[This article contains content such as abortion and the killing of newborns. Please read with caution for your own physical and mental condition."]

In July 2022, the United Nations stated that India's population will reach 1.67 billion by 2050, surpassing China's population.announcementThe report was published by the United Nations in January 2011. However, Poonam Muttreja, Executive Director of the Population Foundation of India (PFI), questioned this report by the UN, saying that India's population and total fertility rate (*1) are in decline.pointing outThe government of India has made a significant contribution to the development of the country's fertility rate. In fact, according to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) conducted by the Government of India, the total fertility rate in India in 1992-1993 was 3.4, and by 2019-2021 it will be 2.0declineThe company is doing so.

India's population is currently the second largest in the world after China, but in fact India has had a long-term policy of population control. In fact, India has had a long-term policy of population control, which has often been viewed as problematic. In this article, we will discuss the history and reality of India's population control policy.

Children playing in the nursery (Photo:Overseas Development Institute / Flickr [CC BY-NC 2.0])

History of Population Control

First, let us look at the background that led to the introduction of the population control policy.

The choice to have children involves a variety of factors for each family and individual.reasonThere are In this context, prior to World War II, in countries and regions where the welfare system was not developed, welfare was carried out with the family and blood relations as the unit, and the option of having children as the bearers of welfare among blood relations is considered an investment in the future safety nettrendwere strong. For example, child generations played a role in guaranteeing the welfare of individuals in times of increased vulnerability, such as illness and old age. Furthermore, with many households living in poverty, the purpose of sharing labor and earning more income was to encourage a large number of family members tolaborwere increasingly being sought after.

India is no exception, with a high fertility rate due to the belief that having more children will lead to household stability.trendIn addition, the mortality rate of children was high due to poor sanitation, malnutrition and inadequate medical care. In addition, child mortality was high due to poor sanitation, malnutrition, and inadequate medical care, resulting in high fertility and multiple deaths.trendThe first time in the 1950s and 1960s, the mortality rate of children in the United States was in the In the postwar period, however, improved sanitation and medical advances led to a rapid decline in child mortality. The result was a shift toward high fertility and low mortality, and in many low-income countries the population explodedincreaseThe first time, the company was in a position to do so.

Focusing on India, the study found that in 1951, four years after independence from Great Britain, the population reached about 361 million, with an annual growth rate of about 1.31 TP3T during the 10-year period from 1941 to 1951.announcementThe first time this was done was in 1951. In response to these studies, the Indian government advocated the need for population control and in 1951 began the world's first family planning program (*2) Since 1951, India has had 11 five-year plans over a 60-year periodimplementationThe first decade, 1952-1961, focused on providing information and services to the public, with no specific goals, and on raising awareness of family planning programs. Thereafter, the strategy gradually became more and more mandatory.

Population growth leads to an increase in the labor force. Therefore, it is undeniable that an explosive increase in population can lead to results such as economic growth of the country and improvement of the people's standard of living. However, a population explosion in a situation where social systems and infrastructure are not fully developed will also lead to shortages of food, water, and other resources, as well as economic disparities, and for a low-income country that has just gained independence after World War II, modernizationadverse effectIt has been viewed as a the adverse effects of such a population explosion.concernIn the 1970s, a trend toward population control emerged in many countries around the world. In India, where the need for population control was increasing, specific targets were set in the plan through 1977, and forced measures were taken to achieve these targets, such as the implementation of forced sterilization.

And after 1977, it also began to adopt indirect population control policies such as health care, social development, and education. However, the 1991 census showed that India is one of the fastest growing countries in the world in terms of populationclearand the population control program continued thereafter. As a result, population growth in the decade after 1980 declined from 25.91 TP3T in 1970-1980 to 16.81 TP3T in 2000-2010.

Let us examine below what specific measures have been implemented to control the population.

forced sterilization

First, sterilization was the recommended method of contraception since 1951. Initial efforts were focused on poor women, in sync with the international trend toward birth control. By the 1960s, however, the government had already targeted family planning efforts tomasculine genderThe program began to be directed toward the following. For example, many men who live in rural areas and work in urban areas use public transportation to get around, but are sometimes caught riding without paying because they cannot afford the fare. Instead of lending heavy fines for unpaid rides, the government decided to make unpaid rides an unforgivable offense by sterilizing the rider.termsissued. It was easy to target men for sterilization because of these fines and other reasons. Also, the fact that vasectomy was a relatively safer procedure than oophorectomy and required less recovery time and follow-upreasonIt was one of the

Sterilization was particularly promoted around 1970, where there was international pressure. Indira Gandhi, the prime minister at the time, was urged by Western countries and international organizations to sterilize their citizens.Pressed.The world's population is growing at a rapid pace. Western countries and international organizations, believing that the explosive growth of the world's population would lead to resource shortages that could threaten the security of individual nations, preached the necessity of population control rather than economic development and pressured the Indian government to force sterilization and sterilization on those unwilling to undergo it in the name of support for population control programs. For example, in 1965, when India was on the verge of starvation, then U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson ordered that food aid to India be cut off unless the Indian government agreed to encourage sterilization.refusalThe World Bank has shown a willingness to do so. In addition, the World Bank provided the Government of India with US$66 million between 1972 and 1980 for sterilization operations.loanThe first of these was the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), which has provided tens of millions of US dollars. Other agencies such as the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) have also contributed tens of millions of U.S. dollars inloanand the Indian government promoted family planning programs, including the implementation of forced sterilization procedures.

USAID and Indian government meeting (Photo:U.S. Embassy New Delhi / Flickr [CC BY-ND 2.0])

In 1976, then Prime Minister Sanjay Gandhi "made sterilization the core of India's national population policy.declarationIn the 1960s, the government began to implement sterilization policies, especially in the northern provinces where the population was growing rapidly. In particular, mass sterilization camps were conducted by the provincial governments that year. Mass sterilization camps are large-scale sterilization operations conducted in vacant lots or schools. Many citizens were forcibly packed into buses and taken to these camps. As a result, during the year 1976, the government6.2 millionThe sterilization procedures were performed on men as young as sixteen years old. The targets were poor people, illiterate people, prisoners, and others, and in return for sterilization, land was offered, ostensibly to support the poor. The reality, however, was often coercive, with fines imposed on those who refused to undergo sterilization, and citizens were prevented from working in government-related jobs.coercionThe first time I saw the "new" version, I was surprised to see the "new" version.

The number of government employees, health officials, teachers, police officers, and other public officials whom the government persuades to undergo sterilization.(one's) quotaand required them to achieve them by any means possible. The quota-imposed civil servants were forced to meet their quotas because their promotions and salaries were withheld until the quotas were met. As a result, they were not allowed to renew their driver's licenses or receive free medical care at hospitals without a sterilization certificate.coercionwas underway.

With the change of government in the 1980s, the Indian government began to shift the target of its family planning policies to women. Women'ssterilization (operation)accounted for 46% of the total in 1975-1976, declined to 25% in 1976-1977, but increased to 80% in 1977-1978. Then in the 1980s it was 85%, and from 1989 to 1990 it was 91.8%, with most sterilization targets going to women. Although the government called for safe sterilization practices, there were numerous surgical failures in the attempt to meet the high quotas set by the government in a short period of time. For example, between 2009 and 2012, more than 700 deaths were attributed to surgical failures, and 356 surgical complications occurred.reportThe company has been

of these medical disasters.causeIn 2014, 13 women died in a sterilization camp, a massiveincidentoccurred. The case prompted India's Supreme Court in September 2016 to require the government to ensure that sterilization camps are abolished within three years and that state governments follow suitinstructionThe decision was made. This decision, however, is not binding to a large extent, and the fact is that sterilization camps continue to exist today.

A girl receiving birth control pills (Photo:DFID - UK Department for International Development / Flickr [CC BY-NC-ND 2.0])

Girl to be killed

In the 1970s, advances in medical technology made ultrasound examinations possible. Ultrasound examinations use high-frequency sound waves to produce images of the fetus in the mother's uterus, which can be used to determine the health or fetal orientation of the fetus and to visualize problems that may occur during pregnancy. However, around the 1990s, when ultrasound became widely used in India, the sex determination of the fetus during pregnancy began to be abused. Neonatal killing of girls and sex-selective abortions weresurgeThe first time, the company did so, it was in the process of developing a new business model.

What could have caused this behavior? First, in India, girls areeconomic burdenThis is one of the reasons why it was perceived as a good idea. In India, there is a custom that when a daughter marries, she pays a dowry, called dowry, to her marriage partner. In addition, the daughter-in-law is responsible for taking care of her in-laws and other family members at the place of marriage, and being able to take care of her own parents in their old age is considered to be arareIn many cases, this was the case. As a result, poor families came to view it as a major burden to provide for their daughters, who were unlikely to be provided with a future safety net, and to pay a large dowry to marry them off.

Second, in India, cultural beliefs in favor of boyspenetrationThe first reason was also related to the first reason. Related to the first reason, many families were more likely to prefer sons to daughters. In many cases, sons will inherit the family legacy, become the breadwinner, and take on the heavy responsibility of supporting the family in the future. In such cases, the parents' generation can feel secure in the knowledge that there is someone who will guarantee their welfare in old age. In addition, it was so desired that it became a kind of status for women to give birth to a male child, who was highly valued by society. Therefore, some women, fearing that they would be blamed by their spouses or in-laws if they became pregnant with a girl, would have an abortion every time they became pregnant with a girl and repeat the process until they gave birth to the desired number of boys in the family.femaleThere were also some In addition, with economic development, it was no longer practical for middle-class couples to build large families, as they wanted to spend their money on savings rather than raising children. As the birth rate declined accordingly, sex-selective abortion was sometimes used to fulfill the hope of having a son.

A mother leaves her child at a day care center (Photo:Overseas Development Institute / Flickr [CC BY-NC 2.0]

In response to this situation, the Indian government enacted the Prenatal Diagnostic Techniques Act in 1995 with the aim of protecting the girl child, banning abortions based on the sex of the fetus. However, enforcement of this law varied from region to region, and in many areas the sex ratio at birth has only worsened. Even today, illegal and unsafe abortions still cause daily10 peopleNearly half of all women die, and the number of illegal abortions exceeds the number of legal abortions. Why do women choose to have illegal abortions?reasonThe first is because legal abortions are performed solely at the discretion of the physician, and women do not have the right to choose whether or not they wish to have an abortion. A physician may perform a legal abortion if the pregnancy is life-threatening to the mother or the fetus, or if the woman has been the victim of sexual assault or rape, etc. The secondreasonis because they must pay for their own medical expenses, except in certain cases. In India, after the first seven weeks of pregnancy, a surgical procedure is required to abort the fetus. In such cases, the insurance company will cover part of the medical expenses only if the abortion is medically threatened to the life of the woman. In all other cases, the woman must bear the medical costs. The financial burden of the procedure causes the woman to opt for a low-cost, illegal abortion.

In Uttar Pradesh, the most populous of India's states, the cumulative number of girls missing without a death report filed between 2017 and 2030 is2 million peopleThe number of girls whose lives will be cut off by sex-selective abortion by 2030 is estimated to be about 1.5 million. And the number of girls whose lives will be ended by sex-selective abortion by 2030 is estimated to be6.8 millionIt is estimated that the number of such cases ranges up to

The Parliament Building in the capital city of New Delhi (Photo:Nimrod Bar / Flickr [CC BY-SA 2.0])

2man-child policy (of the PRC)

In July 2021, the Uttar Pradesh Law Commission encourages adherence to the norm of a maximum of two children as legislation aimed at population control is consideredbill (law)submitted to the government. To give an example of the contents of the bill, it states that those who have three or more children cannot become politicians or public officials, and those who are currently serving will be subjected to measures such as having their eligibility for promotion exempted. Furthermore, those with three or more children are barred from participating in local elections as politicians. On the other hand, those with two or fewer children are entitled to tax rebates and other preferential treatment, such as two additional salary increases during their tenure and subsidies for the purchase of land or a house in the case of government employees. In addition, those with one child receive four salary increases during their tenure, and their children's medical and educational expenses are free until they reach the age of 20.

The two-child policy.Objective.is supposed to make basic needs such as affordable food, safe drinking water, housing, access to quality education, power and electricity for household consumption, and safe livelihoods available to all citizens in a context of limited resources. To achieve this goal, it aims to reduce the total fertility rate of Uttar Pradesh women to 2.1 by 2026 and 1.9 by 2030. However, there has been opposition to this bill. To begin with, experts say there is no evidence that the two-child policy will lead to a decline in the birth rate.pointing outdo. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is in power, will be disqualified from participating in the assembly elections because half of its members have three or more children, a disadvantage to the BJP, which is trying to win the support of the people of the state with a bill that would provide various preferential treatment to those who follow its policies. The other political parties have called the move a convenient policy to win seats in the elections.claimThe first time, the company was in a position to do so.

In addition to Uttar Pradesh, the states of Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Tripura, and Assam are considering enacting laws on population control and demand for legislation is growing, but there is no national policy in place across India.

Impact and countermeasures

We have looked in detail at specific population control policies in India. Let us look at the results of each of these policies. As mentioned above, sterilization has been forced upon women, some of whom have been deprived of education and have no choice but to undergo the procedure because it is the only method of birth control.optionsSome people believed that there were no Many lives were lost due to poor surgical conditions and lack of protection afterwards. Such forced sterilization is a serious violation of human rights.

A girl taking a class at school (photo:Pippa Ranger / Wikimedia Commons [CC BY-SA 2.0])

Sex-selective abortion has led to greater inequality between men and women and a skewed sex ratio. Regarding the widening inequality between men and women, as mentioned above, cultural beliefs favoring boys remain, and women have fewer opportunities to receive education and welfare services. Therefore, if a woman marries and does not give birth to a male child, this may lead to domesticviolenceThey may also be subjected to In addition, many women who have been deprived of educational opportunities are in a weak position within their families and are unable to resist these practices and violence.

As for the skewed sex ratio, the 2011 census showed that there were 940 females for every 1,000 males, and the child sex ratio for children aged 0 to 6 years was 918 girls for every 1,000 boys.In November 2021, the latest National Family Health Survey (NFHS) released by the Indian government data, there are currently 1,020 females for every 1,000 males, according to theannouncementThe number of women in the United States is estimated to be about 1,000,000 in 1960. However, it is said that this figure is hardly credible considering the tens of millions of girls and women who have been victimized by population control policies over a period of 30 to 40 years. This skewed sex ratio is responsible for a large number of sex crimes.causeOne of the In areas where the sex ratio is significantly different, the number of marriage partners is scarce, resulting in human trafficking where underage girls are forced into marriage and men "buy" marriage partners from other areas. 2014.dataIn the United States, there have been 30,957 kidnappings and abductions of women for the purpose of marriage.

The Indian government has enacted laws to protect women's rights and interests, including the Prenatal Diagnostic Techniques Act. However, due to the lack of rigor in state functions and laws, and little change in the perception of women's rights, sterilization and sex-selective abortions are still being performedsituationThe first is.

If the two-child policy is implemented in earnest and the number of children one can have is strictly limited, it is expected to lead to a low birthrate and aging population. The Indian economy has been growing rapidly in recent years. This is due to the increase in the working population, which has stimulated the production and consumption of goods. In fact, by 2022, the median age of Indian citizens will be28 years oldThe large number of young people leads to a large working-age population, which greatly contributes to economic growth. However, that economic growth could stagnate due to the declining birthrate and aging population. In addition, from a long-term perspective, a further increase in the number of elderly people would also increase the burden on the working population. Furthermore, the possibility of an increase in sex-selective abortions and the resulting skewed sex ratio cannot be denied, making it an ineffective population control measure.

Posters on trains calling for the advancement of women (Photo:UN Woman / Flickr[.CC BY-NC-ND 2.0])

Somestatehave implemented initiatives such as improving sex ratios, but most populous states still do not have much in the way ofNo progress.The following is a list of the most common problems with the

What, then, can be done to solve population control and the problems that lie behind it? For example, it would be effective to improve the status of the poor, especially women, enhance the welfare system, and achieve sustained economic growth for the country. First, education is important for improving the status of the poor. The higher the level of education, the more decision-making power women are empowered with, and the greater the impact on reducing gender discrimination and sexual violence. In addition, access to quality education will increase opportunities for social advancement and economic independence, and economic independence will lead to less discrimination. Next, if the welfare system is adequately equipped and the system supports the livelihood of the poor, the fertility rate will stabilize. Such population adjustment should not involve human rights violations, and it is unlikely that the population will grow more rapidly. India needs to address the underlying causes, rather than simply go for population control.

At the end.

We have looked at the history and policies of population control in India, as well as their impact and solutions. India must not neglect its huge population, but must develop a social environment that supports its people and helps them to make the most of their lives. I look forward to seeing India's future growth and transformation into a society that respects the human rights of all its citizens, regardless of gender.

1 The index is the sum of age-specific fertility rates for women between the ages of 15 and 49.

2 A population control strategy that encourages families to limit the number of children born and the birth spacing in their family planning.

Writer: Mayuko Hanafusa

Graphic: Mayuko Hanafusa

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