Indian Family Planning Program, though started in 1952 on solid developmental and women's welfare grounds, has had over the years rapid upswings followed by downswings either because of bad and hurried population policies such as during national emergency in 1975 or setting unre

Experts are increasingly emphasizing the need to assess the quality of family planning services from the users' perspective.

It was in Deorala village in Rajasthan on September 3, 1987 that the last incident of sati was reported. Then an 18-year-old Roop Kanwar had committed sati by jumping into the funeral pyre of her 23-year-old Rajput husband, Maal Singh.

Sterilization is the most popular method of contraception in India. The 1992-93 National Family Health Survey found that of the 36.2 percent of eligible couples using any modern method, most (30.7 percent) had been sterilized and only 5.5 percent were using temporary methods (IIPS 1995).

It is unfortunate that a measure of confusion has set in about the precise nature and ramifications regarding the immolation - whether self, sati, or otherwise of the 55-yearold Charan Shah on the funeral pyre of her husband at Satpura in Uttar Pradesh on November 11.

Religion has a significant relevance in the demographic study of socio-economic groups.

The self-immolation by Charan Shah on the funeral pyre of her husband in a remote hamlet in Mahoba district in Uttar Pradesh has elicited a spate of articles dealing with the practice of Sati. Of these, a number of articles by Ms.

Religion has a significant relevance in the demographic study of socio-economic groups.

The impact of the family planning (FP) programme over the years is showing varying impacts on fertility across regions and population groups in India.

With the increase in the urbanization and industrialization, the concept of family in India, which once was to create and maintain a common culture among the members of the family, is undergoing changes.