The report that a couple in Haryana’s Mewat region has had 23 children is shocking. What makes this report cause for concern is that this family is not an exception. There are several families in Mewat that have 12 to 16 children. Extra-large families appear to be the norm in Mewat. Mewat, incidentally, is not located in an isolated pocket of the country. It is less than 100 km from New Delhi. It is worrying that an area so close to the national capital is so backward in its thinking. It has been reported that couples in Mewat are ignorant of family planning measures or are reluctant to adopt these as their religion apparently forbids them from doing so. These couples often attribute their large families to ‘God’s will’.

Socio-economic backwardness is both the cause and the result of such extra-large families. A look at Mewat’s literacy rate alone – according to the 2001 census, only 1.76 per cent of its population is literate – indicates where the problem lies.  When people are illiterate, they do not understand the gains of having small families. Nor do they know of the option of contraception. They are passive victims of various forms of orthodoxy and submit unquestioningly to regressive ideas propagated by clerics and others.

It is likely that Mewat is not alone in its dubious achievements. This is not a problem that society can brush aside with a laugh or for government to ignore as an isolated case. There are likely to be many Mewats in this country. The approach to tackling the problem has to be multi-pronged. It is essential that the government and NGOs work together to tackle the mindset of each couple individually in backward regions. They need to be convinced individually that having many children does not make them great parents but being able to provide time, emotional support, food and clothing for all children is what good parenting is all about. There is a need for improvement in education especially among women. And finally, the government must draw religious leaders with a modern outlook and enlightened sections of the community into the campaign to break the influence of orthodoxy and ignorance on the public. It is time the government moved beyond coining slogans to fight the population explosion.