Vasectomy Cash Bonus Offered in Indonesian District

When it comes to family planning, the head of the Mukomuko district in Bengkulu is cutting to the chase. In an effort to set an example for local men, district chief Ichwan Yunus has promised a cash reward for civil servants — with one major string attached.

“I will provide prize money of Rp 1 million [$110] to any officials and civil servants in this district who are willing to get a vasectomy,” Ichwan said during a meeting on family planning.

He said that he hoped the officials would encourage members of the public to follow their lead.

“Let them come forward and become an example for society,” he said. Ichwan did not say whether he himself would undergo the medical procedure.

Authorities in the southern Sumatran district said they were also ready to earmark funds for improving the availability and quality of medical care dealing with contraception.

Under the 32-year rule of President Suharto, Indonesia had a strong and rigidly-enforced family planning program — a program that lost much of its potency during the reform era that followed his downfall in 1998.

According to the National Family Planning Coordinating Board (BKKBN), it prevented roughly 100 million childbirths between 1970 and 2010.

Indonesia’s population, which stands at 238 million according to last year’s census, was growing at an annual rate of 1.5 percent, an increase of 3.5 million to 4 million people each year.

Officials are saying that more needs to be done to slow the birthrate in the world’s fourth-most populous country, where the rapid rise in population increasingly threatens the availability of natural resources and food.

A long-standing campaign has sought to persuade couples that two children is enough.

The island of Java, home to more than half the nation’s population, is already bursting at the seams as its residents face more and more competition for resources.

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Vasectomy Cash Bonus Offered in Indonesian District | The Jakarta Globe