-TheWire.in Even in a state like Kerala, higher human development indices have not translated into equally solid gender outcomes. An interesting public policy question that has emerged over the last few years is why high human development indices are not translating into a better ‘gender status’ for Kerala. The Human Development Index (HDI) in Kerala (0.763) is the highest in India. The HDI is estimated as the geometric mean of three crucial aspects...

-Down to Earth The attempt on the part of the incumbent government, to project the Bengali Muslim community as a civilisational threat to Assam’s indigenous communities is not going to help Debates on population control gained momentum in the state of Assam after the Himanta Biswa Sarma-led government assumed power in the state in May 2021. From the beginning of his tenure, the chief minister has been asserting that his government stands for...

-Macroscan.com/ Livemint.com There is a common trope, fed especially to generations born after 1991, that economic progress and modernization in India really occurred only after ‘liberalizing’ economic reforms were introduced three decades ago. This is a travesty of the truth. Certainly, conditions for most Indians have improved since that watershed year. Per capita income went up more rapidly than before, life expectancy went up, infant and maternal mortality decreased, income poverty...

-The Hindu The Uttar Pradesh government should understand that evidence backs the principle of informed free choice Many of us working in the field of public health and social development have been taken aback, if not downright shocked, by the recently announced draft Uttar Pradesh Population (Control, Stabilization and Welfare) Bill, 2021 that focuses exclusively on making a two-child norm a law, specifying various incentives and penalties for contravention. The burgeoning negative...

-TheWire.in India is on its way to completing its demographic transition. It should stop fretting about the population problem. Instead, it needs to invest massively in education and health and provide stable, well-paying jobs. In recent weeks, the enormity of India’s “population problem” seems to have suddenly gripped the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership. Following the lead of Assam, the state of Uttar Pradesh has also started preparations for introducing a population control...