ABSTRACT
This chapter evaluates each country's family planning policies, and certain development impacts on population dynamics. Selected demographic variables are compared through time with development indicators and the respective family planning policies adopted. The demographic transitions of China and India have typically been widely noted demographic transition model. India has undergone a substantial fertility transition also, though not as abrupt as that of China. Contraceptive use in India varies widely in terms of acceptance, method, and promotion, though sterilization is widely practiced as a birth control measure. Indian central government officials have long recognized a problem of matching a large and growing population to limited resources. Most population planning efforts, like other development planning efforts in India, have been made largely in the context of the federal government’s Five-Year Plans. Population planning in India has been characterized, with the one notable exception of the Emergency Period, by policies that encourage voluntary population controls, as opposed to coercive measures.
