India's falling fertility rate: PM's panel calls for scrapping population control incentives

New Delhi: The Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council (EAC-PM) has recommended ending the government’s population-control programmes in view of the declining birth rate in the country.

A report prepared under the leadership of former Chief Economic Adviser to the Finance Ministry Sanjeev Sanyal has also recommended withdrawing incentives given to ASHA workers and others for promoting population control.

The panel noted that the annual number of births in the country has fallen to 2.32 crore and is likely to decline further even without government intervention. India’s total fertility rate (TFR) has dropped to 1.9, meaning the average family has fewer than two children. The TFR is 1.6 in all states except Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

The report said the declining birth rate could eventually fall below the level required to maintain population stability. It also criticised states for failing to fully understand the implications of declining fertility.

Other recommendations

• Government policies should reflect demographic realities, with references to fertility reduction and population control removed from national and state policy documents.
• Awards and awareness programmes related to population control should be discontinued.
• Programmes such as Mission Parivar Vikas, which promote contraceptive use, should be restructured.

RSS raises concern over declining birth rate
The RSS has also been raising concerns over the declining birth rate and advocates that every family should have at least three children.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said in his 2019 Independence Day address that a “population explosion” was creating new challenges for the country. The statement was in line with the RSS’s earlier position on population growth.

The 2024 Interim Budget had announced plans to constitute a high-powered committee to study the challenges arising from rapid population growth. However, no further action was taken.