India urged to replace population-control policies with informed choice and equity

The Population Foundation of India, referencing the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister’s report “The Ghost of Population Past,” urged the government to discard outdated population-control terminology and adopt a framework centred on informed choice and equity. With the national total fertility rate now at 1.9, below replacement, the foundation highlights stark regional disparities, where some states face very low fertility and ageing while others retain younger demographics.

It stresses that family planning must be framed as reproductive autonomy and birth-spacing, not a tool for reducing numbers, and calls for a broader contraceptive mix beyond one outlet dominance of female sterilisation. Recommendations include ending incentive payments tied to sterilisation, strengthening and regularising ASHA workers, and revising programmes such as Mission Parivar Vikas to reflect new demographic realities. The organization warns against both a resurgence of population-panic policies and pronatalist pressure, advocating a rights-based, people-centred approach.