A population policy is one which seeks to influence various demographic variables, such as rate and pattern of growth, birth rate, mortality rate and more. Population was identified as a strategic component of the development plan in independent India. This led to the introduction of National Family Planning Programme in 1952 which was mainly aimed at controlling the rate of growth of population through the means of birth control methods.

During the National Emergency, efforts to control population intensified. Unfortunately, coercive methods, such as forcible mass sterilization, were used which caused resentment amongst the people towards the population policy.
Subsequently the programme was renamed as National Family Welfare Program, wherein the focus shifted to controlling population through welfare of the people. The coercive methods to control population were dropped and broad-based sociodemographic objectives were adopted instead.

A new Set of guidelines were formulated as part of the National Population Policy, 2000. It set forth targets to be achieved by 2010, which were holistic in nature, covering wide areas which impacted public health and pattern of population change.
The overall performance has been less than satisfactory, both in terms of implementation and achieving targets. The focus areas, initially, were too narrow, such as population control by contraception and sterilization. Rather, the focus should have been on socio-economic factors which cause high rate of population growth. The targets of NPP, 2000 remain unachieved even in 2015.
That being said, there have been many significant achievements in the fifty years since the formation of the first policy. There have been reductions in the Crude Birth Rate, Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) and a vast improvement in the life expectancy. The population has stabilized as the Total Fertility Rate reduced to below 3, but it has taken too long to achieve.Over the decades, the population policy has undergone transformation in terms of policy and actual programme implementation and currently being repositioned to not only achieve population stabilization goals but also promote reproductive health and reduce maternal, infant & child mortality and morbidity.

Recent steps such as National Rural Health Mission, will certainly improve our performance in achieving the targets. India should take inspiration from neighbors like Sri Lanka with better record on population parameters.

India was the first country to launch a national programme on population in 1952. In fact India’s quest for population stabilization began in 1951 with the formulation of the first five year plan. Yet more than 60 years goals remain elusive. In India, there has not been an effective institutionalized mechanism to reduce birth rate. On the other hand, efforts to bring down the death rate have been quite successful. Improvement in conditions of health and hygiene has lowered the death rate. The family planning movement gains national importance in such a situation of imbalance development and population growth. Hence, the government for the first time formulated a policy( effort to regulate economic and social conditions which are likely to have demographic consequences) in 1976, with an aim to decrease birth rate, legalize abortion, check the concentration of population, giving incentives and disincentives. But it boomeranged because of its coerciveness, overzealous attitude and compulsory sterilization. Further, the government with a revived approach to fight the menace of population growth introduced the national population policy in 2000. It aimed at achieving the objective of stable population by 2045, at a level consistent with the requirement of sustainable economic growth, social development and
environmental protection. Its objective was to address the needs for contraception, healthcare, infrastructure and health personnel and to provide integrated service delivery for basic reproductive and child health care. The policy had set goals for 2010 with respect to IMR, MMR, TFR, institutional deliveries etc. but it failed to achieve these targets.

The reasons for the failure were lack of political will, lack of responsive policy, lack of awareness, cultural inertia etc. hence government came up with the revised population policy in 2010.
The aim of the national policy was to impress upon the people the need for small, planned families for their own good as well as for the wellbeing of their children. The 20 point programme envisages family planning on voluntary basis as a people’s movement. What is needed to inculcate awareness among the people through the media and oral communication about the significance of the small family norm. Female literacy and education can play a decisive role in bringing down the rate of population growth.

The following suggestions have been put forward to curb population growth:

• Group acceptance of small sized family.                                                                                                                                                                    
• Personal knowledge about family planning methods.
• Ready availability of birth control devices and services.

 Hence, the crux of the population policy is the reduction of the national birth rate; irrespective of social, cultural and economic milieu. Coercing people to adopt family planning methods has not worked. Volition alone, created through awakening, can be an effective measure.