Better population control activities are needed

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Hard observers at field levels know it that the official family planning programme is not running well. The door to door visitors of the family planning department to households are hardly seen doing their job. Although they are paid from the public purse to at least visit each home in the areas where they are posted to advise all potentially males and females with reproductive capacity, they turn up only casually and at long intervals.
Contraceptives meant for free distribution or at nominal prices among users are actually found to be sold at market value that usually discourage the latter from buying them for use. There is a programme of operating on men and women who opt for the same for permanent control of reproductive capacities. Awards are to be provided for those who submit to the operations. But the award money and other prizes are actually found to be misappropriated in many cases. Besides, lack of its publicity has also meant its not gaining in popularity.
Therefore, the greatest need seems to be flushing very clean the various corruptions in the official population control programmes and revamping the same for effectiveness.
Nafisa Haider
DOHS, Dhaka