Editorial
Focus on family planning belated but welcome
Draft policy should be made public for expert evaluation
THE government's decision to formulate a single-child policy for all families by the year 2015 has come rather late in the day. That the growth in population, which has been rather unbridled, would someday turn out to be a barrier to socio-economic progress should have been recognised much earlier. And, indeed, the kind of move that has now been made through the preparation of a draft policy on the issue ought to have been prioritised years ago in order for the country to have experienced some positive results by now. Obviously, the absence of a clear, well-defined policy on birth control has had grave ramifications. With the present population of Bangladesh being 150 million, one hardly needs any convincing reasons to comprehend the dilemma. Even so, the fact that the government has now looked reality in the eye and has moved to act is welcome.
Let it be noted, though, that there is often a gap between the formulation of policy and an implementation of it. Against such a reality, it should now be for the authorities to ensure that the draft policy it speaks of is comprehensive in terms of what it seeks to achieve. Given Bangladesh's social conditions and cultural as well as religious traditions, it is extremely important that a detailed, well-laid out plan be presented to the nation on the projected one-child-per-family policy. The most important component in such a policy must naturally be a sustained raising of awareness among people across the country. This can be done through soliciting the services of teachers, religious leaders, social workers and community elders, especially in the rural regions. Since a whole package of incentives comes with the policy, the government must reassure people that a delivery of services in the process of an implementation of the policy will be in place. Constant follow-up will be called for. That, of course, will require closely spaced evaluation of the results and monitoring and supervision by the authorities.
The task before the government is huge. The fact that as many as twenty ministries will be involved in popularising and implementing the programme underscores the gigantic nature of the plan. This calls for co-ordination in a system that rather lacks it, so that institutional back-up will have to be well-defined with the concerned ministry equipped to deliver the goods.
It is of critical importance that the draft policy, once finalised, be made public in order for the opinions of experts, think tanks and other stakeholders to be voiced before implementation gets underway. There is little question that this is a massive undertaking for any government in a resource-strapped country like Bangladesh to be embarking on. The nation now expects the authorities to go all the way towards fulfilling the goal which underlies the policy. If the growth in population is not put on a leash, all our dreams and goals will go awry.
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