"Development Is The Best Contraceptive"

...so said Dr. Karan Singh in the first ever World Population Conference in 1974. India today has a population of close to 1.1 billion and it is increasing everyday. Though the rate at which it is growing has slowed down,it still remains one of the fastest growing populations of the world. But these days, you don't see much talk of population control. I still remember public campaigns on Doordarshan that would urge people to use birth control pills( Mala D) and Copper T(which still remains the most popular medium of birth control amongst Chinese women).

Well, at least two things have happened that has changed the perspective about population control.First, after Karan Singh gave his speech at the conference in 1974, his prime minister decided to do the exact opposite. India's prime minister, Indira Gandhi unleashed her son to enforce the most draconian measures the world has ever seen to control population. Males of fertile age were forced to undergo vasectomy!!
Though these measures did slow down the population, what has truly brought change is the development which India has seen since early 90s. Both income and education levels have gone up and people understand the need to devote their resources on 2 kids rather than 5. Another subtle change that has happened is that the population has suddenly become more of a resource rather than the burden for modern Indian economy. Because of this vast pool of humanity, India, despite rising wages in a lot of sectors, can sustain its cost advantage for a lot of time.

So as such, I believe that as income levels increase, we need not implement any extra measures of population control. What is needed is better approach towards enabling this population so that it can participate in the market economy. More than anything else, India requires massive and efficient investment into primary education and basic health care. The opportunity is big. This young population can become the biggest resource. It can also become the biggest deterrent if does not find the opportunity to participate in the wealth that is being generated.Already there are regions in India where this young population is creating havoc because they are not skilled enough to participate in the new economy.