Population growth was not always a problem for India. In the beginning of the 20th century, millions of people died due to mysterious disease, then the population also decreased. Then there was concern about increasing the population. But by the middle of the 20th century, this problem became so severe that India was in a lot of discussions at the global level regarding population growth. Large countries of the world kept pressurizing India to reduce the population. In 1965, US President Lydon B Johnson refused food aid to India. He said that first this country should make a policy regarding sterilization. Only then will he be given food aid from the American side.
Srinivasan (Professor of the International Institute of Population Science)) writes that Western countries felt that the growing population of countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh and Indonesia along with India was a threat to them. In the 1970s, the then PM Indira Gandhi launched a massive campaign for population control. In 1976, the National Population Policy (NPP) was passed by the Parliament. This campaign was run under the supervision of his son Sanjay Gandhi. The measure of promotion or getting a job in government offices was kept on how much the individual contributed to the government’s sterilization program. But the plan implemented by implementing emergency and forwarding the police fell on its back.
Prajakta R Gupta writes that the people strongly opposed the plan being run for the control of the population on the basis of the poles. In UP alone, 240 such cases were registered in which violent protests took place. In Muzaffarnagar, people pelted stones on the police party. In the youth firing, 25 people lost their lives. When Indira Gandhi held elections in 1977, the Congress got wiped out. However, the other side of the picture is that no other country could achieve the goal of sterilization, sterilization achieved by India during the Emergency. Altogether 82.6 lakh people were sterilized.
Srinivasan writes that the saying was common at that time that forced sterilization brought down the government rather than the population. After the elections, the second government was formed and then instead of emphasis, family planning was planned with consent. Dyson writes that if Indira Gandhi had won the election, it would have been interesting to see whether she would again adopt the same forced method regarding family planning. The second government made a plan for family planning through incentives. A working group was formed in 1979. After that, the states also started making programs for population control on behalf of the Center. The UP Law Commission, in a resolution in July 2021, also suggested that people with more than two children should be barred from contesting local elections and deprived of promotion and subsidy.
An expert writes that the sterilization and sterilization plan made during the Emergency was not in the interest of India. However, in the subsequent period, the governments consistently showed seriousness in this direction and made people aware and appealed for family planning. But despite this the population of India kept increasing. A UN report in 2019 clearly shows how dire the situation is. The UN believes that with this pace, India will overtake China in terms of the largest population by 2027. India will remain the most populous country in the 21st century.
Srinivasan says that the targets set under NPP 2000 are almost on the verge of being fulfilled. The rate of child birth is coming down almost everywhere. Talking about Tamil Nadu, the population will start coming down there by 2031 while Kerala will achieve this target soon after that. He believes that now the situation is not like the 1970s. Then the population of India had increased from 43.92 crores to 54.82 crores. This increase took place from 10961 to 1971. In the present era, people are emphasizing on producing less children by understanding the importance of small family.
He believes that despite the increase in population, India does not need to make a policy regarding population control. If such a policy is made at present, then it will not suit a particular community. At present the rate of child birth is two. No Indian family is willing to have more than two children. He says that population is currently a win-win deal for India, because the shortage of labor in one place is removed by the people of other states. They believe that in order to control the population, Margaret Sanger’s statement that the couple should have children of their own will and not by any chance.