family planning in India

File:Red Triangle.svg indicates family planning products and services in India.]]

File:Stamp of India - 1987 - Colnect 1017632 - 1 - Family Planning.jpeg

Women in India are not being fully educated on contraception usage and what they are putting in their bodies.{{Cite web|url=http://www.popcouncil.org/research/information-about-methods-received-by-contraceptive-users-in-india|title=Information about methods received by contraceptive users in India|last=Jain|first=Anrudh|date=November 8, 2016|website=Population Council|access-date=5 April 2017|archive-date=6 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170406022701/http://www.popcouncil.org/research/information-about-methods-received-by-contraceptive-users-in-india|url-status=live}} From 2005 to 2006 data was collected to indicate only 15.6% of women using contraception in India were informed of all their options and what those options actually do. Contraceptive usage has been rising gradually in India. In 1970, 13% of married women used modern contraceptive methods, which rose to 35% by 1997 and 48% by 2009.

Awareness of contraception is near-universal among married women in India.{{Citation | title=Contraceptive use in India, 1992-93 | author1=B.M. Ramesh | author2=S.C. Gulati | author3=R.D. Retherford | journal=National Family Health Survey Subject Reports, Number 2, October 1996 | access-date=2009-11-25 | url=https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/3471/1/NFHSsubjrpt002.pdf | archive-date=5 August 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160805081550/https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/3471/1/NFHSsubjrpt002.pdf | url-status=live }} However, the vast majority of married Indians (76% in a 2009 study) reported significant problems in accessing a choice of contraceptive methods.{{Citation|title=India and Family Planning: An Overview |publisher=Department of Family and Community Health, World Health Organization |access-date=2009-11-25 |url=http://www.searo.who.int/linkfiles/family_planning_fact_sheets_india.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091221114019/http://www.searo.who.int/LinkFiles/Family_Planning_Fact_Sheets_india.pdf |archive-date=21 December 2009 |df=dmy }} The above table clearly indicates more evidence that the availability of contraceptives is a problem for people in India. In 2009, 48.4% of married women were estimated to use a contraceptive method. About three-fourths of these were using female sterilization which is by far the most prevalent birth-control method in India. Condoms, at a mere 3%, were the next most prevalent method. Meghalaya, at 20%, had the lowest usage of contraception among all Indian states. Bihar and Uttar Pradesh were the other two states that reported usage below 30%.

Sterilization is a common practice in India. Contraceptive practices in India are heavily skewed towards terminal methods like sterilization, which means that contraception is practiced primarily for birth limitation rather than birth planning.{{Cite journal|title=Contraceptive Use in India: A Data Mining Approach|last=Chaurasia|first=Aalok Ranjan|date=2014|journal=International Journal of Population Research|volume=2014|pages=1–11|doi=10.1155/2014/821436|language=en|doi-access=free}} It is common to use camps to enforce sterilization. This process can be done with or without consent.{{Cite web|url=http://0-go.galegroup.com.skyline.ucdenver.edu/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&u=auraria_main&id=GALE%7CA466626457&v=2.1&it=r&sid=summon|title=Skyline: Auraria Library Catalog|last=Library|first=Auraria|website=0-go.galegroup.com.skyline.ucdenver.edu|access-date=2017-03-29}}{{Dead link|date=December 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

Comparative studies have indicated that increased female literacy is correlated strongly with a decline in fertility.{{Citation | title=How Female Literacy Affects Fertility: The Case of India | publisher=Population Institute, East-West Center | date=December 1990 | access-date=2009-11-25 | url=http://www.eastwestcenter.org/fileadmin/stored/pdfs/p&p015.pdf | archive-date=25 December 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101225175210/http://www.eastwestcenter.org/fileadmin/stored/pdfs/p%26p015.pdf | url-status=dead }} Studies have indicated that female literacy levels are an independent strong predictor of the use of contraception, even when women do not otherwise have economic independence.{{Citation | title=Women's work, autonomy, and birth control: evidence from two south India villages |author1=A. Dharmalingam |author2=S. Philip Morgan | journal=Population Studies | year=1996| jstor=2174910 | doi = 10.1080/0032472031000149296 | volume=50 |issue=2 | pages=187–201}} Female literacy levels in India may be the primary factor that help in population stabilisation, but they are improving relatively slowly: a 1990 study estimated that it would take until 2060 for India to achieve universal literacy at the current rate of progress.

In 2015, there was an average 58% of women who used contraceptives, with female sterilization still being the most preferred and favored among 91% of women.{{Cite journal|last=Thulaseedharan|first=Jissa Vinoda|date=2018-01-05|title=Contraceptive use and preferences of young married women in Kerala, India|journal=Open Access Journal of Contraception|language=en|volume=9|pages=1–10|doi=10.2147/OAJC.S152178|pmid=29440936|pmc=5804019|doi-access=free }} Higher rates of sterilization are seen among women who hold less education than those with more education. Those with higher education have lower rates due to the delay of getting married and childbirth. 77% of the women who underwent sterilization had not used an alternative contraception prior to the procedure and most women were under the age of 26, who seem to have many options available in regards to protection.{{Cite journal|last=Pachauri|first=Saroj|date=November 2014|title=Priority strategies for India's family planning programme |journal=The Indian Journal of Medical Research|volume=140|issue=Suppl 1|pages=S137–S146 |pmc=4345745|pmid=25673535}} The preoccupation with birth limitation by India's family planning programme has meant that it has not been able to successfully reach young married women who are in the process of building their family and enable them to meet their family planning intentions.

According to Family Planning 2020, in 2017 there were 136,569,000 women using modern method contraception which prevented: 39,170,000 unintended pregnancies, 11,966,000 unsafe abortions, and 42,000 maternal deaths due to family planning.{{Cite web|url=http://www.familyplanning2020.org/entities/76|title=Family Planning 2020|website=www.familyplanning2020.org|access-date=2018-04-05|archive-date=13 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180413022011/http://www.familyplanning2020.org/entities/76|url-status=live}} In 2012, India's modern contraception prevalence rate among all women was 39.2, in 2017 it was 39.57, and in 2020 is predicted to rise to 40.87.

File:Stamp of India - 1989 - Colnect 1017640 - 1 - Indian Family.jpeg

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is the government unit responsible for formulating and executing family planning in India. An inverted red triangle is the symbol for family planning health and contraception services in India. In addition to the newly implemented government campaign, improved healthcare facilities, increased education for women, and higher participation among women in the workforce have helped lower fertility rates in many Indian cities. The objectives of the program are positioned towards achieving the goals stated in several policy documents.{{Cite web|url=http://nrhm.gov.in/nrhm-components/rmnch-a/family-planning/background.html|title=National Health Mission|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130111053714/http://www.nrhm.gov.in/nrhm-components/rmnch-a/family-planning/background.html|archive-date=11 January 2013|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}} While India is improving in fertility rates, there are still areas of India that maintain much higher fertility rates.{{Cite journal|title=Serials Solutions 360 Link|journal=The Lancet Global Health|volume=5|issue=3|pages=e350–e358|doi=10.1016/S2214-109X(17)30033-5|pmid=28193400|year=2017|last1=New|first1=Jin Rou|last2=Cahill|first2=Niamh|last3=Stover|first3=John|last4=Gupta|first4=Yogender Pal|last5=Alkema|first5=Leontine|doi-access=free}}Rao, Mohan(2004) From Population Control to Reproductive Health, Sage Publications, {{ISBN|0-7619-3269-0}}

In 2017, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare launched Mission Pariwar Vikas, a central family planning initiative. The key strategic focus of this initiative is on improving access to contraceptives through delivering assured services, ensuring commodity security and accelerating access to high quality family planning services. its overall goal is to reduce India's overall fertility rate to 2.1 by the year 2025. Along with that two contraceptive pills, MPA (Medroxyprogesterone acetate) under Antara program and Chaya (earlier marketed as Saheli) will be made freely available to all government hospitals.{{Cite web|url=http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=170537|title=Health Ministry launches two new contraceptives|website=pib.nic.in|access-date=2017-09-06|archive-date=6 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170906091057/http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=170537|url-status=live}}

Family planning program benefits not only parents and children but also to society and nation, by being able to keep the number of new births under control allows for less population growth.{{Cite journal|last=Jain|first=Anrudh K.|date=December 2011|title=Measuring the effect of fertility decline on the maternal mortality ratio|journal=Studies in Family Planning|volume=42|issue=4|pages=247–260|issn=0039-3665|pmid=22292244|doi=10.1111/j.1728-4465.2011.00288.x}} With less population growth this will allow for more resources towards those already existing in the Indian population, with more resources comes longer life expectancy and better health.

India's current fertility rate as of 2024, is 2.1 births per woman. The fertility rate (average number of children born per woman during her lifetime) in India has been declining and it had reached the average replacement rate in 2019. The average replacement rate is 2.1. (This rate is said to stabilize a population) Replacement rate can be defined as the rate at which the population exactly replaces itself.{{Cite web|url=http://www.wri.org/publication/achieving-replacement-level-fertility|title=Achieving Replacement Level Fertility|date=8 July 2013|access-date=31 March 2017|archive-date=6 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170306022712/http://www.wri.org/publication/achieving-replacement-level-fertility|url-status=live|last1=Searchinger|first1=Tim|last2=Hanson|first2=Craig|last3=Waite|first3=Richard|last4=Lipinski|first4=Brian|last5=Leeson|first5=George}} Factoring in infant mortality, the replacement rate is approximately 2.1 in most industrialised nations and about 2.5 in developing nations (due to higher mortality). The fertility rates in India have dropped rapidly in rural areas, but are dropping at a stable rate in urban and populated areas.{{Cite news|url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/globalhealth-july-dec11-population_10-19/|title=India's Growth Held Back by Overpopulation|work=PBS NewsHour|access-date=2017-03-28|archive-date=28 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170828011805/http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/globalhealth-july-dec11-population_10-19/|url-status=live}} Although this seems promising, two-thirds of India's population resides in rural areas, adding to the decreased fertility rate. Discounting immigration and population momentum effects, a nation that crosses below the replacement rate is on the path to population stabilisation and, eventually, population reduction. There have been several factors influencing recent trends in Indian fertility including, but not limited to: limitation of family planning ability, age at marriage/childbirth, and the space between children born to one woman. Although India is dealing with major overpopulation issues, the fertility rate and the overall population growth is declining.

The fertility rate in India has been in long-term decline, and more than halved from 1960 to 2009. From 5.7 births per woman in 1966, it declined to 3.3 births per woman by 1997 and 2.7 births per woman in 2009.{{Citation | title=Brothers and sisters in India: a study of urban adult siblings | author=G.N. Ramu | publisher=University of Toronto Press | isbn=978-0-8020-9077-5 | year=2006 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2cGSay9VxsgC | access-date=1 February 2016 | archive-date=3 May 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160503023543/https://books.google.com/books?id=2cGSay9VxsgC | url-status=live }}{{Citation | title=Population Trends: India | author=Arjun Adlakha | publisher=U.S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration, Bureau of the Census | access-date=2009-12-05 | date=April 1997 | url=https://www.census.gov/ipc/prod/ib-9701.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131010092516/http://www.census.gov/ipc/prod/ib-9701.pdf | archive-date=10 October 2013 | url-status=dead | df=dmy-all }} In 2005 the TFR, (total fertility rate), was listed as 2.9 births per women. Since this time, the country has recorded a steady decline in order to reach the current rate (as of 2024) of 2.1 births per woman.

Twenty Indian states have dipped below the 2.1 replacement rate level and are no longer contributing to Indian population growth.{{cite web |url=http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/india-polpulation-family-planning-emergency-india-births-rate-total-fertility-rate-2914318/ |title=Three states hold the key |publisher=The Indian Express |date=15 July 2016 |access-date=1 June 2017 |archive-date=26 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170526174431/http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/india-polpulation-family-planning-emergency-india-births-rate-total-fertility-rate-2914318/ |url-status=live }} The total fertility rate of India stands at 2.1 as of 2024. Four Indian states have fertility rates above 3.5 - Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Meghalaya and Nagaland Of these, Bihar has a fertility rate of 4.0 births per woman, the highest of any Indian state. For detailed state figures and rankings, see Indian states ranking by fertility rate.{{cn|date=July 2023}}

In 2009, India had a lower estimated fertility rate than Pakistan and Bangladesh, but a higher fertility rate than China, Iran, Myanmar and Sri Lanka.{{Citation | title=Country Comparison: Total Fertility Rate, The World Factbook | author=CIA | publisher=Central Intelligence Agency | access-date=2009-11-24 | url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2127rank.html | archive-date=28 October 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091028133713/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2127rank.html | url-status=dead }}

According to Jin Rou New and colleagues research and data{{Cite journal|last1=New|first1=Jin Rou|last2=Cahill|first2=Niamh|last3=Stover|first3=John|last4=Gupta|first4=Yogender Pal|last5=Alkema|first5=Leontine|date=2017-03-01|title=Levels and trends in contraceptive prevalence, unmet need, and demand for family planning for 29 states and union territories in India: a modelling study using the Family Planning Estimation Tool|journal=The Lancet Global Health|language=en|volume=5|issue=3|pages=e350–e358|doi=10.1016/s2214-109x(17)30033-5|pmid=28193400|issn=2214-109X|doi-access=free}} they were able to compile enough data to create the following table.

India carries a pronatalist attitude towards fertility, with the large family structure creating an environment for new children to learn and grow in Indian culture. In many parts of India, male children are favored over female children, however efforts are being taken to change this attitude. Males are raised to be assertive and independent figures, while females are raised to put others before themselves, particularly their family. Families tend to encourage childbearing and expect to provide an environment of support for any new members of the family, raising the children based on Indian family practices and beliefs. Children are not encouraged to be independent or assist the family from an early age, rather the family expects to support and provide for the child until they reach adolescence.{{cn|date=August 2022}}

Multiple Indian states have adopted a limited two-child policy. The policies are implemented by prohibiting persons with more than two children from serving in government.{{cite web|url=https://www.pop.org/indian-state-proposes-a-two-child-limit-for-government-employees/|title=Indian State Proposes A Two-Child Limit for Government Employees - PRI|date=6 January 2017|access-date=7 February 2018|archive-date=12 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180212201437/https://www.pop.org/indian-state-proposes-a-two-child-limit-for-government-employees/|url-status=live}} The most recent policy to be implemented was by Assam in 2017.{{cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/guwahati/assam-government-effects-2-child-policy/articleshow/60740545.cms|title=Assam government effects 2-child policy - Times of India|website=The Times of India |date=20 September 2017 |access-date=7 February 2018|archive-date=5 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180605020140/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/guwahati/assam-government-effects-2-child-policy/articleshow/60740545.cms|url-status=live}} Some states have repealed policies; Chhattisgarh introduced a policy in 2001{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/07/world/states-in-india-take-new-steps-to-limit-births.html|title=States in India Take New Steps To Limit Births|date=7 November 2003|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=7 February 2018|last1=Waldman|first1=Amy|archive-date=12 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180212203050/http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/07/world/states-in-india-take-new-steps-to-limit-births.html|url-status=live}} and repealed it in 2005.{{cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/twochild-norm-for-local-bodies-hurts-sex-ratio/article6388785.ece|title=2-child norm for local bodies hurts sex ratio|date=7 September 2014|access-date=7 February 2018|newspaper=The Hindu|last1=s|first1=Rukmini|archive-date=12 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180212084756/http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/twochild-norm-for-local-bodies-hurts-sex-ratio/article6388785.ece|url-status=live}}

A criticism of these policies is that it decreases the number of women in government positions, and encourages sex-selective abortions.{{cite journal|jstor=4416748|title=Law of Two-Child Norm in Panchayats: Implications, Consequences and Experiences|first=Nirmala|last=Buch|date=June 2005|journal=Economic and Political Weekly|volume=40|issue=24|pages=2421–2429}}

The policy was geared mainly towards politicians, future and aspiring, to limit their number of children to two or less.{{Cite news|url=https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/051415/indias-twochild-policy.asp|title=India's Two-Child Policy|last=Page|first=Vanessa|date=2015-05-14|work=Investopedia|access-date=2018-04-12|archive-date=12 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180412211726/https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/051415/indias-twochild-policy.asp|url-status=live}} Those who held politicians have stricter policies in hopes that they will set an example for the community, if one were to exceed the limit of two children while employed, they would be terminated from the job. Non-politicians may also receive consequences to exceed the two child limit, the government begins to withhold health care, government rights, face jail and, fees.

{{See also|Women's health in India|l1=Women's Health in India}}

Progress on reproductive health and family planning has been limited.{{Citation needed|date=June 2018}} As of 2016, India's infant mortality rate is 34.6 per 1000 livebirths,{{Cite web|url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.IMRT.IN?view=map|title=Mortality rate, infant (per 1,000 live births) {{!}} Data|website=data.worldbank.org|language=en-us|access-date=2018-05-04|archive-date=4 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180504155633/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.IMRT.IN?view=map|url-status=live}} and as of 2015, maternal mortality sits at 174 per 100,000 livebirths.{{Cite web|url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.STA.MMRT|title=Maternal mortality ratio (modeled estimate, per 100,000 live births) {{!}} Data|website=data.worldbank.org|language=en-us|access-date=2018-05-04|archive-date=27 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180127070931/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.STA.MMRT|url-status=live}} Leading causes of maternal mortality include hemorrhage, sepsis, complications of abortion, and hypertensive disorders, and infection, premature birth, birth asphyxia, pneumonia, and diarrhea for infants.{{Cite journal|date=2011-01-22|title=Reproductive health, and child health and nutrition in India: meeting the challenge|journal=The Lancet|language=en|volume=377|issue=9762|pages=332–349|doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(10)61492-4|pmid=21227494|issn=0140-6736|pmc=3341742|last1=Paul|first1=V. K.|last2=Sachdev|first2=H. S.|last3=Mavalankar|first3=D.|last4=Ramachandran|first4=P.|last5=Sankar|first5=M. J.|last6=Bhandari|first6=N.|last7=Sreenivas|first7=V.|last8=Sundararaman|first8=T.|last9=Govil|first9=D.|last10=Osrin|first10=D.|last11=Kirkwood|first11=B.}} In 2005, the Government of India established the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) in effort to address some of these issues amongst others. The objective of the NRHM includes the provision of effective healthcare to rural areas, especially to poor and vulnerable populations.{{Cite journal|last=Hota|first=Prasanna|date=2006-03-01|title=National rural health mission|journal=The Indian Journal of Pediatrics|language=en|volume=73|issue=3|pages=193–195|doi=10.1007/BF02825478|pmid=16567909|s2cid=11290228|issn=0019-5456}} Through the NRHM, special provisions have been made to address concerns for reproductive health, especially for adolescents who are more likely to participate in risky sexual behaviors and less likely to visit health facilities than adults.{{Cite journal|last1=Mehta|first1=Bharti|last2=Kaur|first2=Amandeep|last3=Kumar|first3=Vijay|last4=Chawla|first4=Sumit|last5=Khatri|first5=Sneh|last6=Malik|first6=Manisha|date=2015-12-27|title=Adolescent Reproductive and Sexual Health in India: The Need to Focus|url=http://www.jymr.in/index.php/jymr/article/view/11|journal=Journal of Young Medical Researchers|language=en|volume=1|issue=1|access-date=4 May 2018|archive-date=4 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180504161603/http://www.jymr.in/index.php/jymr/article/view/11|url-status=live}} Ultimately, the NRHM aims to push India towards the Millennium Development Goal targets for reproductive health.

Raghunath Dhondo Karve published a Marathi-language magazine Samaj Swasthya (समाज स्वास्थ्य) starting from July 1927 until 1953. In it, he continually discussed issues of society's well-being involving population control through use of contraceptives. He explained the use of contraception would help prevent unwanted pregnancies and induced abortions. Karve proposed that the Indian Government should take up a population control programme, but was met with opposition. Mahatma Gandhi was the main opponent of birth control. His opposition was the result of his belief that self-control is the best contraceptive. However, Periyar's views were strikingly different from that of Gandhi. He saw birth control as a means for women to control their own lives.Rao, Mohan(2004) from population control to reproductive health, Sage publications, {{ISBN|0-7619-3269-0}}

In 1952, India became the first country in the developing world to create a state-sponsored family planning program, the National Family Planning Program.{{Cite journal|last1=Visaria|first1=Leela|last2=Jejeebhoy|first2=Shireen|last3=Merrick|first3=Tom|date=1999|title=From Family Planning to Reproductive Health: Challenges Facing India|jstor=2991871|journal=International Family Planning Perspectives|volume=25|pages=S44–S49|doi=10.2307/2991871}} The program's primary objectives were to lower fertility rates and slow population growth as a means to propel economic development.{{Cite journal|last=Ledbetter|first=Rosanna|date=1984|title=Thirty Years of Family Planning in India|jstor=2644186|journal=Asian Survey|volume=24|issue=7|pages=736–758|doi=10.2307/2644186|pmid=11616645}} The program was based on five guiding principles:

1. "The community must be prepared to feel the need for the services in order that, when provided, these may be accepted
2. Parents alone must decide the number of children they want and their obligations towards them
3. People should be approached through the media they respect and their recognized and trusted leaders and without offending their religious and moral values and susceptibilities
4. Services should be made available to the people as near to their doorsteps as possible
5. Services have greater relevance and effectiveness if made an integral part of medical and public health services and especially of maternal and child health programs"{{Cite journal|last=Banerji|first=D.|date=1974|title=Family Planning in India: The Outlook for 2000 AD|jstor=4364205|journal=Economic and Political Weekly|volume=9|issue=48|pages=1984–1989}}

The program was tied to a series of five year plans (based on the objective of the Gadgil formula which evolved in 1969) aimed at economic growth and restructuring which were carried out over 28 years, from 1952 to 1979. Over the course of this period, preferred birth control methods shifted from the rhythm method eventually to a focus on sterilization and IUDs.

Since the beginning, India's family planning program was marred by a "vertical approach" rather than working on additional factors. These factors affecting population growth include poverty, education, public health care. Owing to the foreign aid flowing in for the family planning programs, there has always been a foreign intervention in designing the family planning programs in India without assessing the actual socio-economic conditions of the country. In the early 1970s, Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister of India, had implemented a forced sterilisation programme, but failed. Officially, men with two children or more had to submit to sterilisation, but many unmarried young men, political opponents and ignorant, poor men were also believed to have been sterilised. This program is still remembered and criticised in India, and is blamed for creating a public aversion to family planning, which hampered Government programs for decades.{{cite web|url=http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/southasia/History/Independent/Indira.html|title=Manas: History and Politics, Indira Gandhi|publisher=Sscnet.ucla.edu|access-date=2012-08-03|archive-date=29 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160729163515/http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/southasia/History/Independent/Indira.html|url-status=dead}} After Emergency the focus of family planning program shifted to women as sterilising men proved to be politically expensive.

Over the course of the program, family planning in India resulted in a 19.9% decrease in birth rate where it has since stagnated at 35 births per 1000 persons. By 1996, the program had been estimated to have averted 16.8 crore births.{{Citation|title=Reproductive Health in India|date=1996|quote=... The National Family Welfare Programme, established in India during the late 1950s, has averted about 168 million births since its inception ...|author=B.N. Saxena|journal=Advances in Contraception|volume=12|issue=4|pages=265–270|doi=10.1007/BF01849328|pmid=9048992|s2cid=26416664}} This is due in part to government intervention which established many clinics as well as the enforcement of fines for those who avoided family planning. Additionally, there was high variance between regions in the use of family planning.{{Cite journal|last=Mo|first=H. F.|date=September 1986|title=[Family planning in India]|journal=Ren Kou Yan Jiu = Renkou Yanjiu|issue=5|pages=51–54|issn=1000-6087|pmid=12315380}} However, maternal and infant morbidity and mortality rates remain high along with the number of unsafe abortions, and little is known about the prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases.{{Cite journal|last=Saxena|first=B. N.|date=1996-12-01|title=Reproductive health in India|journal=Advances in Contraception|language=en|volume=12|issue=4|pages=265–270|doi=10.1007/BF01849328|pmid=9048992|s2cid=26416664|issn=0267-4874}}

• List of states and union territories of India by fertility rate
• Total fertility rate
• One-child policy in China
• Birth control
• Human population planning
• Population Control Bill, 2019

{{Reflist|30em}}

• Mandani, Mahmood (1972). The Myth of Population Control: Family, Caste, and Class in an Indian Village, in series, Modern Reader. First Modern Reader Pbk. ed. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1973, cop. 1972. 173 p. SBN 85345-284-9

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Category:Health programmes in India

Category:Demographics of India

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Category:Women's rights in India