I found an interesting piece of information very interesting from the standpoint of India.

For most part, Indians would agree that population density is an issue that has hampered the progress and growth of our country. The government does add to the concept by actively promoting population control measures to the point of providing better benefits for nuclear families - 4 or fewer. There were paid programs in the 90s to help men go through family planning - vasectomy , coupled with literacy, was perceived as the magic bullet that no policy maker opposed. Even men over 50, in need of money, would go through the surgery sometimes - leave alone single men that never probably stood a chance with a woman.

We had literacy drives too at some point but the concept of family planning runs so high on our annual budgets to this day that the 2008-09 talks in length about various programs meant to address couples of all demographics. I am not sure how much of this actually happens but this annual budget from the Ministry of Health, India allocates the following amounts (in crores of Rupees, 4 crore rupees is a million USD).

Free Distribution of
Contraceptives 2211 0.60 ... 0.60 0.04 ... 0.04 0.50 ... 0.50
(Other than Condoms) 3601 56.40 ... 56.40 36.15 ... 36.15 57.00 ... 57.00
3602 1.00 ... 1.00 0.07 ... 0.07 1.00 ... 1.00
Total 58.00 ... 58.00 36.26 ... 36.26 58.50 ... 58.50
51.02 Social Marketing of
Contraceptives (Other
than social marketing
of condoms) 2211 45.00 ... 45.00 25.42 ... 25.42 27.02 ... 27.02
51.03 Free distribution and
Social Marketing of
Condoms for National
Aids Control Organisation 2210 247.50 ... 247.50 275.00 ... 275.00 270.00 ... 270.00

Other Services
59. Area Projects
59.01 India Population Projects 2211 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
3601 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
Total ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
59.02 EC assisted
SIP Projects 2211 0.01 ... 0.01 0.01 ... 0.01 0.01 ... 0.01
59.03 USAID assisted
SIFPSA Project 2211 50.00 ... 50.00 50.00 ... 50.00 50.00 ... 50.00
59.04 UNFPA
assisted
CP-6 Project 2211 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
Total - Area Projects 50.01 ... 50.01 50.01 ... 50.01 50.01 ... 50.01

The figures above tell me that we,as a ball park figure, plan to spend over 58 crores INR in free condoms, 27 crores in social marketing about condoms (very justified), another 270 crores in free condoms under AIDS prevention and finally, about 50 crores towards revitalizing Area projects for Family planning in places such as Uttar Pradesh. Now, thats a lot of free condoms !!

Just so you get a better picture of the magnitude, we plan to spend about 317.1 crores in Adult Education and Skill Development schemes in 2008-09.

Why do we do it? We do it because we think that more people put a strain on our available natural resources like water, air, land and minerals. When I think deeper, I feel we can solve most problems of population overload through new technology - desalination plants, apartment towers, public transit, virtual currencies and service oriented markets. Even more so, I think we still focus on our big population count because we believe that MORE and MORE people do not contribute to our GDP, while adding to our resource crunch.

I think that approach might misfire upon us later on. Seriously. Am I crazy to say we need a population overload? No. But, do I think the money spent on free condoms could be put to better use in efforts towards literacy and employment opportunity? Yes. Hence, I am all for campaigns that raise awareness towards safe sex practices but I feel distributing 300 crores worth of free condoms in a country that has some even more immediate needs in terms of food and water just does not cut it (especially when you consider you could use a condom only once).

Guess What?! Here is the Spreadsheet that suggests that there are approximately 30 countries whose population densities are worse than ours and the big news? A lot of them are better equipped to handle the needs of their people than us. Wonder why?! Could it be population overload that is our problem ? or could be almost the unstoppable urge to feed servitude through illiteracy ? thoughts?

p.s: Another relevant and interesting read ..

what happens to the 800 million odd condoms being distributed in India for free? Rahul Bedi from Delhi writes..