Una verdad simulada

First, a statement from our dear Health Minister that made my jaw drop lower than I ever remember it doing (via Amit Varma):

Health and family welfare minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Saturday became a votary of rapid electrification of villages in India but for a different reason - to curb population growth by ensuring access to television.

Now, if you think… well, that kind of makes sense, please hold on that thought for a moment. The reasoning of Mr. Azad is not the possibility of using television for educational purposes, the reasoning is neither that electrification will improve socio-economic indicators of the region which will help reduce the rate of population growth. No sir. His reasoning is that the rural folks would be so busy watching the saas-bahu serials and Rakhi’s swayamvar that they will forget to copulate. Seriously, thats what he really said:

“Electricity will lead to television in houses, which will lead to population control. When there is no light, people get engaged in the process of population growth,” he said while addressing a function on World Population Day.

[…]
“When light will reach (villages), 80 percent of population growth can be reduced through TV,” he said, adding that the current United Progressive Alliance (UPA) central government is working to ensure greater rural electrification. He also exhorted media and TV channels to provide quality materials and highlight positive news.

Interestingly enough, Amit has this objection to our health minister’s statement:

One, the government has no business regulating what consenting adults do in their bedrooms, whether this relates to sexual practices or procreative choices. How many kids a couple wants to have should be that couple’s decision alone. Anything else is a violation.

I am not sure how he extrapolates the minister’s statement to “regulating what adults do”. By extension, Amit is commenting on Mr. Azad’s opinions; is he therefore violating Mr. Azad’s rights to free speech? What Mr. Azad is saying is that the governments agenda is to bring electricity to villages. I don’t see him saying that the government will provide free TVs (which it, stupidly, might); definitely not regulating rural folks to watch TV instead of procreation.

I doubt Amit was commenting on “exhorted media and TV channels to provide quality materials” part of the speech. Even if he was, the way I read “exhorted” is to mean “to urge” rather than “to force”.

Tags: General //