Answer:

A population policy is one which seeks to influence various demographic variables, such as rate and pattern of growth, birth rate, mortality rate and more. Population was identified as a strategic component of the development plan in independent India. This led to the introduction of National Family Planning Programme in 1952 which was mainly aimed at controlling the rate of growth of population through the means of birth control methods.

♤ During the National Emergency, efforts to control population intensified. Unfortunately, coercive methods, such as forcible mass sterilization, were used which caused resentment amongst the people towards the population policy.

♤ Subsequently the programme was renamed as National Family Welfare Program, wherein the focus shifted to controlling population through welfare of the people. The coercive methods to control population were dropped and broad-based socio- demographic objectives were adopted instead.

♤ A new Set of guidelines were formulated as part of the National Population Policy, 2000. It set forth targets to be achieved by 2010, which were holistic in nature, covering wide areas which impacted public health and pattern of population change.

♤ The overall performance has been less than satisfactory, both in terms of implementation and achieving targets. The focus areas, initially, were too narrow, such as population control by contraception and sterilization. Rather, the focus should have been on socio-economic factors which cause high rate of population growth. The targets of NPP, 2000 remain unachieved even in 2015.

♤ That being said, there have been many significant achievements in the fifty years since the formation of the first policy. There have been reductions in the Crude Birth Rate, Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) and a vast improvement in the life expectancy. The population has stabilized as the Total Fertility Rate reduced to below 3, but it has taken too long to achieve.

Over the decades, the population policy has undergone transformation in terms of policy and actual programme implementation and currently being repositioned to not only achieve population stabilization goals but also promote reproductive health and reduce maternal, infant & child mortality and morbidity.

Recent steps such as National Rural Health Mission, will certainly improve our performance in achieving the targets. India should take inspiration from neighbors like Sri Lanka with better record on population parameters.