Statement I: Improved programmes covering wider reproduction-related areas are currently in operation in India under the popular name ‘Reproductive and Child Health Care (RCH) programmes’.
Statement II: In India, a rapid rise in death rate, maternal mortality rate (MMR) and infant mortality rate (IMR) is a probable reason for the rapid growth of the population.
In the light of the above statements, choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → Only Statement I is correct.
Statement I: Improved programmes covering wider reproduction-related areas are currently in operation in India under the popular name ‘Reproductive and Child Health Care (RCH) programmes’. — True. India’s ‘family planning’ programmes were later improved to cover wider reproduction-related areas. These improved programmes are known as the RCH programmes.
Statement II: In India, a rapid rise in death rate, maternal mortality rate (MMR) and infant mortality rate (IMR) is a probable reason for the rapid growth of the population. — False. If more people died, the population would grow more slowly. The book gives the opposite: a rapid decline in death rate, MMR and IMR, together with more people of reproducible age, is the probable reason for the population growth.
NCERT Extract:
Reproductive Health – Problems and Strategies – “… These programmes called ‘family planning’ were initiated in 1951 and were periodically assessed over the past decades. Improved programmes covering wider reproduction-related areas are currently in operation under the popular name ‘Reproductive and Child Health Care (RCH) programmes’.”
Population Stabilisation and Birth Control – “… Our population which was approximately 350 million at the time of our independence reached close to the billion mark by 2000 and crossed 1.2 billion in May 2011. A rapid decline in death rate, maternal mortality rate (MMR) and infant mortality rate (IMR) as well as an increase in number of people in reproducible age are probable reasons for this.”