India has a large young population which needs access to contraception, not family planning.

According to the recently released National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-5, India’s Total Fertility Rate (TFR), which is the number of children a woman would have in the course of her life, is 2, a decrease from 2.2 in NFHS-4. Is this cause for cheer and should women be credited with stabilising the population?

Here we discuss whether governments should stop focusing on population control.

Guests: S. Irudaya Rajan, chairman of the International Institute of Migration and Development; Poonam Muttreja, executive director of the Population Foundation of India

The new found enthusiasm of some states to curb population growth is a misplaced idea that will do more harm than good, experts warn. Poonam Muttreja, executive director of Population Foundation of India and S Irudaya Rajan Chairman of the International Institute of Migration and Development, explain the perils of controlling the population through regulations.