Consultation on Population Stabilization | 20 Dec 2019
Why in news
The National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog) will draft the roadmap for population stabilisation in the country. In this context, it is organising a national consultation on ‘Realising the vision of population stabilization: leaving no one behind’.
- The consultative meeting is organised in partnership with Population Foundation of India (PFI).
- India with a current population size of 1.37 billion is the second-most populous country in the world. According to ‘The World Population Prospects 2019’ published by the Population Division of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, India is projected to surpass China as the world’s most populous country by 2027.
- India’s birth rates are falling but the population continues to grow due to the fact that more than 30 % of the population is young and in the reproductive age group.
- This rapidly increasing population poses various new challenges for the present and future generations.
Population Foundation of India (PFI)
- The Population Foundation of India (PFI) is a national level non-governmental, not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting the effective formulation and implementation of gender-sensitive population and development policies, strategies and programs.
- PFI was formerly known as the Family Planning Foundation. It was established in l970 by a dedicated group of industrialists and population activists led by JRD Tata and Dr Bharat Ram.
- It was in response to meet a pressing need for an independent body to respond to the challenges of the growing population.
- The idea was to supplement and complement the efforts of the government for family planning and also galvanise voluntary action through meaningful support activities.