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Article: Curbing Population Via Call Center; Agents Address Family-Planning Concerns in India
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- January 5, 2009
- Author:
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Copyright informationThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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The phone rang at a call center in New Delhi one recent
afternoon. When an agent picked up the receiver, a young woman
whispered hesitantly. She said that she lived with her large
extended family in a remote rural settlement and that nobody knew
she was calling.
"I told her to be open and have no fear. She paused after every
word," recalled Payalkumari, 27, the call center agent, who uses
only her first name. "Then she slowly opened up. She was newly
married. She said her mother-in-law wanted her to have a child right
away, but she was not ready to. She asked, 'Is there some
contraception that I can use secretly and nobody else will get to
know in the family?' "
Payalkumari has taken ...