AFTER decades of witnessing the country struggle to bring its burgeoning population figures under control, with mixed success, there are indications that the penny is finally dropping. In Punjab, men appear to be recognising that family planning is as much their concern as that of their wives. Traditionally, this has been seen as a ‘women’s issue’ in the sense that the need for limiting the family size has been felt more keenly by them. But according to a recent study, men in Punjab are showing greater concern than hitherto about the size of their families and spacing between children. The study, that was undertaken by the Population Council through the World Bank-Netherlands Partnership Programme, found that men indeed want fewer children, and want technical information about family planning.

That this awakening is spurred more by economic realities than concern for women’s health, though unfortunate, is not the point here. More benefit lies in seeing in this change an immense opportunity. The country has been running family planning initiatives and interventions for years, but the fact is that there is still insufficient societal knowledge about the subject. Most importantly, there are still sections of the population that do not have easy and affordable access to contraceptives. Given the higher mobility of men as well as the influence they wield in a patriarchal society, it is time to mobilise them in this regard through male-specific interventions. And if attitudes are changing in Punjab, there is no reason why they cannot be changed, with some effort, in other parts of the country too. At the heart of the matter, as the study pointed out, is the challenge of getting people to start translating intentions into practice. That popularising the use of family planning methods will benefit an already impoverished, populous country is obvious. A side benefit that will yield no less tangible results, though, is the leverage this change can have over empowering women in terms of their spousal relationships.