Forging Ahead

The census operation in India is the biggest single administrative exercise in the world. It throws up a wealth of information on a variety of social and economic indicators and provides invaluable insight into the process of change. Though techniques of statistics have advanced sufficiently to enable us to get snapshots of developments between two rounds of census through sample surveys, the census continues to be the real thing, the sole arbiter of what is happening and its ultimate reliable estimate, because of its sheer size and massive spread.

Those working in SIFPSA and more widely in the RCH programme in UP, were eagerly awaiting the census findings. A number of surveys in the last five years had showed that in UP, demographic indicators like the total fertility rate (TFR) were indeed moving southwards and the performance trends were positive. However, some degree of skepticism did prevail as to the authenticity of these estimates. The census results have changed all that !

Assessments carried out by a number of independent agencies on behalf of USAID had indicated that the SIFPSA programme was having its impact in the field. The UP decenial population growth rate figures have confirmed this.

Census – 2001 findings show that while in UP, the population growth rate has marginally increased by 0.25 percentage points in the last decade, in districts where SIFPSA works, the growth rate has dropped. Further, the drop is proportionate to the intensity and level of SIFPSA's intervention. Thus, in 39 PERFORM districts where SIFPSA funds only government sector projects, the decrease in the population growth rate is by 0.26 percentage points, while in 20 SIFPSA priority districts where SIFPSA works through the government sector and private sector projects this decrease is by 1.24 percentage points. What is most exciting is the data from the six District Action Plan districts where integrated SIFPSA interventions through district societies, the DIFPSAs, are on.

In these districts, SIFPSA supports government sector projects, private sector projects and comprehensive need-based decentralized RCH activities. The decrease in the population growth rate is a steep 3.33 percentage points in these districts. This is even more remarkable as these are the more difficult districts where the growth rate in the previous decade was the highest.

To conclude, SIFPSA activities seem to be producing results and there appears to be a case for extending SIFPSA DAP activities further. Following this line of thinking, the Governing Body of SIFPSA in its last meeting held on 26th March 2001, has decided to extend District Action Plans to all districts of the state.