India's National Population Policy (2000): An Evaluation

Abstract

This paper examines the quality of India’s family planning practice under the National Population Policy (2000) or NPP-2000. The intent of NPP-2000 is to eliminate unmet contraceptive needs by providing high quality reproductive healthcare. In particular, the NPP-2000 aims to address flaws in healthcare infrastructure and to achieve a total fertility rate of 2.1 births per woman by 2010. Unfortunately, the implementation difficulties of past years persist in the era of NPP-2000. Indian families are subject to poorly-trained healthcare personnel and insufficient medical supplies, among other setbacks. Using interviews with family planning professionals and data from quantitative and qualitative studies, the following analysis exposes widespread variation in the quality of family planning practice. Additionally, the author proposes strategies to address unmet contraceptive needs in northern states and among disadvantaged populations.