Although India started its official family planning program way back in 1951, a formal statement on population policy was issued by the Congress Government in 1976 when India passing through Internal Emergency.

India can take legitimate pride that it was one of the earliest nations to introduce a population policy, yet fertility control remains a most contentious problem of electoral politics of India in the 1990s.

Pakistan emerged as an independent state on August 14,1947, nearly 45 years ago, when the British presided over the partition of the Indian subcontinent. The country came about as a demand for an independent, Muslim state.

There is a plethora of information on the analyses of fertility differentials by various socio-economic factors.

The international Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), convened in Cairo in September 1994 under the auspices of the Unite Nations, has changed the focus of family planning programs forever.

One of the most critical problems of India and of many other developing countries is their rapid population growth. India's population increased from 361 million to 846 million between 1951 and 1991; a 134 per cent increase during the 40 year period.

India is one of the few countries where life expectancy of women has been less than that of men till very recently. For rural women this still holds good [1]. More girls than boys die in infancy and childhood.

Explicit concern over India's rapid rise of population originated in the third decade of this century. Until 1920, India's population had been growing very slowly owing to the heavy toll from famines, epidemics, and wars.