New Delhi: The information and broadcasting ministry could undo decades of progress on sexual and reproductive health by banning condom ads on TV between 6am and 10pm and such restrictions are futile in an age when children have unfettered access to the Internet, many feel.

While the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights welcomed the move, as did many others, the critics appeared to have the upper hand in the chatter on social media.

The critics saw the decision as not just regressive but also a setback to years of efforts of public health professionals and activists to de-stigmatise condoms and make conversations about safe sex less awkward.

Ironically, the advisory, issued on Monday, coincided with the release of the first national study of the incidence of abortion and unintended pregnancy in India.

The study showed that 15.6 million abortions were performed in India in 2015. As many as 81 per cent of these were drug-induced, indicating early termination which is largely considered as unplanned pregnancy.

Among the first to fire a salvo was former information and broadcasting minister Manish Tewari. "Not allowing condom Ads 6AM to 10PM is silly. If ASCI (Advertising Standards Council of India)/MIB unhappy with A provocative Ad they should have banned it but to presume that Contraception is a nightly necessity smacks of Victorian Prudery that MOCKS the humungous population control challenge," the Congress leader tweeted.

Many activists, particularly those working for the control of HIV/AIDS, said the advisory would push back the discourse on safe sex by at least 20 years.

V. Sam Prasad, country programme director of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, said this was a return to the pre-Nirodh advertisement age on Doordarshan. Nirodh was the first condom brand produced in India and Doordarshan used to air its ad.

Former Union minister Milind Deora pointed out that India aired condom ads on national TV back in the 1980s and 1990s too. "Ads were sensuous, provocative and educative, encouraging consenting adults to use protection. In 2017, condom ads are banned. Are we moving forward or backward?" he tweeted.

While the ministry cited the perceived titillation in condom ads as the reason for limiting its airtime to the late night hours on the assumption that children do not watch TV at that time, many questioned the logic since films and other personal products also use the same marketing strategy.

"There are enough studies to show that Indian children these days are making their 'sexual debut' at the age of 13-14. The condom ads on TV are tame compared to what they access on the Internet," Prasad said.

Poonam Muttreja, executive director of the Population Foundation of India, found it curious that when the health ministry was pushing contraceptive use with specific focus on spacing methods for family planning, the information and broadcasting ministry was "poised to undo decades of progress on sexual and reproductive health".

"What we need is a more sensitive approach without compromising on information and advocating for sexual and reproductive choice. If ads are a way to create the demand for safe sex and family planning, then we need to ensure that it is not stifled by restrictions. Like in the film industry, we can grade ads by content and slot their telecast accordingly instead of removing all ads," Muttreja said.