NFHS-4 revealed that 37 per cent surveyed Indian men were of the opinion that contraception is women's business and men should not have to worry about it. In terms of power equations, the absence of more family planning methods for men put women at a disadvantageous position. Most family planning methods overbearingly put the onus of family planning on women. Compare it with methods like male/female sterilisation, which is very effective but also permanent in nature unlike condoms which give greater flexibility or pills whose effectiveness remains uncertain and thus questionable and intrauterine devices (IUDs) and post-partum IUDs which may be effective but are not very comfortable for women. If one lists down the different methods of family planning, using a condom is among the easiest and cheapest. Its significance increases if a person has multiple sex partners. To put it in the simplest terms, the primary purpose of a condom is to prevent unwanted pregnancy and protect sexually active people from contracting STDs. WHY CONDOM IS NOT JUST A PIECE OF LUBRICATED RUBBER But does reluctance in using condoms also impacts power equations between men and women? Does it end up defining responsibilities in a family? Is condom just a contraceptive or can its use, and the lack of it, have an overbearing influence on women while the men remain carefree and irresponsible? These are the biological repercussions of not using condoms. Some people also use withdrawal as a form of family planning but the uncertainty and risk involved in this too are quite high. This is followed by states like Telangana (0.5 per cent), Tamil Nadu (0.8 per cent), Bihar (1 per cent) and Karnataka (1.3 per cent). The prevalence of condom use is lowest in Andhra Pradesh where only 0.2 per cent men use condoms as a family-planning measure. The latest reports on the state of health in India - National Health Profile 2018 and the National Family Health Survey (2015-16) - show that nearly 95 per cent married couples (in the age group 15-49 years, when fertility is at its peak) do not use condoms.

Last month, the United Nations in a report projected that by 2027, India will surpass China to become the world's most populous country. It's then no rocket science why India's population is not just exploding like a bomb but like an active volcano in the Pacific 'Ring of Fire'. No number of ads featuring Ranveer Singh, or the old Bollywood-themed suhag raat scenes or the double meaning punchlines like 'is raat ki subah hi nahi' (there is no end to this night after using XYZ condom) seem to have changed their distaste for condoms. Indian men don't use condom even though 97.9% men who are sexually active know the importance of condoms, while overall 94% men in India are aware of condom use.

Low key smaller condoms