With an addition of 104 babies, ‘Jiyo Parsi’ scheme enters phase II -Governance Now

With an addition of 104 babies, ‘Jiyo Parsi’ scheme enters phase II

Present at the launch, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi assured the Parsi community of financial and moral support from the government

Geetanjali Minhas | July 31, 2017 | Mumbai

#Parsi #Jiyo Parsi Scheme

Representational image

The ‘Jiyo Parsi’ scheme, started by the ministry of minority affairs, aims to reverse the decline in the Parsi population in India by adopting scientific medical protocols and structured interventions.

There has been an addition of 104 babies in phase I of the scheme.

On Saturday, the Parzor Foundation, MadisonBM Balong, Bombay Parsi Punchayet, Tata Institute of Social Sciences and Federation of Zoroastrian Anjumans of India launched phase II of the initiative.

Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, union minister of state for minority affairs & parliamentary affairs, assured the Parsi community of financial and moral support from the government.

“Parsi community has played a very supportive role in India’s Independence. Be it independence struggle, in the field of industry, science, technology, entertainment, military service, architecture, legal or civil services, people of the country love and respect the community,” he said.

He stressed on the need for awareness through media campaigns to increase the Parsi population. He said that the awareness campaigns can include small clippings of Parsi community’s contribution to the country which can be aired all over the country and abroad.

While India’s population has more than tripled in last 60 years, the number of Parsis has reduced by 50 percent. From 1,14,000 in 1941 it is now less than 57,264 (Census 2011).

There was an almost 18 percent rise in the birth rate (about 200 babies per year) since the launch of the Jiyo Parsi scheme in September 2013.

Masood E Khaleghi, consul general of Iran, said, “Zoroastrians have representations in our parliament; they have freedom and they follow their practices. Our cultures are so intermingled that we cannot separate ourselves from Zoroastrian principles.”

He urged big Parsi corporates like Tata, Godrej and Shapoorji Pallonji to take initiative.

The ‘Jiyo Parsi’ scheme has two components: medical assistance and advocacy/counselling.

“We want the campaign to be action oriented… The concept of Jiyo Parsi is now widened and not limited to providing subsidy for IVF treatments. We want to make a more holistic programme that enables young Parsi boys and girls to get married and have babies. The campaign has ambitious plans to provide all-around support to young parents to manage and bring up young Parsi children” said Sam Balsara of Madison who has designed the campaign.

Responding to a query, programme coordinator Prof Katy Gandevia said that in phase II of the programme, ‘Jiyo Parsi’ scheme hopes to provide counselling support beyond Mumbai and Pune. “To address concerns of couples on having a second child, the scheme will now hold sessions with families to provide financial help and support systems. We are now trying to involve wealthy Parsi men and women in the programme and asking the government for more financial help so we can reach Parsis in rural areas,” she said.

Comments

Other News

Report of India’s G20 Task Force on Digital Public Infrastructure released

The final ‘Report of India’s G20 Task Force on Digital Public Infrastructure’ by ‘India’s G20 Task Force on Digital Public Infrastructure for Economic Transformation, Financial Inclusion and Development’ was released in New Delhi on Monday. The Task Force was led by the

How the Great War of Mahabharata was actually a world war

Mahabharata: A World War By Gaurang Damani Sanganak Prakashan, 317 pages, Rs 300 Gaurang Damani, a Mumbai-based el

Budget expectations, from job creation to tax reforms…

With the return of the NDA to power in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, all eyes are now on finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s full budget for the FY 2024-25. The interim budget presented in February was a typical vote-on-accounts, allowing the outgoing government to manage expenses in

How to transform rural landscapes, design 5G intelligent villages

Futuristic technologies such as 5G are already here. While urban users are reaping their benefits, these technologies also have a potential to transform rural areas. How to unleash that potential is the question. That was the focus of a workshop – “Transforming Rural Landscape:

PM Modi visits Rosatom Pavilion at VDNKh in Moscow

Prime minister Narendra Modi, accompanied by president Vladimir Putin, visited the All Russian Exhibition Centre, VDNKh, in Moscow Tuesday. The two leaders toured the Rosatom Pavilion at VDNKh. The Rosatom pavilion, inaugurated in November 2023, is one of the largest exhibitions on the histo

Let us pledge to do what we can for environment: President

President Droupadi Murmu on Monday morning spent some time at the sea beach of the holy city of Puri, a day after participating in the annual Rath Yatra. Later she penned her thoughts about the experience of being in close commune with nature. In a message posted on X, she said: