BHOPAL (Madhya Pradesh): The death of woman after giving birth to four daughters in Gwalior has exposed the non-efficacy of family planning programme monitored by health department in the state.
On Saturday, a middle aged woman died at a private nursing home in Gwalior after giving birth to fourth daughter. The family members blamed doctors for wrong treatment as woman and baby were fine at the time of delivery.
Family planning programme was launched in 1952 to reduce birth rate to stabilise the population at a level consistent with the requirement of national economy.
NHM deputy director Rajiv Shivrastava told Free Press that family planning programme is voluntary. 'Now, family planning programme is not only dealing with population stabilisation but also to promote reproductive health of women and reducing maternal, infant and child mortality and morbidity rate,' he added.
The central government, in 2020, cleared its stand in the Supreme Court, stating that the country can't force family planning on its people and had said any coercion to have a certain number of children is counter-productive and leads to demographic distortions.
