PHA-Exchange> Re: Protest against Coercive Population Control Policiesand Laws

[GK]

Dear Ravi and others,
Received this important information.We will eagerly wait to know the result
of the movement.Please keep us informed.
Zafrullah


At 02:36 AM 7/20/2004 -0500, PHM Secretariat wrote:
>
>Protest against Coercive Population Control Policies and Laws
>
>Launched on World Population Day
>July 11 2004
>
>This year, the World Population Day on 11th July witnessed the protest
against the two child norm, coercive population control policies and laws
being implemented in the state of Rajasthan as well as at the national
level. The protest was launched by voluntary organisations and social
activists of the state- MAVJA (Mahila Atyachar Virodhi Jan Andolan), Jan
Swasthya Abhiyan, PUCL (People's Union for Civil Liberties), AIDWA, NFIW,
BGVS, Vishakha, Prayas and other social organisations/activists. 
>
>About 250 women from the villages of the state took out a rally and
demanded from the government to repeal anti-women, anti-poor coercive
population control policies and laws. The rally started from Statue Circle
and went to the Birla Auditorium where the state government has been
organising its official programme. The rallyists marched shouting slogans
against the government's coercive policies of two child norm, women as
targets of family welfare programme and demanding that there rather be a
health policy for the state than the population policy. The police
personnel tried to stop the rally from entering the Birla Auditorium's
complex. But the women who had come from different parts of the state
defied the police and entered the complex shouting slogans against the
insensitive and inhuman approach being adopted by the government. A street
play was staged depicting the exploitation being faced by women and poor
because of the two-child norm applicable at the panchayats, urban local
bodies and in the state government. As soon as the health minister came out
of the auditorium the protesters gheroed him and the delegation asked him
to act upon the memorandum and the set of demands. Other senior officers of
the health department of Rajasthan also joined the minister.
>
>Following were the demands put forward to the health minister:
>
>ľ	Repeal Section 19-L iv of the Rajasthan Panchayati Raj Act 
>ľ	Repeal amendment made in the urban local bodies relating to two child norm
>ľ	Repeal the June 2001 amendment in the State Government Services Act
pertaining to the two-child norm
>ľ	Stop sterilisation (read tubectomy),  targeted population control
programmes and instead formulate programmes focussing on raising the
women's age at first pregnancy, increasing birth interval, informing about
various spacing methods and provide necessary funds for effective
implementation of these programmes.
>ľ	Formulate a state health policy 
>ľ	PCPNDT Act be implemented strictly
>ľ	Remove the portion on sharply targeted population control programmes
from the section on women and children in the Common Minimum Programme of
the United Progressive Alliance
>
>The health minister gave arguments like that the government is doing so
much for women and it is in women's nature to sacrifice. He said that it is
in women's favour to have small families and therefore even the Chief
Minister of the state has appealed to the women to control the population
growth. The delegation put forward its point of view that how women are
being used to state's interests as they are softer targets. 
>
>After listening to the delegation the minister agreed to have a discussion
with the representatives on the issues raised and invited the group to have
a dialogue. 
>
>As a follow-up of the protest rally it has been decided to hold a national
consultation later this year on the target oriented population control
programmes underway across the country and to have a planning meeting next
month for the consultation. A suggestion to formulate people's health
policy was also discussed  and put on agenda for future work
>
>
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