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A communications initiative for a balanced, planned and stable population |
'Population First' launched the micro planning initiative in four villages of Thane rural district just before Christmas this year, using the innovative process as a novel route and the base for its adolescent reproductive and sexual health programme under the Integrated Population and Development (IPD) Programme of United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
Simple as this may sound, the first step itself comes as an eye opener. As volunteers collect information from the village, mapping every resource, every house, almost every ill and ailment, facts that seem meaningless in isolation speak out loud and clear. [See Mounting Medical Bills below]
"The process helps the community look at their situation using a number of participatory exercises. When they know where they stand, they analyse and then come to a decision as to what they can do to change the situation," says Mr.Gopinath T.Menon, Maharashtra State Representative for UNICEF.
Mr.Menon is credited with having formalised and grown the micro planning exercise as a holistic process that covers health, education, sanitation, nutrition, water, HIV/AIDS. These lead us to core social issues like sex ratio, age at marriage and gender, which influence health and population. These need to adressed to change mind sets and to make a difference to population and quality of life, which is the agenda of 'Population First'.
Residents of villages meet to exchange notes
about micro planning exercise in their area
Is it workable at all?
"There is no other alternative," says Mr.Menon, explaining that no programme can be sustained over time with campaigns of the kind India has had for the last 50 years. "After so many years of planning, of campaigns, of planned development as we know it, why do health workers still have to go house to house to administer polio drops?" Mr.Menon asks. He answers: "Unless we create a kind of value for the service, the change won't happen. Communities don't know the value of the service, and so demand creation is an important task."
As part of micro planning, local residents collect the data, they own the process, they feel proud and responsible for it, and each success raises their self esteem, especially the youth who help out in large numbers, Mr.Menon says. The micro planning process has its roots in the Participatory Rural Appraisal, or PRA [See Box2] approach built by Prof.Robert Chambers at the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, UK. But while PRA was initially limited to watershed and environmental issues, micro planning spans a wide canvas.
The process is still being formalised, and will receive its first big test in 2005, when as many as 17 districts across the nation will take up the process and see how it works in their local area.
The Story of Usha Thackeray of Village Gundyachapada
Usha Thackeray lives in Gundyachapada village of Shahapur taluka in Thane Rural. But outskirts take a whole new meaning in Shahapur: Villages are remote, train stations are far away and State bus services are not particularly frequent. Even village schools sometimes work by bus timings. One school was christened ST [for State Transport] school because it worked only if the ST service worked and brought the teacher from her far away home - a problem being addressed by the micro planning process launched in the area.
Usha Thackeray [first from right] at the review meeting, studies village plans
Usha worked her way to a graduation in English Literature from the University of Mumbai, studying at a college in the taluka, but does not know where she goes next.
"If given the support, I can achieve anything," she says, as her maternal uncle looks up with pride.
Micro planning brought immediate benefits to Usha. For one, she started a savings group of young women in her village. And the entire group benefited form getting reproductive health information for the first time ever. "There were questions but we didn't know whom to ask or where to go," Usha says. "Now, I'm looking forward to the next meeting where I'll bring up more questions," she adds.
What Is Participatory Rural Appraisal?
Robert Chambers describes PRA as "a family of approaches, behaviors and methods for enabling people to do their own appraisal, analysis and planning, take their own action and do their own monitoring and evaluation." (Chambers, Participatory Workshops, 2002) The methods are open ended, participatory, and often visual as well as verbal. PRA processes have facilitated the process of development in many contexts, rural as well as urban.
Source: http://www.aidworkers.net/exchange/20030625.html
Mounting Medical Bills
How The Facts Speak Out
 One of the most startling data that comes up in village mapping exercises at the beginning of micro planning is the huge amounts spent by local residents on availing medical services.
The data, collected house to house, explains why private practice thrives in the remotest of areas, and is also in part a comment on the lack of faith or poor availability of government run health services in rural India.
The micro planning exercise in the four villages of Thane rural undertaken 18-22 December 2004 at the instance of 'Population First' gave us this account of medical spends:
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Village Name
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Population |
Number Reported Ill [Last 12 Mnths] |
Number Treated In Public Health Sector |
Number Treated In Private Health Sector |
Total Medical Expenditure
[Indian Rupees] |
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Chikalgaon
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380
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48
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-
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48
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1,10,600
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Gundyachapada
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515
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59
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15
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44
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1,38,016
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Kharivali
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754
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55
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20
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23
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35,320
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Vachkole
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495
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66
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16
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50
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1,68,500
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A total population of 2,144 persons spent a total of 4,52,436 Rupees on health care in a year in the four villages surveyed
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Many of the ailments relate to thandi-taap [common cold, fever], while others are attributed to water borne diseases.
In one particular example cited by UNICEF[not in Thane], a population of 780-odd people in a remote, Banjara community village called Daswadi in Maharashtra, spent 1,84,000 Rupees in a particular year on health care. It was later learned that 36 diseases were reported in the village, and 80% of them were water borne diseases.
The information was an eye opener enough to get the Daswadi village community to identify contaminated water sources and correct the source of the ailments - an early and immediate result of the micro planning exercise undertaken in that village. |
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Time to Support Move To Stable Population, Says Ratan Tata
The following is the message from Mr. Ratan Tata, Chairman of the Tata group of companies on the release of the advocacy film "Queue [Aaap Katar Main Hain]" |
The Tata group is committed to upholding values and to playing a positive role in the societies where we do our business. Our abiding interest in community welfare activities is not for propaganda or visibility but because we wish to give something to the community in which we are working. We are doing it because we really wish to do it by choice.
Our support to 'Population First' is one such choice. Our efforts, like the film, "Queue", which we are sponsoring, is a continuation of the group's commitment to doing our bit in the field of health and population. It is a journey that started years ago under JRD Tata, who was instrumental in establishing what became the Indian Institute of Population Sciences, the only institute of its kind in the world and a deemed university since 1985. The need of the hour is to come together to support our nation's efforts to achieve a stable population by 2045, at a level consistent with the requirements of sustainable economic growth, social development and environmental protection. The Tata Group will remain committed to making its contribution towards addressing the nation's challenge in the critical areas of health and population. |
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POPULATION FIRST Launches Advocacy Film
Seeks support of TV channels to bring population issues to the center of public discourse
(Newsletter November 2004)
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| POPULATION FIRST formally released the film "Queue [Aap Qatar Mei Hain]" on Tuesday, November 23. The 90 second film is part of our National Advocacy Campaign for Population Stabilisation [NACAPS], and seeks to bring back to public attention and focus the subject of health and population. It'll play on various television stations, and be available on this web site after its formal release. |
Riding on the popular and ubiquitous voice message Aap Qatar Mei Hain [You Are In Queue], the film draws attention to the issue of population and the challenges associated with it.
Dramatically depicted, the film gives us a long and heart rending look at the various queues that have formed an everyday part of our lives and which, in a sense, reflect the quality of life of a majority of our people. More.... |
| POPULATION FIRST |
| POPULATION FIRST is a communications based initiative that embraces the government objective of achieving population stabilisation by the year 2045. Working to support the government's programmes, POPULATION FIRST builds the communication foundations for partnership between government, civil society, the corporate sector and the media, creating a common ground for sharing views and perspectives that will help lead change in society. The whole idea evolves around the belief that empowering women to exercise their rights |
helps achieve social development and provides a refreshing and appropriate framework for addressing issues related to health and population. A focus area of the organisation is reproductive health, which is closely connected with decisions on family size and must be seen within the context of equal rights for women and children. In this endeavour, POPULATION FIRST counts on the responsible participation of the community, a response which we hope to kick start at least in part by our communications initiatives. More.... |
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