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Ethics in public health
The Maharashtra government recently announced that families with a third child born any time after mid-2001 would be denied public distribution scheme (PDS) benefits for that child.
It is well accepted that family sizes are influenced by a variety of social and economic factors, and the policy will not change things.
The only consequence the government policy will have is to deny the third child in a poor family essential benefits for no fault of her own. This would further disable families already struggling
to survive in a hostile working and living environment.
In the next issue of the journal, we hope to present a longer comment on this subject. In the meantime, readers are invited to send in their views for inclusion in the journal.