New Delhi

Acceptance of modern contraceptives in India has increased to over 56 percent, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Anupriya Patel said on Thursday.

In a virtual meeting with State/UTs, Patel highlighted this as the success of the country’s National Family Planning Programme, which currently offers a variety of reversible modern contraceptives encompassing condoms, intrauterine contraceptive devices, oral pills, injectable contraceptives, etc.

"It is encouraging to note that the acceptance of modern contraceptives in the country has increased to over 56 percent," she said.

From 47.8 percent (NFHS 4, 2015-16) to 56.5 percent (NFHS-5, 2019-20), the "increase has been substantial".

The NFHS-5 data also "shows an overall positive shift towards spacing methods (between pregnancies) which would positively impact maternal and infant mortality and morbidity".

Notably, “the Unmet Need for Family Planning has declined to 9.4 from 12.9 (NFHS IV) which is an encouraging achievement,” she added.

Further, Patel noted that "more than 65 percent of India’s population falls in the reproductive age group which makes it pertinent to ensure that they are provided with choices and not burdened with unplanned family growth".

She informed that from the earlier two phases, the Union Government’s family planning programme “has now been expanded to three phases: the preparatory phase, community participation, and service delivery.” Importantly, she noted that after seven decades of family programme activities, "31 of 36 states/UTs have now reached replacement level of Total fertility rate (TFR)". She called on states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Meghalaya, and Manipur to take up "concerted activities to bring down the TFR”.

Patel also noted that the Mission Parivar Vikas (MPV) scheme has been expanded to over 340 districts from 146 districts initially.

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The meeting also launched an innovative Family Planning Display Model “Sugam” and family planning posters in Hindi, English, and regional languages imbibing the current year’s theme. Newly-developed radio spots and jingles aimed at creating awareness about family planning and increasing the uptake of family planning commodities were also launched.