India must retire population control as policy goal: EAC-PM member Sanyal
EAC-PM member Sanjeev Sanyal says population control is no longer relevant as state policy, citing a report on India's falling fertility rates.
India's family planning framework needs to be reoriented to match a rapidly changing demographic landscape, with population control no longer treated as a goal of state policy, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) member Sanjeev Sanyal has said.
Sanyal made the argument while sharing a new report titled "The Ghost of Population Past: How Population Control Persists in India," which examines how fertility has fallen across much of the country.
He noted that India's fertility rate now sits well below the replacement threshold, with some regions recording levels comparable to East Asian and European economies. Live births in the country peaked at 29 million in 2001 and have since dropped below 23 million, he said.
Population growth, he added, is now being sustained largely by rising longevity rather than by an expanding pipeline of births.
Despite this shift, Sanyal observed that population control measures continue to be embedded in government policy, including in states that are seeking to encourage larger families. He drew a parallel with China, where such policies persisted for decades even after their demographic consequences had become evident.
The report does not argue against family planning on health grounds, for birth spacing or as a matter of personal choice. Its central contention is that population control has lost relevance as an objective of state policy and that family planning must be recalibrated accordingly.
To support the case, the report points to fertility trends across several states and Union Territories. Andhra Pradesh records a Total Fertility Rate (TFR) of 1.4, as do Punjab and Maharashtra, while Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka stand at 1.5 each. Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal are at 1.3, Goa at 1.6 and Delhi at 1.2.
Drawing on data from the Sample Registration System and the National Family Health Survey, the report notes that these states have a median age of about 35 years and a combined average TFR of 1.4. It argues that they are demographically closer to ageing economies such as China, with a median age of 40, and the United States at 39, than to the national median of 30.
On why India's population continues to expand despite declining fertility, the report attributes the trend to a relatively young population, improved access to healthcare and better living standards. Falling infant mortality and longer lifespans have also contributed, it says.
The report concludes that a population explosion is no longer on the horizon and that the national TFR will decline naturally irrespective of state intervention. Further efforts to suppress fertility, it warns, risk pushing the country into a low-fertility trap sooner than necessary.