Introduction
- The population of Parsis (Zoroastrians), a notified minority community under National Commission of Minorities Act 1992, has declined to 57,264 in 2011 as per census data. In order to arrest the decline in population and reverse the trend, there is a felt need of Government of India intervention.
- The Government of India through Ministry of Minority Affairs had formulated the Jiyo Parsi Scheme in September 2013.
- The studies conducted by the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) and the joint studies conducted by Parzor Foundation and Tata Institute of Social Science(TISS), have identified the following reasons as the important causes for decline in population of Parsis:
- Late and non-marriages
- Fertility decline
- Emigration
- Out-Marriages
- Separation and divorces
Key Facts
- Age of marriage among Parsi women is about 27 years and in men about 31 years.
- Only one family in 9 (nine) has a child below the age of 10
- The Total Fertility Rate (TFR) of the Parsi community has reached below
- 1(one), which means that on an average, a Parsi woman in her total child bearing age has less than 1 child (0.8).
- Moreover, 31% of Parsis are over the age of 60 years and more than 30% Parsis are “Never married”.
Objective and Target Group
- The objective of the scheme is to reverse the declining trend of Parsi population by adopting a scientific protocol and structured interventions, stabilize their population and increase the population of Parsis in India.
- The scheme is meant for the notified minority community i.e. Parsi/Zoroastrian only.
- Target Groups within the Parsi community for the infertility treatment would be as follows:
- Parsi married couples of childbearing age who seek assistance under the scheme.
- Adults/ Young men/women/Adolescent boys/Girls for detection of diseases resulting in infertility. For screening of adolescent boys/girls, written consent of parents/legal guardians should be mandatory.
Components of Scheme
(i) Advocacy
- Counselling for couples with infertility, marriage, family and elderly counselling. The Parzor Foundation will develop a comprehensive website to capture the data of members of Parsi community
(ii) Health of the Community
- This will cover crèche/ childcare support, senior citizen honorarium for childcare, assistance to elderly.
- The fee for crèche would be maximum Rs. 4,000/- or actual whichever is lesser, per child only up-to the age of 8 years.
- Senior citizen honorarium for childcare would be Rs. 3,000/- per child per month upto the age of 10 years of the child.
- Assistance to elderly would be Rs. 4,000/- per month per person after the age of 70 years.
- The income criteria for the family whose elderly are to be benefited would be Rs. 10 Lakh per family per year.
iii. Medical Assistance:
- Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) which includes In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF) and Intra Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) and other modes including surrogacy as medical assistance when required. To deal with fertility issues, financial assistance would be provided for investigation and detection of infertility, counselling and fertility treatment to married couples after their fertility problem is medically detected. It is subjected to maximum cost of Rs. 8.00 Lakhs (Rupees Eight lakhs) per couple per child born, or as per actual, whichever is lesser.
| S.no. | Annual Family Income from all Sources | Financial Assistance to be Provided |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rs. 15 Lakh & below | 100% |
| 2 | Rs. 15-25 Lakh | 75% |
| 3 | Rs. 25 Lakh and Above | 50% |
- Parsi boys and girls of marriageable age (adolescent to the 30s), suffering from treatable clinical problems that result in infertility, would be provided medical assistance to the tune of Rs. 15,000/- and Rs. 25,000/- respectively.
- Rs. 3.27 Crore will be earmarked for advocacy component for the remaining period of 14th Finance Commission (2017-20).
- Funds will be released by MOMA in two instalments of 50% and 50%.
- Further, 3% of the total annual budget will be used for administration and management of the scheme in the Ministry.
Role of Parzor Foundation
- Work as an important link between the Parsi community and the Government to enable the success of the interventions
- The Scheme will be implemented by the Parzor Foundation with the help of the Bombay Parsi Panchayat (BPP) and through the organizations/societies /Anjumans and Panchayat of the community concerned in existence for not less than three years.
- Will be responsible for receiving proposals from candidates, evaluating them with the help of the doctors/clinics and recommending the beneficiaries for the treatment and subsequent to the completion of the treatment, scrutinizing the bills for reimbursement.
- They will also render consolidated utilization certificate of the funds released to them to the Ministry.
- The organization shall maintain a separate account for the financial assistance released by the Ministry
- Funds will be released to Parzor Foundation for all three components towards medical support, advocacy, professional counselling and outreach programmes, as well as child care, dependent elderly support and research component as per availability of resources. The funds would be transferred electronically into the bank account of the Parzor Foundation.
