set up a Women's University named
after Bhagat Phool Singh at Khanpur Kalan in
Sonipat district by issuing an ordinance. The
University, which would be teaching-cum-affiliating,
would facilitate women in the field of higher
education with special emphasis on emerging
areas of Information Technology, Computer Education,
Medical Sciences, Bio-Technology, Environmental
Studies, Technology and Management Studies. The
Haryana Governor would be its Chancellor.
The Cabinet also decided to enact Haryana Minerals
(Prevention of Illegal Mining, Transportation and
Storage) Rules, 2006, to check illegal mining of
minerals.
© Copyright 2000 - 2006 The Hindu
---------------------------------
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Date:02/07/2003 URL:
http://www.thehindu.com/2003/07/02/stories/2003070207020500.htm
---------------------------------
Other States - Rajasthan
Two-child norm brings little relief for women
By Our Special Correspondent
JAIPUR JULY 1. The "two-child norm'' introduced
in the Panchayati Raj Institutions(PRIs) some
time back by many States for those who contest the
elections is showing its adverse impact on women
and other vulnerable sections of society. The
assumption that this norm would influence fertility
decisions of panchayat members and others would
follow their example is not true, according to a
recent study conducted in five States.
``The norm has been used as a strategy to either
pre-empt potentially promising political rivals
or to remove them after elections,'' reveals the
study on the implications and consequences of the
two-child norm in the PRIs, conducted by the
Bhopal-based Mahila Chetna Manch.
The study was commissioned by the Union Ministry of
Health and Family Welfare and supported by UNFPA.
It covered Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Madhya
Pradesh, Orissa and Rajasthan, contacting 262
respondents and examining 40 case studies. "The way
the norm is conceptualised and currently
implemented is not without serious unintended
negative consequences,'' a summary of the preliminary
observations of the study points out.
The study revealed that more than 50 per cent of those
disqualified under the provisions of the
"two-child'' norm were either illiterate or had
primary education only. Economically and socially
vulnerable sections suffered the most by the law as
75 per cent of those disqualified belonged to
SC, ST and backward classes.
It is being noted that 70 per cent of the affected
persons have incomes below
Rs.30,000 an year. Of
them, 30 per cent have annual incomes up to
Rs.11,000 only. In Orissa 55 per cent of the
disqualified persons were women and in Andhra Pradesh
48 per cent of them were women.
The "two-child norm'', introduced in States like
Rajasthan which pioneered in the legislation, as back
as in 1992, disallows persons having more than
two children to contest panchayat elections and
disqualifies elected members who had a third child
after a stipulated date. This clause, however,
did not apply to persons who had already more
than two surviving children before the stipulated
date.
The study, conducted between July 2001 to March 2002
in two to three phases, often fumbled for data
on the persons disqualified in States other than
in Rajasthan and Haryana. It found that in Rajasthan,
18 months after the 2000 elections, 63 persons
were disqualified under the norm whereas between
1995 and 1997, as many as 412 were disqualified. In
Haryana, the post-2000 election scenario found 275
disqualifications recorded at district level
though the actual numbers could be higher.
In Madhya Pradesh where the law had come to effect in
January 2001, in seven districts 52
disqualifications took place by November 2001.
By March this year this was up to 200. In Andhra
Pradesh and Orissa very little data is
available.
However a quick visit by the members of the study to
nine districts showed 27 cases. In Andhra
Pradesh most of the cases are pending in civil
courts with stay orders on.
The study hints that the scrutiny of the violation of
the norm is difficult with most of the
deliveries taking place at home as well as
non-registration of births. The complaints of
violation of the two-child norm are filed by
those who want to either damage the leadership
of or to settle scores with others. Further, the law
is not clear on stillbirths as well as birth of
twins.
The researchers have came across cases of abortion,
desertion, divorce, extra-marital affairs and
giving away of children in adoption to evade the
law.
The two-child norm also led to an increase in the
number of pre-natal sex determination tests that
resulted in the abortion of the female foetus.
In the case of male foetus, it was found that mothers
mostly went ahead with the pregnancy at the risk
of losing her/or her husband's post in the
panchayat.
© Copyright 2000 - 2006 The Hindu
---------------------------------
Cabinet Decisions; MP Government, November 22,
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Two-child norm for contesting elections to be
abolished
Cabinet
Decisions
Bhopal : Tuesday,
November 22, 2005
The state cabinet chaired by
the Chief Minister Shri Babulal Gaur
here today decided to delete the provision of
the Madhya Pradesh Panchayat
Raj Act which disqualifies a person
having over two children after January 26, 2001,
for contesting elections for
panchayat, civic bodies, mandi
and cooperative societies. As per the provision if
anyone wins an election and
meanwhile a child is born in
his family, he or she is disqualified for the office
he or she holds. The provision
is in force since January 26 ,
2001 in the state. The cabinet decided to delete the
provision.
The cabinet accorded
administrative sanction to 67 irrigation
schemes. These include 65 minor irrigation
schemes in Shivpuri district
for which administrative sanction of
Rs. 3752.83 lakh has been accorded. An
experimental scheme is
proposed for renovation of already existing 65
minor irrigation schemes in Shivpuri
district. The cost of the
scheme is Rs. 3752.80lakh and its agricultural
command area is 18302 hectare. These
schemes were originally
designed to irrigate 13970 hectare. At
present 5746 hectare is being irrigated. After
renovation the irrigation
potential would increase to
14370 hectare. Of the total cost Rs. 2814.61 lakh
would be shared by the central
government and Rs. 938.22 lakh
by the state government. The scheme would be completed
in two years.
The cabinet accorded revised
administrative sanction of Rs. 3355.41
lakh for Retam barrage scheme in Mandsaur
district. On completion the
scheme would irrigate 1943 hectare in 19
villages of Malhargarh and Neemuch tahasils.
Similarly, the cabinet
accorded revised sanction of Rs. 3397.94
lakh for Kaka Sahab Gadgil Sagar Scheme in
Mandsaur district. Its annual
irrigation potential is 3400
hectare.
The cabinet endorsed the
explanatory memo enclosed with the annual
report of Madhya Pradesh Human Rights
Commission for year 2002-03
and directed to table it in the
Vidhansabha. Action has been taken on 81 out of 106
recommendations contained in the
memo.
The cabinet approved Madhya
Pradesh Nursing Home and Clinical
Establishment (registration and licence) amendment
bill-2003. The Public Health
and Family Welfare Department
would take action to introduce the bill in
the next Vidhansabha session. The
amendment would be for a
period of three years.
The cabinet granted permission
for extending the tenure of Justice
Shri
G.G. Sohani (retired), chairman, Grievances
Redressal Authority (Sardar
Sarovar Project) upto December
31, 2006. The existing service conditions would
remain unchanged.
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