The announcement in the interim Budget of a “high-powered committee to extensively consider the challenges arising from rapid population growth and demographic changes” is groundbreaking.
Given its multifaceted mandate, as it is to make “recommendations on how to address these challenges in line with the goal of ‘Viksit Bharat’”, the anticipation is that there will be a formulation of policies and strategies to manage population growth. This will mean addressing issues such as family planning, maternal and child health, education, employment, and socio-economic development. To do so, this population committee must adopt an interdisciplinary approach, drawing on expertise from fields such as demography, public health, economics, sociology, and governance.
Editorial | Population priorities: On Interim Budget statement and the Census
