India's Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) has called for a significant shift in the nation's population policy, urging states to dismantle old population control rules and discontinue sterilization-linked incentives. This recommendation comes as India's annual births in 2023 plummeted to approximately 23.2 million, a level not seen since 1974.
The council's working paper, titled 'The Ghost of Population Past: How Population Control Persists in India,' highlights that India's national total fertility rate (TFR) has dropped to 1.9, falling well below the replacement fertility level. This demographic reality necessitates a re-evaluation of policies that were designed for a different era of population growth.
Key Policy Recommendations from EAC-PM
The EAC-PM's paper, authored by member Sanjeev Sanyal along with Aakanksha Arora and Virat Singh, outlines several crucial changes:
- End Sterilization Incentives: The council advises stopping all direct benefit transfer payments, including acceptor payments, wage-loss compensations, and enhanced incentives linked to sterilizations. It argues there's no economic justification for these in states already below replacement fertility.
- Repeal Two-Child Norms: The paper recommends discontinuing two-child norm disqualifications across all states, which often impact eligibility for government jobs or local elections.
- Adjust Family Planning Programs: Programs like Mission Parivar Vikas should adapt their scope to align with the changed demographic landscape in states that have achieved or fallen below replacement fertility.
- Revise Policy Language: All language promoting fertility reduction, population control, or 'stabilization' should be removed from national and state policy frameworks. The focus should shift from control to health, child spacing, and personal preference in family planning.
A Changing Demographic Landscape
The report emphasizes that excluding Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, India's fertility rate stands at 1.6, comparable to Northern Europe and the United States. Many demographically mature southern states, including Andhra Pradesh (1.4), Telangana (1.5), Karnataka (1.5), Kerala (1.3), and Tamil Nadu (1.3), along with several others like West Bengal (1.3) and Maharashtra (1.4), have maintained below-replacement fertility for over two decades.
The EAC-PM warns against the risk of a low-fertility trap, stating there is no need to further suppress the total fertility rate. The council clarifies that while it supports family planning for health and spacing reasons, population control as a state policy objective is no longer relevant given India's new demographic reality. The persistence of older policies is attributed to bureaucratic inertia and cultural indoctrination.