India with 136.64 crores population is the second most populous country in the world after China and according to a UN report is expected to surpass it by 2027. In a developing country with many critical gaps in social and economic spheres, the growth of Indian population has been a cause of concern over many decades. To control the population many novel initiatives were envisaged and implemented. One such policy idea is the two child policy. However the recent findings of the NFHS survey had repudiated the need for this policy.

Why India Does Not Need Two Child Policy

1. The fifth edition of National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) data, suggests India’s population is stabilising. A population is said to stabilise once it achieves replacement-level fertility i.e the total fertility rate at which a population exactly replaces itself from one generation to the next.
2. Replacement-level fertility is roughly 2.1 children per woman, although it may vary slightly with mortality rates. Apart from three states — Bihar, Manipur and Meghalaya — all the states and UTs surveyed so far have reported a total fertility rate of 2.
3. Most importantly the population is stabilising across the states and this trend is not limited to some regions. In light of these findings experts are of the opinion that India does not need a two-child policy.

Populations Stabilization Initiatives In India

The trend of population stabilization that was observed in the recent NFHS is the result of various measures taken by governments over the years. The prominent initiatives include:

1. Immediately post independence, a Population Policy Committee was created in 1952 which suggested the appointment of a Family Planning Research and Programmes Committee in 1953.
2. A Central Family Planning Board was created in 1956 which emphasized sterilization.
3. In April 1976, the First National Population Policy was framed which suggested a wide spectrum of programmes like raising the statutory age of marriage, introducing monetary incentives, and paying special attention to improving female literacy.
4. The 1990s, however, witnessed a marked shift in the approach of family planning programmes in the country. Women movements were critical of overwhelming responsibilities imposed on women in family planning programmes for achieving fertility reduction.
5. In response to this, The National Population Policy 2000 provided a comprehensive framework to provide the reproductive and health needs of the people of India for the next ten years.
6. In the short term this policy tried to address the unfulfilled needs of contraception and health care infrastructure. The medium term goal of this policy was to bring down TFR and in the long term to achieve population stabilization by 2045.
7. Apart from this government also focus on Spacing methods like IUCD, Compensation scheme for sterilization acceptors, Increasing male participation and promotion of Non Scalpel Vasectomy, Scheme for Home delivery of contraceptives by ASHAs, Celebration of World Population Day 11th July & Fortnight etc.
8. In 2016, ‘Mission Pariwar Vikas’ was launched for improved access to contraceptives and family planning services in high fertility districts spreading over seven high focus states.

Success Of India’s Population Stabilization Initiatives

1. Increasing availability of Contraceptives: Data from the NFHS, a multi-round survey conducted in a representative sample of households throughout India, shows that the decline in fertility rate has been accompanied by an increase in the use of contraceptives.
2. Age of Marriage: The age of marriage is consistently increasing in India. Except for West Bengal, all states have registered a decline in the proportion of women who are married early according to NFHS-5.
3. Increase in female enrollment ratio in schools: Efforts by the government like RTE act, Mid day meals and increased focus on female higher education ensured that the age of marriage in India is increasing. When girls are in school, they get married later. They have better agency and their negotiation skills also improve.
4. Reduction in population growth rate: The Economic Survey of India 2018-19 states that the population growth rate has been slowing down in recent decades. The population growth rate of 2.5 per cent annually during 1971-81 has reduced to 1.6 per cent during 2011-16.

Issues With India’s Population Stabilization Measures

1. Skewed policies: The public health system engages primarily with women and not men. Men tend not to participate in discussions about family planning and the onus is on women to use contraceptives.
2. Female focused sterilization policies: India, has one of the world’s highest rates of female sterilisations, with about 37% of women having the operations. The proportion of female sterilisation increased from 30.8 per cent (NFHS-1 in 1992-1993) to over 36 per cent (NFHS-4 in 2015-2016). Meanwhile, male sterilisation has consistently declined from 4 per cent to 0.3 per cent in the same period.
3. Stigma regarding Family planning: The aggressive family planning initiatives, especially male sterilization during emergency period, targeting men have stigmatised family planning ever since.
4. Policy priority by the government: Teaching poorly educated women in remote communities how to use pills or contraceptives is more expensive than the mass sterilisation campaigns, and despite successive years of economic growth, governments have systematically chosen the cheaper option.
5. Flaws in National population policy: The NPP have a narrow perspective, giving much importance to contraception and sterilisation rather than dealing with basic prerequisites of controlling population like poverty alleviation, improving the standards of living and the spread of education.
6. Myths and fears: In India, many men resist vasectomy due to myths that the procedure causes physical weakness or impotence. The incendiary statements by politicians regarding population control, combined with government overeagerness in the past, has created fears of targeted population control measures in certain sections of the population.

Way Forward

1. Adopting women centric approach to population stabilization measures to bring gender parity in terms of sterilizations, and empowering women with education and incentives for late marriage and employment opportunities.
2. Improved standard of living acts as a deterrent to large family norms. In order to maintain their higher standard of living people prefer to have a small family.
3. The communication media like T.V. Radio and newspapers are good means to propagate the benefits of the planned family especially in the rural and backward areas of the country.
4. The spread of education changes the outlook of people. The educated men prefer to delay marriage and adopt small family norms while educated women are health conscious and avoid frequent pregnancies and thus help in lowering birth rate.
5. Government also must move away from an indiscriminate sterilization approach to creating awareness among people regarding use of family planning. This will help assuage fears among those sections of population which are suspicious of government population control efforts.