Keralas alternative population control nonbirth control policy Keralas

Kerala's alternative population control (non-birth control policy) • Kerala's government has taken a very different approach to managing its population growth. It has a population of approximately 32 million and is one of India's most densely populated states but it has one of the country's lowest birth rates. Its population growth of 9. 8% per decase is less than half of India's average (21. 3% per decade). • India was the first developing nation to launch a national family planning programme as early as 1952. Not only have they encouraged the use of contraception but have included many social changes such as healthcare and education. • Kerala's success of a variety of strategies: • improving education standards and treating girls as equals to boys • providing adult literacy classes in towns and villages • educating people to understand the benefits of smaller families • reducing infant mortality so people no longer need to have so many children • improving child health through vaccination programmes • providing free contraception and advice • encouraging a higher age of marriage • allowing maternity leave for the first two babies only • providing extra retirement benefits for those who have smaller families • following a land reform programme (land redistributed so that no-one was landless, no family was allowed more than 8 ha and everyone could be selfsufficient) • Kerala has managed to control its population growth by investing in social changes while still allowing people the freedom to choose their own family size.