Jakarta – The National Family Planning Coordinating Agency (BKKBN) insists the involvement of the Indonesian Military (TNI) in its national campaigns is not to coerce people into participating in state-sponsored birth control programs.
BKKBN chief Sugiri Syarief told The Jakarta Post in a telephone interview Sunday that members of the military helped family planning workers in the field spread the message about the government's programs.
"The soldiers help motivate BKKBN workers and encourage them to go to remote areas and take them there," Sugiri said. He added that the military also supplied transportation such as off-road vehicles and boats.
Indonesia's population had increased five-fold over the last century, from 40 million in 1900 to 205.8 million in 2000, according to official statistics.
During the 32-year New Order regime, the government ran family planning campaigns with considerable success, but it was neglected following Soeharto's downfall in 1998. When regencies gained autonomy, many did not prioritize family planning.
The National Statistics Agency (BPS) projects that the population reached 229 million in 2008.
Should the BKKBNN programs succeed, the population is predicted to increase to 237.8 million in 2015, otherwise a possible baby boom could make the population hit a record 264.4 million then.
Masruchah from the National Commission on Violence against Women (Komnas Perempuan) said TNI involvement brought the risk of intimidation, a common situation in Soeharto's era. "Military involvement usurped democratic principles. It was a cheap strategy for the (Soeharto) government," she said.
The success of family planning programs during the New Order was quantitative, not qualitative, Masruchah said. "The target was reached by any means necessary and honest communication with the community was overlooked," she said.
Masruchah said that back then, women were told to use contraceptives unsuitable for them. This often resulted in complications such as bleeding and obesity.
Sugiri said from January last year, the agency achieved 120 percent of the target for new participants. "We aimed to get 6.5 million new participants, but managed to attract 7.5 million," he said.
The agency, which will continue working with the military, is targeting to net 7.1 million new participants this year, Sugiri added. He said there were currently 680,000 family planning workers, each assigned to two villages.
In his opening speech during the agency's recent coordination meeting, TNI territorial assistant Admiral Maj. Gen Suprapto said cooperation between the agency and the military was successful in increasing the participation rate and had support from various parties.
Sugiri told the Post that BKKBN was still a long way from covering the estimated 9.1 percent of the population interested in participating in the program, but difficult for the agency to reach.
He added the current family planning campaign was more democratic, with participants given the chance to discuss and try the contraception methods that best suited them. (dis)