For the last three decades, India's Family Welfare Programme has pursued the goal of reducing fertility as rapidly as possible. Until recently the means used to achieve this goal were method-specific contraceptive targets and cash incentives for acceptors.

Change in the size of a population takes place due to births, deaths and migration.

Both as a concept and as a rallying point for gender-based concerns, the emergence of reproductive choice is a relatively new phenomenon in the area of population policy. For decades on end, population policy had been primarily, if not solely, concerned with the regulation and control of human fe

As women become more involved in public life and break patriarchal control in the process, they also deal with the backlash of cultural, traditional and religious reaction. Various interpretations of Muslim law are promoted by different groups in the struggle over women's rights.

A growing recognition that population dynamics, quality of life and women's status are closely inter related argues strongly for a fresh look at India's population program.

Should we fear the destruction of our culture because a 30-year-old woman from Chandigarh plans to `rent' her womb?

This essay advocates a reproductive health care strategy, to revitalize the country's family welfare program. A major shift in focus is needed in the population policy and programs in order to incorporate a gender-sensitive