Women and the politics of population and development in India
Ravindran, T.K.S.
Reproductive Health Matters 1: 26-38
1993
ISSN/ISBN: 0968-8080 DOI: 10.1016/0968-8080(93)90059-3Document Number: 279889
The paper questions the validity of two common assumptions in India: that population growth in India has nullified much of the efforts of development, and is one of the key factors precipitating the current economic crisis; and, the most effective policy option available to the state to deal with the alarming rate of population growth is intensification of state-sponsored population reduction measures, viz family planning programmes backed up by a package of incentives and disincentives. The paper then analyses the Indian government's current policies from the point of view of their effect on Indian women. It shows that these policies, which in theory are meant to support development and solve the country's economic problems, in practice do not. Further, it shows why these policies have failed women in the past and will continue to fail them in the future. Finally, it puts forward alternatives for population and development policy and family planning services, as an integrated programme that would meet women's needs and achieve the government's stated aims at the same time.
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