The overview of India's population crisis underlines the urgent need for a rapid reduction in the birth rate.
In the North (developed countries), this transition occurred gradually through spontaneous sociocultural changes spurred by economic development and industrialisation.
Economic growth and industrialisation are often termed the “best contraceptives” based on this experience.
The demand theory, developed initially by Becker and advanced by other household economics theorists, links economic development to fertility decline.
Key socio-economic variables identified as drivers of reduced fertility include:
Family income level: As income increases, parents invest more in each child, reducing the demand for more children.
Opportunity cost of mother’s time: When married women participate more in the labour force, the cost of child-rearing rises, reducing fertility rates.
This explains the fertility transition in the North as a result of falling demand for children.
The ‘redistribution position’ argues that population problems stem from lack of economic development and social transformation, not just uncontrolled numbers.
This view contrasts with the neo-Malthusian ‘Incrementalist Theory’, which asserts that rapid population growth obstructs economic progress.
India is significantly more densely populated than any Northern country during their demographic transition phases.
Mortality decline in India has been far sharper and faster compared to the North.
India lacks emigration outlets that were available to most Northern countries.
Unlike the North, India did not have free access to large markets or abundant agricultural/mineral resources during its early development stages.
Slow socio-economic adjustment is not viable for India; urgent, direct action is essential.
Population control must precede economic development; it is not an either-or question, but a precondition for accelerated growth.
Government intervention in population policy is not just necessary—it is legitimate and critical.
Increase the rate of employment to eliminate unemployment among the working-age population.
Control the growth of population through appropriate demographic strategies.
Full employment is recognized as a core goal of India's economic planning.
Major constraints to achieving full employment include lack of capital, insufficient domestic purchasing power, and structural inefficiencies.
Labour-intensive technology is needed to boost employment without heavily relying on automation.
Rural industrialisation is key to generating local employment, reducing migration to urban areas and avoiding the cost of expanding urban infrastructure.
Skill mismatch poses a serious challenge—education, training, and retraining will be crucial to workforce development.
Achieving full employment may take several decades due to the structural and demographic challenges India faces.
Fertility reduction is the only effective method of population control—primarily through family planning.
Family planning entails:
Limiting the number of children to one or two per couple.
Determining the proper spacing between births.
Family planning means having children by choice, not by chance.
Modern health technologies and the availability of contraceptives have made voluntary birth control practical and accessible.
India was the first country in the world to adopt family planning as an official government policy.
The period of indifference
The period of neutrality (1947–51)
The period of experimentation (1951–61)
The beginning of the policy of control (from 1961 onwards)
Paradigm shift (since mid-1990s)
Launched in 1952 with the aim of reducing the birth rate to a level that aligns with economic stability.
Initially adopted a clinical and experimental approach, offering services to already-motivated individuals.
Infrastructure for outreach and motivation was created in 1961–62.
Use of mass communication to promote small family norm (one or two children).
Widespread availability of contraceptive methods across urban, semi-urban, and rural areas.
Establishment of family planning centers to deliver related services.
Provision of financial assistance to acceptors and motivators of methods like sterilisation.
Enhancement of infant health services to reduce mortality.
Provision of nutrition, immunisation, and disease prevention.
Promotion of female education and employment opportunities.
Education in health and reproductive biology.
Promotion of delayed marriages.
Raising awareness on legal termination of pregnancy (MTP).
Encouraging research in family planning methods and practices.
Family planning evolved into a broader instrument of social transformation, aiming to foster better parents, healthier children, and responsible marriages.
The programme became identified with the HITTS model:
Health department-operated
Incentive-based
Target-oriented
Time-bound
Sterilisation-focused
This overemphasis necessitated a policy shift toward a more comprehensive reproductive health approach.
Launched on October 15, 1997, as part of the Tenth Five Year Plan.
Aims to place family planning within the broader context of reproductive health, not just as a numerical control mechanism.
Announced on February 15, 2000.
Immediate objective: Meet the “unmet” needs for contraception, health infrastructure, personnel, and integrated service delivery.
Medium-term objective: Bring total fertility rate (TFR) to replacement level (2.1) through vigorous intersectoral strategies.
Long-term objective: Achieve population stabilisation by 2045.
Incentives to Panchayats and Zila Parishads for promoting the small family norm.
Strict enforcement of the Child Marriage Restraint Act and the Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques Act.
Health insurance of ₹5,000 for BPL couples with two children who undergo sterilisation.
Cash rewards for BPL couples marrying after legal age, having first child after 21 years of age, and adopting small family norm.
Funds and soft loans to promote ambulance services in rural areas.
Strengthening abortion facilities to ensure safe terminations.
Establishment of a National Commission on Population, chaired by the Prime Minister, to oversee implementation.
Creation of a National Population Stabilisation Fund, renamed Janasankhya Sthirata Kosh (JSK), to support innovation in population control.
320 million births averted between 1956 and 2011 due to family welfare programmes.
Acceptors of family planning peaked at 62.9 million in early 2011.
Couple Protection Rate (CPR) increased to 48.0% (compared to global average of 61%).
State-level performance is highly variable — many have shown excellent or satisfactory results.
Emergence of DISC (Double Income Single Child) model in urban India, reflecting changing fertility preferences.
2011 Census: Confirms that demographic transition is well underway and India is nearing Net Reproduction Rate (NRR) of 1.
10 Indian states already have desired family size close to replacement level; in others, desire is lower than actual fertility.
Overall, efforts over five decades have not gone in vain; determinants of fertility demand are trending positively.
i) Demand represents the basic determinants of fertility. Broadly, five categories determine the demand for smaller families: education, economic status, health, urbanisation, and status of women. As these increase, more women want fewer children, increasing demand for family planning information and contraceptive services.
ii) Supply represents the mechanisms through which demand is expressed in actual reproductive behaviour.
i) Provision of Credible Security: The most essential condition is providing a credible security system (or subsistence security). When the state offers this safety net, children are no longer seen as indispensable for survival.
ii) Expanding Basic Education: Increasing education opportunities, especially for females, leads to lowered fertility. A recent World Bank study found wife’s schooling has a greater effect on contraceptive use and fertility than the husband’s schooling.
iii) Education affects family size both directly and indirectly:
a) Directly, education influences psychological attributes such as freedom from tradition, aspirations, ideal family size, and acceptance of contraception.
b) Indirectly, education:
1) Delays age of marriage for girls, reducing childbearing years. Studies suggest raising average marriage age by two years may reduce birth rate by ~25%.
2) Improves girls’ prospects for employment outside the home, competing with raising a large family.
3) Encourages parents to desire better education for children, prompting family size limitation.
4) Links fertility regulation with educational aspirations, especially for illiterate parents.
5) Reduces infant and child mortality by promoting better sanitation, inoculation, and health care, reassuring parents about child survival.
6) Facilitates acquisition of family planning information and increases exposure to mass media and printed materials about contraceptives.
c) Experience shows birth rates are lower in states with high female literacy, reinforcing the adage: “education is the best contraceptive” and is described as the ‘key of keys’.
d) Educated community members transmit knowledge and fertility preferences to the uneducated.
iv) Experts conclude that investing in girls’ education yields the highest return, summed up by the comment: “Put all the girls in school, India’s problems are off.”
v) A holistic package of improved preventive and curative health care, education, women’s status, labour market access, combined with family planning, produces a greater impact on family size and population growth than any single element alone.
vi) It is increasingly recognized that “Development of women is the best contraceptive”, rather than merely contraception being the best development strategy.
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