India would need about Rs15,800 crore if it wants to meet its family planning 2020 (FP2020) pledge of covering 48 million new users of family planning methods by that year, says a study warning that any delay or gap would cost high maternal and infant mortality resulting from poorly spaced pregnancies.
The study by the Population Foundation of India (PFI), a think tank on population and development issues pointed out that “In line with a rights-based perspective and an empowerment approach, women need to be able to have the right to determine the number of children they wish to have.”
The States that need a greater focus and commitment are Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal as well as Assam and Himachal Pradesh.
The Study notes that family planning, which is almost fully funded by the Central Government, has received very little attention from it as compared with other health programmes. Family welfare, which includes the budget for family planning constituted only 4 per cent of the 2014-15 Health and Family Welfare Budget.
The family planning components in this budget includes central procurement of contraceptives, the funding of social marketing projects, national level IEC and promotional activities and premium for Family Planning Insurance (for compensation against contraceptive failures).
These constituted approximately 25 per cent of the total family welfare budget of the Central Government in 2014-15. The share for family planning within the larger family welfare budget has been further reduced to around 10-15 per cent with subsequent reductions in contraceptive procurement and social marketing.
Poonam Muttreja, Executive Director, PFI said, “The study on the resource requirements for India to meet its FP2020 commitments indicates that it would need to spend at least Rs15,800 crores by 2020 to achieve this goal as well as those of the SDGs.
“The need of the hour is to work closely with the private sector and civil society to make this promise a reality.”
The Central Government funds family planning activities in states through two funding channels -the Family Welfare budget head and the National Health Mission (NHM). Though the allocation for family planning increased by 47 per cent from 2013-14 to 2015-16 under NHM, it still fell short of the required amount. Under the Family Welfare Budget, the allocation saw a sharp decline of 54 per cent during the same period. As contraceptives and information, education and communication activities are covered by this budget, the decline is extremely worrying, notes the study.
At FP2020, India had committed to reaching 48 million new users in addition to sustaining the existing 100 million users of family planning. The focus was to shift to spacing instead of limiting methods to meet the needs of India’s young population reaching its reproductive years.