ABSTRACT
In 1952, India was the first country in the world to launch a national programme, emphasizing family planning to the extent necessary for reducing birth rates “to stabilize the population at a level consistent with the requirement of national economy”. After 1952, sharp declines in death rates were, however, not accompanied by a similar drop in birth rates. India’s annual increase in population of 15.5 million is large enough to neutralize efforts to conserve the resource endowment and environment. The complex socio-cultural determinants of women’s health and nutrition have cumulative effects over a lifetime. Discriminatory childcare leads to malnutrition and impaired physical development of the girl child. The Planning Commission will have a Coordination Cell for inter-sectoral coordination between Ministries for enhancing performance, particularly in States/UTs needing special attention on account of adverse demographic and human development indicators.
