Dear I&B Ministry, not every condom ad is vulgar
What's the story
At a time when the noise around condom use should be louder than ever, the I&B Ministry silenced it completely.
It has banned the television broadcast of condom ads between 6am-10pm, citing the need to shield children from "indecent and inappropriate" content.
The move deepens India's struggle to control its enormous population, and high incidence of STDs and unwanted pregnancies.
But, why ban them?
Looking for logic
Why ban ads when their content can be tailored?
Not all condom ads are vulgar, but all of them urge contraceptive use.
To suit the sensibilities of a wider audience, the ministry can always regulate the content of ads it thinks are explicit.
But in relegating their telecast to night-time, it has further stigmatized the discussion around safe sex practices and delegitimized years of efforts to bring the issue out of the closet.
Child safety
Ignorance is not bliss, ever
It's debatable whether the decision will cut down children's exposure to vulgarity, but it will definitely shut one good possibility for them to have a discussion with their parents on safe sex practices.
Considering the high prevalence of sexual crimes against children in India, any window to sex education arms them against probable perpetrators, who never think of a child's age before attacking.
Reasons
If anything, government should raise awareness around sex
Of the 48.1 million pregnancies in India in 2015, 15.6 million were aborted, with 0.8 million women using hazardous ways, claims a Lancet study.
World Bank estimated India's population at 1.31 billion in 2015, with the UN claiming that India would be world's most populous by 2024.
According to the NCRB, 927 children raped in Delhi alone in 2015.
What is the government thinking?