THESE THREE factors are of particular importance in the context of any population policy. It is, therefore, essential to discuss population policy issues in respect to these components of population change. The policy measures and programmes expected to affect these critical demographic variables may be direct, indirect or both. Whereas, mortality-influencing policies are directed to bring about a reduction in mortality rates, migration-influencing policies seek to change the flow of internal migration as well as international migration. The fertility-related policies aim at influencing fertility rates and may include both pro-natalist and anti-natalist programmes, keeping in view the socio-economic needs of a nation.

After the Second World War, the World Health Organization (WHO) resolved to eradicate mass killer diseases (like malaria and cholera) and promote the concept of positive health with the aim to reduce high mortality rates prevailing at that time in most of the countries of the world. The organization was entrusted by late sixties with the responsibility of providing advisory services to government at their request on the health aspect of fertility, sterility, and fertility regulation methods, including the organization of family planning services as part of its organized health services with special emphasis on maternal and child health components.

The International Conference on Primary Health Care, 1978, organized jointly by the WHO and UNICEF, at Alma Ata resolved to emphasize the need for health education and adoption of public health measures, keeping in view the social and cultural settings and technical requirements in each area. It was also stated that the highest priority should be accorded for services to the needy and under-privileged persons such as children, women, and rural population by including birth control services in maternal and child health programmes. The conference set the basic objective of ‘HEALTH FOR ALL BY 2000 A.D.’ to the World community.

One of the most pressing population problems today is the internal migration from rural to urban areas. This leads to increasing pressure on urban services, particularly in metropolitan regions. Another problem is differentials in density per square kilometer and flow of people from low density to high population density areas. National governments cannot prevent flow of internal migrations from one region to another or from rural to urban area (essentially because of regional imbalances) except through some incentives and encouragement policies, as it is considered to be a constitutional privilege of the citizens. To prevent this volume and directions of internal migration, therefore, the policy options like spatial distribution of population through suitable development strategies, tax incentives and disincentives for location of industries, subsidies to industries in favoured areas, investments in public enterprises, decentralization of government services, establishment of national capital in sparsely populated areas, formation of capital regions, etc., could be incorporated in population policies by the governments.

As far as international migration is concerned, regulation through legislations could be adopted to maintain desired level of entry into and exist from a country. The two types of fertility-related population policies, pro-natalist (Ash et al, 2002) and anti-natalist, are adopted by the governments of different nations with reference to the social needs and priorities of their societies. Justified on the ground of high mortality rates, pro-natalist policies have existed since ancient times. The large numbers were equated with power and prosperity. Between the two World Wars, Italy, Germany, and Japan pursued pro-natalist policies through propaganda, cash payments, repression of birth control, honouring of mother-hood, regulations for emigration drives for large native populations, etc., to realize their expansionist motives.

Today, several developed countries adopt these policies, though each has different motives and different approaches. In most of the countries, three types of approaches are generally adopted to have an effective pro-natalist policy. The first approach is to accept existing values and attitudes and eliminate or diminish economic liability of having children. The second is to modify norms by glorifying values relating to reproduction, and the third is to relax taboos on illegitimacy, though most of the cultures oppose this approach.

Among the direct anti-natalist policies, provision of contraceptive services, organizing family planning educational programmes, etc. have remained to be the most popular programmes throughout the world. By the acceptance of these programmes, individual couples are expected to adopt family planning, reduce fertility at micro-level and, therefore, bring about a reduction in the birth rate. By the mid-seventies, almost all the countries of the world had adopted these methods of reducing the number and spacing of children. India was the first country to adopt such a policy in 1952 followed by China and Hong Kong in 1956. Another method that is expected to control population growth rate is the liberalization of abortion laws.

These laws bring down population growth rate provided medical infrastructure and health services are easily available. In most of the developing countries, however, these services are not adequate. Another policy option of raising the age at marriage, especially for women, is adopted to cut down on their reproductive span and thus reduce fertility. This hypothesis works only when the time of delay in marriage is utilized to provide more opportunities for education and employment to women that indirectly give maturity to these females to subscribe to the idea of voluntary parenthood. Apart from these direct anti-natalist policies mentioned above, there are a few indirect anti-natalist policies that are used to deal with the problem of rising population.

These indirect programmes are expected to influence people in a way that they start accepting direct anti-natalist policies, and the rate of population starts showing a downward trend. The author was earlier placed as a Fellow at the Indian institute of Advanced Study, Shimla (India), and also at the University of Allahabad as Professor and Head of Economics, Ash, Robert, Howe, Christopher, Kueh, Y.Y. (2002). China’s Economic Reforms, Routledge, UK. This book presents a collection and analysis of original policy documents, newly translated into English, from a key period of Chinese development, providing both a current and a retrospective analysis of China's economic reform efforts. Apart from other topics the book elaborately focuses on the impact of the pro-natalist strategies on population growth.