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Durham E-Theses The socio-cultural determinants of fertility and the population policy of India Sekhri, Manju How to cite: Sekhri, Manju (1978) The socio-cultural determinants of fertility and the population policy of India, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/7953/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk THE SOCIO-CULTURAL DETERMINANTS OF FERTILITY AND THE POPULATION POLICY OF INDIA MANJU SEKHRI Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, University of Durham. September 1978 The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without his prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It is beyond me to thank individually all those who have at many times and in many ways contributed in shaping this thesis. My most sincere thanks are due to Miss M. Kalab. Her suggestions and criticism have consistently been most valuable. I should also like to acknowledge my indebtedness to Dr. B.R.K. Shukla of the Department of Anthropology, Lucknow University, India, for his whole hearted help during the time of the data collection. ABSTRACT The Pasi share with most of the lower caste rural people the problem of rapidly growing population. Population policy of the Indian Government has failed to initiate fertility decline under present conditions of Pasi existence. The people have not responded to the programme primarily because birth control contradicts the vital interest of the Pasi population. The Pasi favour large families because they are essential for economic survival. Their subsistence economy is based on man-power and every farmer knows that if he is to survive he must rely upon his family for the necessary labour force. The fact that the family is the basic unit of work has important fertility implications. Since it is the source of economic and physical security in the village, children, especially sons, are vital to the Pasi people. Therefore institutional and organizational characteristics such as extended family structure, male dominant authority-pattern, early entry into marriage and home-based role for women, encourage high fertility. The necessary conditions for the acceptance of the population programme do not exist in the Pasi community. A great majority of the people do not favour a small family. Although a Family Planning and Welfare Clinic is attached to each village, only a small minority of the Pasi women have any knowledge of modern means of contraception. The structural and organizational characteristics of the Pasi are such that the values and knowledge about family planning cannot be realized and expedited by the young couples. The locus of authority even i n deci si on-^maki ng regarding ferti1ity matters resides not with the young couple but with the older members of the family. The study confirms that socio-economic change is the basis for an effective solution of population problems and points out that factors promoting socio-economic development also encourage the successful implementation of family planning. CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION 1 METHODOLOGY ^ THE PEOPLE 10 MARRIAGE AND FERTILITY 27 / FAMILY AND FERTILITY 68 DESIRED FAMILY SIZE AND FERTILITY 85 STATUS OF WOMEN AND FERTILITY 116 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 150 BIBLIOGRAPHY 156 INTRODUCTION The population of India on Census Day, 1st April 1971, was 37^,9^8,809 - showing an increase of 2^,7% in the last ten years. It is no exaggeration that the emotive term 'population explosion' is used to describe it. At its present rate of increase India will double its population in 28 years, compared with Canada in ]kO years, and England, if it maintains the growth rate of 1961, in 120 years. This run-away population increase made the Indian government aware of the urgency of adopting a policy which was explicitly related to reducing the birth rate. India embarked on an official policy of population control in 1951. Its aim was to stabilize the population of the country at a level suited to her resources. The population policy of the Indian government was an integral and essential element of its overall development plan. Economic development and population control were not considered as separate issues but interdependent. However, emphasis in the early years of the development of the population policy was laid on family planning issues as it was believed that if contraception had high acceptability, effectiveness and availability, the effect on birth rate would be seen even before the economic development and this in turn would certainly speed up the process of modernization. The impact upon the birth rate during the first decade of the population policy was far below that anticipated. The 1962-63 report on Ramily Planning estimated a reduction in the birth rate to 25/1000. The crude bi rth rate in rural areas in 197^ was still an estimated 38,9/1000 and in urban areas 30,1/1000 compared with the crude death rate of 16,V1000 for rural and 9.7/1000 for urban areas. For the first time Mrs. Gandhi, on 15th August 197^^ in her Independence Day address to the nation, told the people that India had a serious problem of overpopulation. At the United Nation's World Population Conference held in Bucharest in October 197^, the new Planning Minister for India emphasized "... even with the use of the most advanced technology we cannot go on raising the population in a finite world indefinitely". He also pointed out that "purely clinical approaches are not enough to influence effectively the general fertility levels" (Singh, 1974). The Government's disillusionment with the clinical approach is not without justification. Despite the development of countrywide family planning clinics, it had not made the kind of impact that was anticipated, It had been most successful in the higher socio-economic strata and least in rura 1 areas. The object of this thesis is to seek a social explanation for the high birth rate among the Pasi community settled in the Lucknow district. This study aims to reveal the framework within which social and psychological forces affect the birth rate and decision-making with regard to the size of the family, and the magnitude and direction of such forces. While there is no shortage of quantitative data, available from censuses and surveys, an explanation for these differences can only be obtained from an in-depth study of small groups. This study is an interpretation of demographic data in a cultural and behavioural context. It does not just measure fertility rate but considers fertility rate as a mean of explaining the differences in social institutions and technological conditions in different communities. It will not only explain why people have high or low fertility but, in addition, the relationship of the socio-economic life of the Pasi to the Government population policy. When motivations for large families are understood and institutional obstacles to family planning are known, a different approach that is acceptable to the people concerned can be followed. All the details of the family planning^population programme will not be included here. The study will only review the socio-economic setting within which the family planning programme operates and how social and personal circumstances help or retard the transmission of family planning knowledge and influence its acceptance. For this study only four basic variables were chosen - marriage, family, desired family size and status of women - because they expose and study what Davis (1955, 1967) calls 'reflexive and behavioral' nature of demographic change. By reflexive it is meant that one factor has the capacity to initiate and bring about change in other components of the social system, e.g. age at marriage is governed by economic status and a change in economic status can raise or lower that age. METHODOLOGY The basic information was obtained by questioning individuals and completing questionnaires. The questionnaire was designed to obtain information regarding the social and economic background of the women and their fertility behaviour and performance. The study covered all Pasi women in the reproductive age group, i.e. 15-^5 years who have at least had one live child. To find out all eligible women a house-to-house survey was carried out in all the areas under study. This preliminary questionnaire covered basic demographic details such as the age, sex, marital status and history, educational achievement and kin-relationship to the head of the household of each member and was used to eliminate households that did not offer any suitable respondent. The second questionnaire contained eighteen broad categories of enquiries. The questions were divided into four major groups according to the factors that were under study - i.e. marriage, family, desired family size and status of women. The questionnaire included both open ended and closed type questions. Some of the background information was also collected through the 'observation' method. Interviews with the members of the caste-panchayat and other older members of the community.also provided vital insight into relevant matters.