“JRD, as he was affectionately called by his friends
and admirers, advocated population stabilization not only
as an instrument of curbing the exponentially rising population
of India but also to secure for our people a new meaning
of life and thus enjoy the fruits of progress and development.
His view of the gravity of the crisis was reflected in his
utmost concern in addressing the problem of poverty and protecting
the environment which, he felt, were wider dimensions of
the population crisis. He called upon successive governments
to confront these challenges on a high priority basis. JRD
also stressed how important it was to ensure good governance
practices in enabling development and population stabilization.
It was at his initiative that the International Institute
of Population Studies was set up in 1956 to study the related
issues in perspective and provide inputs in meeting the grave
situation. JRD’s ceaseless endeavours in population
stabilization saw him being honoured with the 1992 UN Population
Award.
It is highly gratifying to see that his other brainchild,
the Population Foundation of India, has been doing outstanding
work towards population stabilization and establishing a
balance among our resources, environment and population and
in different areas relating to population policy, namely,
universal primary health care, including reproductive and
child health services, empowering women, involving communities
and so on.
Population stabilization and good governance are closely
interlinked, especially in the context of a country like
India. We cannot facilitate good governance in all its manifestations
unless we make concrete efforts towards population stabilization;
at the same time, good governance has a very crucial role
in stabilizing the growth of our population apart from providing
amenities and opportunities to them.
The concern for population stabilization and good governance,
indeed, must become the concern of all – whether we
are part of the governing structures of the country or outside.
Statistics tell a tale of their own: of how we are adding
to our population – rather the world population – by
seconds, minutes and hours. As experts in the field, you
are all fully aware of the related facts, figures and terminologies.
What we need to keep in mind is that India is the second
most populous country in the world, sustaining 16.7 per cent
of the global population on 2.4 per cent of the earth’s
surface area.
A rational population policy and an appropriate development
strategy will have to be synchronized. We cannot ignore the
fact that uncontrolled growth of population has detrimental
implications for development plans, aggravating the problems
of food supply, nutrition and employment and, above all,
hampering our efforts in ensuring a decent and dignified
life to our people. A perceptive population policy should
be an essential the limited resource component of the overall
development programme; otherwise in situation that we are
faced with, the population factor is bound to disturb the
social, economic and political life of the country as well
as its governance.”
The text of the Oration has been brought out as a publication,
by the Population Foundation of India.
