Changing Family Planning Scenario in India: An Overview of Recent Evidence

"Over the decades, there has been a substantial increase in contraceptive use in India. The direction, emphasis and strategies of the Family Welfare Programme have changed over time. However, meeting the contraceptive needs of considerable proportions of women and men and improving the quality of family planning services continue to be a challenge. The 1990s witnessed a growing recognition of this, and several innovative policy and programme initiatives have been launched to address these issues."

This paper reviews and synthesises evidence from surveys and studies conducted in the 1990s and thereafter on contraceptive use dynamics and the unmet need for contraception in India. The paper also discusses some of the barriers that hindered the success of the programme and sheds light on new initiatives to address these, and assesses their impact if any. The paper makes suggestions for areas that need further programme and research attention. This paper is published in the Population Council's "South & East Asia Regional Working Paper No. 17".

Table of Contents

List of tables and figures
Abstract
Acknowledgements
Caveat
1. Introduction
2. Changing policy and programme environment
3. The contraceptive scenario

• Contraceptive use
• Method-mix
• Use of male/couple-dependent methods
• Contraceptive practice among the unmarried
• Contraceptive discontinuation and switching

4. Unmet need for contraception

• Magnitude
• National and regional trends

5. Barriers to meeting contraceptive needs

• Limited knowledge
• Gender inequalities and limited male involvement
• Limited informed choice
• Limited access to and availability of services
• Poor quality of services

6. The way forward

• Programme recommendations
• Research recommendations

References

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