National Population Policy

1. NATIONAL
POPULATION POLICY
Ms Alisha Talwar

2. “The greatest threat to human existence
is our own lack of ability to control our
own growth”

3. Introduction
• Man’s foremost challenge today is to achieve a world-wide
reduction in population growth.
• Asia is the biggest contributor to the increase in world’s
population
• In absolute growth of population in Asian countries, India
tops the list.

4. Contd…
• Today, India is the home to over 1 billion people.
• India after China, being the second most populous country
of the world supports 17.5 per cent of world’s total
population and has only 2.4 per cent of the total landmass
of the world.

6. Contd..
• The projections based on the present estimates suggest
that at this rate India’s population will surpass China in
2050 with population of 1600 million.
• About a third of India’s population is under 14, which
makes it one of the youngest countries on earth.
• It is expected that India will have fertility rate of 2.1% in
2026 but this is not going to be uniform in all over the
country.
• Today India is facing both quantitative and qualitative
problems.

8. Population
• The total number of inhabitants constituting a particular
race, class, or group in a specified area.

9. Policy
• Policy is defined as a set of objectives along with the
measures and means to achieve them.
• A policy is a deliberate system of principles to guide
decisions and achieve rational outcomes
• Public policy defined as the affirmation of the extent and
scope of governmental intervention in societal affairs.

10. • Measures formulated by a range of social
institutions including Government which may
influence the size, distribution or composition of
human population (Driver & Demeny,1972).
• A deliberate effort by a national government to
influence the demographic variables like fertility,
mortality and migration (Organski & Organski,1961)
Population Policy

11. Population Policy
• A population policy statement should specify the size, the
sex composition, the age structure, or regional distribution
or a combination of them, which aims to influence and the
extent to which it wants to do so and its rationale.
• It should also state the measures through which it seeks to
achieve.

12. Meaning of Population Policy
• Population policy may include all interventions undertaken
by governments to influence demographic variables, either
directly or indirectly, in order to modify population problem.

13. Definition of Population Policy
• Prof. B. Berelson believes that a population policy is all that
government attempts, which are done to change the
demographic events, or which census a real change in them.
• There are three specific features of this definition:
I. It is related to all the small and big action including laws,
bylaws, acts and ordinances taken by government.
II. It is related with the cause and effects
III. It studies all the classes, groups, social and religious, ethics,
etc.

14. Types of Population Policy
• Pro-natalist or expansive
• Anti-natalist or restrictive

15. Objectives of a Population Policy
• How far population policy has been successful in achieving
the goals?
• It is important to know the aims of a population policy.
• Economic aim
• Political aim
• Ecological Environmental aim
• Sociological aim

16. Means of Population Policy
• The aims of policy can be achieved with appropriate means.
• There can be five ways in which one can obtain best results
from a population policy
• Spread of Information and Education
• Extension of Voluntary Programmes
• Change in Social Institution
• Manipulation of Incentives and Disincentives
• Imposition of coercion

17. Need for population policy in
India
• On 11th May, 2000, India had 1.35 billion (>100 crores)
people, i.e., 16 % of the world’s population on 2.4 percent
of the globe’s land area.
• If current trends continue, India may overtake China by
2045, to become the most populous country in the world.
• Global population : ↑3 folds during this century (from 2 to
6 billion)

18. Contd…
• Population of India : ↑nearly 5 times (from 238 million to 1
billion), during the same period.
• Stabilizing population is an essential requirement for
promoting sustainable development with more equitable
distribution .

19. India’s Population Policy
• Fertility – important constituent in the population policy of
India.
• The socio- economic indicators like availability of food,
housing, education, employment opportunities, rate of
capital formation, dependency ratio, etc. put India in the
category of developing world, which is characterized by
high fertility or mortality rates.
• Like other countries of world, India has also adopted anti-
natal policies to reduce the pressure from land in future.

20. Contd…
• Soon after independence, the Government of India
appointed the Planning Commission
• The Planning Commission formulated the First Five Year
Plan.
• In that plan, a provision of Rs. 65 lakhs was made for the
family planning programme.

21. India’s anti-natal policy of
population
• For the study of India’s anti-natal policy of population would
be appropriate to divide the whole period in three sections-

22. Period before Independence
• During the two world wars, India elite showed concern
about the population growth.
• In 1916, P.K. Wattal supported family planning
movement in his book, “The population problem in India”.
• The first birth control centre in Bombay was opened by
R.D. Karve in 1925.
• Ravindra Nath Tagore strongly supported the family
planning movement.

23. Contd..
The following landmarks during pre-independence period-
• In June 11, 1936, the Government of Mysore opened the
first government Birth Control Clinic in the world.
• In 1931 Madras University started instructions in methods
of birth control.
• In 1932 the Government of Madras agreed to open birth
control clinics.

24. Contd…
• In 1935, the Indian National Congress set up a National
Planning Committee under the Chairmanship of
Jawaharlal Nehru.
• This committee emphasized the need of birth control
measures.
• It suggested raising of the marriage age, sterilization of
insane and diseased persons, maintenance of vital statistics
and periodic demographic surveys.

25. Contd…
• In 1940, the society for the study and promotion of family
hygiene changed its name to the family planning
society.
• In 1945, the Government of India set up the Health
Survey and Development Committee under the
chairmanship of Sir Joseph Bhore. This committee
recommended birth control services for the promotion of
the health of the mothers.

26. Contd..
• An important influence in population control during this
period was the support of M.K. Gandhi to his movement.
• He declared, “There can be two opinions about the
necessity of birth control. But the only method handed
down from ages passed is self- control or Brahmacharya”

27. Population Policy after
Independence
• The whole period after the independence can be divided in
three parts:
(i) Pre-Emergency (1951-1975)
(ii) Emergency Period (1975-77)
(iii) Post-Emergency Period (after 1977)

28. Pre Emergency Period (1951-75)
First Five Year Plan (1951-1956)
• The Draft Outline published in July 1951.
• To know the reasons of faster growth rate of population.
• Making the hospitals as advisory centers for family
planning.
• The allotment of fund for meeting the above goals was of
an extent of Rs. 65 lakhs.

29. Second Five Year Plan (1956-61)
Following major targets for this plan:
• Expansion of family planning consultancy and advisory
service.
• Expansion of sex education, population education and other
matters related to marriage and rearing and bearing of
child.
• For achieving the above target a total outlay of Rs. 5 crores
was fixed for the whole plan period.

30. Third Five Year Plan (1961-66)
• The wider expansion of education on family planning.
• Co-ordination of family planning programmes with the
general services of public health.
• Inclusion of family planning curricula in the medical colleges
and other institutions teaching.
• This plan made a provision of Rs. 27 crores which may go
to Rs. 50 crores, out of which only Rs. 25.5 crores were
spent.

31. Fourth Five Year Plan (1969-74)
• At this time Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister.
• The Indira Gandhi government nationalized 14 major Indian
banks and the green revolution in India.
• The situation in East Pakistan was becoming dire as the
Indo Pakistan war of 1971 and Bangladesh liberation was
took funds earmarked for industrial development had to be
diverted for this effort.
• The target growth rate was 5.6%, but the actual growth
rate was 3.3%.

32. Fifth Five Year Plan (1974-79)
• The fifth five year plan laid stress on employment, poverty
alleviation and justice.
• The plan also focused oneself- reliance in agricultural
production and defence.
• The target growth rate was 4.4% and the actual growth
rate was 5.0%.

33. Population Policy in Emergency
Period (1975-77)
• The declaration of National Population Policy (1976),
the compulsion for acceptance of family planning.
• It also suggested for raising the marriage age of girls and
boys from 15 and 18 years to 18 and 21 years. The
violation of the law to raise the age at marriage was treated
as cognizable offence.

34. Contd..
• The states were free to frame their own legislation for
compulsory sterilization applicable to all Indian citizens
resident in the state, irrespective of caste or community.
Maharashtra took the head in framing an act known as
Maharashtra Family (Restriction on size) Act, 1975,
which was not accepted by central government.
• Population education for the younger generation was taken
as long-term programme in this policy.

35. Post-Emergency Period Policy
Beyond March, 1977
• The Janata Government announced that coercion would not
be used to implement the family planning programme
which was now renamed as the family welfare
programme.
• All the rules and regulations with element of compulsion
were dropped.
• Sterilisation now referred as Voluntary Sterilisation.

36. Contd…
• The government accepted many of the measures included
in the National Population Policy announced by the previous
government, such as
• Raising of the age of marriage,
• Integration of services for MCH with the family planning
programme,
• Popularization of family welfare programme etc.

37. Family Welfare
• The family welfare programme in India aims to provide
family planning services within broader context of maternal
and child health care.
• It disseminates information and education to enable
couples to make voluntary and informed choices regarding
the size of the family and spacing through contraception.

38. Maternal and Child Health Care
Programmes
• The Family Health Policy 1983 in context of the global
objectives of “Health for all by 2000‟ has set the following
normative goals relative to maternal and child health care:
(a) Reduction in infant mortality to less than 60 per thousand
live births
(b) Reduction in maternal mortality to below 200 per one
lakh live births
(c) Reduction in child mortality (0-4) to less than 10 per
thousand population.

39. Contd….
• The following specific programmes have been under
implementation as cent percent centrally sponsored
schemes:
• Universal Immunization Programme (Under Implementation
since 1985-86).
• Oral Rehydration Theraphy (ORT) Programme (under
Implementation since 1986-87).
• Prophylaxis Schemes (Under implementation since 4th plan
period)

40. Sixth Five Year Plan (1980-1985)
• Focus – Increase in national income, modernization of
technology, ensuring continuous decrease in poverty and
unemployment, population control through family
planning etc.
• Target growth was 5.2% and actual growth was 5.66%.
The progress in child health and maternity care has been
very poor in the sixth plan.
• Thus, there is greater need for protecting the mother as
well as child to raise the surviving rate

41. Seventh Five Year Plan (1985-90)
• Focus – Rapid growth in food grains production, increased
employment opportunities and productivity within the framework
of basic tenants of planning.
• The plan was very successful, the economy recorded 6% growth
rate against the targeted 5%.
• Strategy and Programmes – It was also decided that the
programmes related to sterilization etc. should continue
with greater momentum.
• It was also emphasized that child survival rate should be
increased to achieve the standard family of two children.

42. Eighty Five Year Plan (1992-97)
The salient features of this are:
• A general national consensus for family planning
programme is to be constructed with the active voluntary
participation of every community.
• The quality of services and facilities of family planning
programme should be improved. It should be made more
universal.
• New contraceptives of good quality be developed.

43. Population Policy during Ninth
Five Year Plan
• Target growth: 6.5%. Actual Growth: 5.35%.
• Three important ingredients, which mainly contribute in
population growth, has been recognized as:
I. Population lying in the age-group (15-45 years) determines
the growth of population in a country upto 60%.
II. The lack of supply of contraceptives is also contributing in
population growth upto 20%.
III. High birth rate is because of high infant mortality rate. The
contribution of high infant mortality rate in population growth
is about 20%.

44. Tenth Five Year Plan (2002-2007)
Goals:
• To achieve 8% GDP growth rate.
• Universal access to primary education by 2007.
• Reduction in gender gaps in literacy and wage rates by
atleast 50% by 2007.
• Reducing in decadal rate of population growth between
2001 and 2011 to 16.2%.

45. Contd…
• Increase in literacy rate to 72% within the plan period and
to 80% by 2012.
• Reducing of infant mortality rate to 45 per 1000 live births
by 2007 and to 28 by 2012.

46. Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-
2012)
Goals:
• Accelerate GDP Growth from 7% to 10%. Increase
agricultural GDP growth rate to 4% per year.
• Reduce dropout rates of children from elementary school
from 52.2% in 2003-04 to 20% by 2011-12.
• Reduce infant mortality rate to 28 and maternal mortality
ratio to 1 per 1000 live births.
• Raise the sex ratio for age group 0-6 to 935 by 2011-12
and to 950 by 2016-17.

47. Twelfth Five Year Plan (2012-
2017)
• National Development Council (NDC) on 27 December, 2012
approved 8% growth rate for 12th Five Year Plan.
• The government intends to reduce poverty by 10%.
• Mr. Ahluwalia Deputy Chairman of the Planning
Commission said, “We aim to reduce poverty estimates by
9 per cent annually on a sustainable basis during the plan
period.

48. National Population Policy
• The National Health Policy of 1983 emphasized the need for
“securing the small family norms, through voluntary efforts
and moving towards the goal of population stabilization.”
• Parliament emphasized the need for a separate National
Population Policy.
• The National Development Council had appointed committee
endorsed by the National Development Council in 1993
recommended “a national policy on population should be
formulated by the government and adopted by the Parliament.”

49. Contd..
• India was the first country in the world to have a National
Family Planning Programme in 1951.
• The main effort of the government has to provide services
• To encourage the citizens by information, education and
communication
• To use such services, the guiding objectives of the family
welfare programme of the country has remained to stablise
population at a level consistent with the needs of the
national development.

50. Demographic achievements of India
before NPP-2000
• Reduced Crude Birth Rate from 40.8 (1951) to 26.4
(1998,SRS)
• Halved the Infant Mortality Rate from 146 per 1000 live
births (1951) to 72 per 1000 live births (1998, SRS)
• Quadrupled the Couple Protection Rate from 10.4 percent
(1971) to 44 percent (1999)

51. Contd..
• Reduced Crude Death Rate from 25 (1951) to 9.0 (1998,
SRS)
• Added 25 years to life-expectancy from 37 years to 62
years
• Achieved nearly universal awareness of the need for and
methods of family planning
• Reduced Total Fertility Rate from 6.0 (1951) to 3.3 (1997,
SRS)

52. National Population Policy-2000
• In February 2000, the government of India came up with
the New National Policy on Population.
• For the first time since independence, this document
comprehensively addressed the problem of population
growth in integration with issues such as child survival,
maternal health, women empowerment and contraception.

53. Objectives of NPP-2000
• Temporary objective: The easy supply of birth control
devices was included in it. Besides, the development of
health protection framework and recruitment of health
workers were also made a part of it.
• Middle-term objective: the total fertility rate (TFR)
had to bring down to the replacement level of 2.1 by
2010.
• Long-term objective: Under it, the Objective of
population stabilization by 2045 is to be achieved.

54. NPP has listed the following goals
for 2010:
• Address the unmet needs for basic reproductive and child
health services, supplies, and infrastructure.
• Make school education up to age 14 free and compulsory,
and reduce dropouts at the primary and secondary school
levels to below 20 per cent for both boys and girls.
• Reduce the infant mortality rate to below 30 per 1,000 live
births.

55. Contd..
• Reduce the maternal mortality ratio to below 100 per
100,000 live births.
• Achieve universal immunization of children against all
vaccine preventable diseases;
• Promote delayed marriage for girls, not earlier than age 18
and preferably after 20 years of age;
• Achieve 80 per cent institutional deliveries and 100 per cent
deliveries by trained persons;

56. Contd….
• Achieve universal access to information/counseling, and
services for fertility regulation and contraception with a
wide basket of choices
• Achieve 100 per cent registration of births, deaths,
marriages, and pregnancy
• Contain the spread of the Acquired Immuno-deficiency
Syndrome (AIDS) and promote greater integration
between the management of reproductive tract infections
(RTIs) and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and the
National AIDS Control Organization

57. Contd….
• Prevent and control communicable diseases;
• Integrate Indian Systems of Medicine (ISM) in the
provision of reproductive and child health services,
and in reaching out to households; and
• Promote vigorously the small family norm to achieve
replacement levels of TFR.
• Bring about convergence in implementation of related
social-sector programmes so that family welfare
becomes a people-centered programme.

58. Strategic Themes
In order to achieve the national socio-demographic goals for
2010, the following 12 strategies themes have also been
identified-
• Decentralized planning and program implementation
• Convergence of service delivery at village levels
• Empowering women for improved health and nutrition
• Child survival and child health

59. Contd….
• Meeting the unmet needs for family welfare services
• Under served population groups like urban slums, tribal
communities, hill area population, displaced and migrant
populations and adolescents with increased participation of
men in planned parenthood.
• Diverse health care providers
• Collaboration with and commitments from non government
organizations and the private sector.

60. Contd…
• Mainstreaming Indian Systems of Medicine and
Homeopathy
• Contraceptive Technology and research on reproductive and
child health
• Providing for the older population
• Information, Education and Communication

61. Organizational Structure
1. The appointment of a National Commission on
Population to be presided over by the Prime Minister. The
chief ministers of all States and related ministers will be its
members.
2. There will be a State Commission on Population in every
State headed by its chief minister.
3. The new policy will be implemented by the panchayats
and municipalities at the grassroot levels.

62. Promotional & Motivational
Strategies
• Panchayats and Zila Parishads will be rewarded and
honoured for exemplary performance in universalising
small family norm, achieving reduction in IM & BR.
• Balilka Samridhi Yojana provides cash incentive of
Rs.500 at the birth of the girl child of BR1 or 2.

63. Contd..
• Maternity Benefit Scheme provides cash incentive of Rs.
500 to mothers who have their first child after 19 years of
age, for BR 1 and 2 child only.
• A Family Welfare linked Health Insurance plan – Rs. 5000
(for hospitalisation).
• Couples below the poverty line will be rewarded for their
active involvement in Family Planning activities.

64. Contd…
• A personal accident insurance cover – sterilized spouse.
• Creches and child care centers were opened in rural and
urban slums.
• A wider and affordable choice of contraceptives- at diverse
delivery point

65. Contd…
• Strengthen the facilities of safe abortion.
• Products and services – affordable through innovative
social marketing schemes.
• Soft loans to local entrepreneurship & encouraged to run
ambulance services.
• Ensures mobility of the ANMs.
• Increased vocational training schemes for girls, leading to
self-employment will be encouraged.

66. Contd….
• Strict enforcement of the Child Marriage Restraint Act,
1976.
• Strict enforcement of the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Act, 1994.
• Reward for BPL couples for:
 For marriage after the legal age of marriage
 Register the marriage
 First child after the mother reaches the age of 21
 Accept the small family norm
 Adopt a terminal method after the birth of 2nd child.

67. Legislation
• The 42nd Constitutional amendment: Lok Sabha and Rajya
Sabha seats are frozen on the basis of 1971 census were
valid up to 2001 that is further extended till 2026.
• 79th Amendment Bill of 1992 disqualify a person for being a
member of either house of legislature of a state, if he/she
has more than 2 children.

68. Public support
Strong support of political, community, business,
professional, religious leaders, media, film stars, sports
personalities, and opinion makers has been sought for
small family norms.

69. Funding
• National Population Policy expressed that the programme,
projects and schemes promised on the goals and objectives
of the policy 2000 will be adequately funded.

70. Implementation
• Central Government has set up a National Commission on
Population (NCP) on 11 May 2000.
• It is presided over by the Prime Minister, with the Chief
Ministers of all States and UTs and the Central Minister, in-
charge of concerned Central Ministries and Departments,
reputed demographers, public health professionals and
non-government organisations as members.

71. Functions of Commission
(i) To review, monitor and give direction for the implementation
of the NPP with a view to achieve the goals.
(ii) To promote synergy between health, educational,
environmental and developmental programmes so as to
hasten population stabilisation
(iii) To promote inter-sectoral coordination in planning and
implementation of the programmes through different agencies
at the Centre and in the States
(iv) To develop a vigorous people’s programme to support this
national effort.

72. 2 steps
• The formation of an Empowered Action Group within the
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to focus on
those States which are deficient in national socio-
demographic indices.
• Establishment of National Population Stabilisation
Fund (NPSF) with a seed money of Rs. 100 crore to
provide a window for channelising funds from national
voluntary sources.

73. Progress in the Milestones of NPP
• Bhore Committee Report in 1946.
• Implementation of Family Planning Programme in 1952.
• National Population Policy Statement in 1976.
• Policy Statement of Family welfare Programme in 1977.
• National Health Policy was adopted in 1983,
• Committee on Population under the Chairmanship of Shri
Karunakaran was appointed by the National Development
Council in 1991.

74. Progress in the Milestones of NPP
• Draft was prepared for National Population Policy in 1993
headed by Dr MS Swaminathan.
• Approval of this draft was done in 1997
• Another draft of NPP was finalisd after more round of
consultation during 1998, placed before cabinet in 1999.
• Chairman appointed a group of ministers headed by deputy
chairman of planning commission for expert opinions and
suggestions
• Fresh draft was prepared with suggestions placed before cabinet
and approved as NPP-2000

76. Conclusion
• Need for population stabilization,
• Spread of literacy and education, increasing availability
of affordable reproductive and child health services,
convergence of service delivery at village levels,
participation of women in the paid work force, together
with a steady, equitable improvement in family incomes,
will facilitate early achievement of the socio-
demographic goals.
• Success will be achieved if the Action Plan contained in
the NPP 2000 is pursued as a national movement.

77. References
• https://mohfw.gov.in/sites/default/files/26953755641410949469
%20%281%29.pdf
• http://www.prsindia.org/theprsblog/?tag=national-population-
policy
• http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=133018
• https://www.india.gov.in/national-population-policy
• http://www.sociologydiscussion.com/population/national-
population-policy-npp-india/3192
• https://www.jagranjosh.com/general-knowledge/population-
policies-of-india-1448689756-1

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80. “By improving health, empowering women,
population growth comes down.”
-Bill Gates