InternationalRead Next
International
From a career in finance to the pro-life front lines in Japan
Angeline Tan
·Spotlight Articles
Population group: Indian government must stop promoting population control
The Population Foundation of India is encouraging the country to back away from population control policies after a new paper raised concerns about the fertility rate and current policies.
The Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India released a paper criticizing population policies as the fertility rate in India continues to plummet.
The Population Foundation of India (PFI) responded by further arguing to move away from population control.
India has one of the lowest fertility rates in the world.
The Economic Advisory Council (EAC) to the Prime Minister released a paper, "The Ghost of Population Past: How Population Control Persists in India," which pointed out that the government is still promoting population control, even as the fertility rate in India plummets.
A country needs a fertility rate of approximately 2.1 children per woman to reach replacement rate; India's overall fertility rate is roughly 1.9. However, as the EAC paper pointed out, it is significantly lower throughout the country, with multiple states having dropped as low as 1.3.
While the overall population of India remains large, the population is aging, and births are decreasing, which will inevitably lead to population collapse.
Yet the EAC paper pointed out the government still incentivizes population control:
There are cash payments for people who undergo sterilization.
Payments are given to health workers who persuade people to be sterilized.
Payments are given to providers who commit sterilizations.
States like Gujarat, West Bengal, Punjab, and Andhra Pradesh are among those with strikingly low fertility rates, yet which still pay people to be sterilized. Other states still impose a two-child limit, where having more than two children affects things like government employment, welfare benefits, or standing for local office.
“Roll-back all direct benefit transfer payments, including acceptor payments, wage-loss compensations, and enhanced incentives to acceptors and service providers, related to sterilisations,” the paper recommended.
In response, the PFI has recommended backing off population control policies as well.
"India's demographic transition remains deeply uneven," Poonam Muttreja, Executive Director at PFI, said, adding:
National averages hide significant differences across states, districts, income groups, rural and urban populations, and levels of education and access to health services. Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and parts of central and eastern India continue to have a younger age structure and different development needs from states such as Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, West Bengal, Delhi and Himachal Pradesh.
The PFI also pointed out that women are the ones largely being sterilized, which insinuates some level of pressure or coercion. Less than one percent of sterilizations are committed on men. And while PFI didn't say birth control should be barred altogether, it did say the state must stop pressuring people into sterilization.
"The role of the state is not to push families to have fewer or more children," Muttreja said. "It is to ensure that every person, especially women and young people, has the information, services and freedom to make informed decisions about their lives."
Countries across the globe are struggling with population decline, but the countries seeing some of the worst free-falls are those with a history of strong population control policies, such as China, India, and South Korea.
Live Action News is pro-life news and commentary from a pro-life perspective.
Our work is possible because of our donors. Please consider giving to further our work of changing hearts and minds on issues of life and human dignity.
Contact editor@liveaction.org for questions, corrections, or if you are seeking permission to reprint any Live Action News content.
Guest Articles: To submit a guest article to Live Action News, email editor@liveaction.org with an attached Word document of 800-1000 words. Please also attach any photos relevant to your submission if applicable. If your submission is accepted for publication, you will be notified within three weeks. Guest articles are not compensated (see our Open License Agreement). Thank you for your interest in Live Action News!
Angeline Tan
·
Guest Column
Right to Life UK
·
International
Cassy Cooke
·
International
Nancy Flanders
·
International
Cassy Cooke
·
Issues
Bridget Sielicki
·
Analysis
Cassy Cooke
·
Pop Culture
Cassy Cooke
·International
Cassy Cooke
·International
Cassy Cooke
·
Politics
Cassy Cooke
·Population group: Indian government must stop promoting population control
The Population Foundation of India is encouraging the country to back away from population control policies after a new paper raised concerns about the fertility rate and current policies.
The Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India released a paper criticizing population policies as the fertility rate in India continues to plummet.
The Population Foundation of India (PFI) responded by further arguing to move away from population control.
India has one of the lowest fertility rates in the world.
The Economic Advisory Council (EAC) to the Prime Minister released a paper, "The Ghost of Population Past: How Population Control Persists in India," which pointed out that the government is still promoting population control, even as the fertility rate in India plummets.
A country needs a fertility rate of approximately 2.1 children per woman to reach replacement rate; India's overall fertility rate is roughly 1.9. However, as the EAC paper pointed out, it is significantly lower throughout the country, with multiple states having dropped as low as 1.3.
While the overall population of India remains large, the population is aging, and births are decreasing, which will inevitably lead to population collapse.
Yet the EAC paper pointed out the government still incentivizes population control:
There are cash payments for people who undergo sterilization.
Payments are given to health workers who persuade people to be sterilized.
Payments are given to providers who commit sterilizations.
States like Gujarat, West Bengal, Punjab, and Andhra Pradesh are among those with strikingly low fertility rates, yet which still pay people to be sterilized. Other states still impose a two-child limit, where having more than two children affects things like government employment, welfare benefits, or standing for local office.
“Roll-back all direct benefit transfer payments, including acceptor payments, wage-loss compensations, and enhanced incentives to acceptors and service providers, related to sterilisations,” the paper recommended.
In response, the PFI has recommended backing off population control policies as well.
"India's demographic transition remains deeply uneven," Poonam Muttreja, Executive Director at PFI, said, adding:
National averages hide significant differences across states, districts, income groups, rural and urban populations, and levels of education and access to health services. Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and parts of central and eastern India continue to have a younger age structure and different development needs from states such as Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, West Bengal, Delhi and Himachal Pradesh.
The PFI also pointed out that women are the ones largely being sterilized, which insinuates some level of pressure or coercion. Less than one percent of sterilizations are committed on men. And while PFI didn't say birth control should be barred altogether, it did say the state must stop pressuring people into sterilization.
"The role of the state is not to push families to have fewer or more children," Muttreja said. "It is to ensure that every person, especially women and young people, has the information, services and freedom to make informed decisions about their lives."
Countries across the globe are struggling with population decline, but the countries seeing some of the worst free-falls are those with a history of strong population control policies, such as China, India, and South Korea.
Live Action News is pro-life news and commentary from a pro-life perspective.
Our work is possible because of our donors. Please consider giving to further our work of changing hearts and minds on issues of life and human dignity.
Contact editor@liveaction.org for questions, corrections, or if you are seeking permission to reprint any Live Action News content.
Guest Articles: To submit a guest article to Live Action News, email editor@liveaction.org with an attached Word document of 800-1000 words. Please also attach any photos relevant to your submission if applicable. If your submission is accepted for publication, you will be notified within three weeks. Guest articles are not compensated (see our Open License Agreement). Thank you for your interest in Live Action News!
Angeline Tan
·Guest Column
Right to Life UK
·International
Cassy Cooke
·International
Nancy Flanders
·International
Cassy Cooke
·Issues
Bridget Sielicki
·Analysis
Cassy Cooke
·Pop Culture
Cassy Cooke
·International
Cassy Cooke
·International
Cassy Cooke
·Politics
Cassy Cooke
·