Briefly compare the population policies of China and India

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answer: China and India are the world's two most populous countries and the policies they adopt going forward will no doubt heavily influence future prospects for global overpopulation. These two countries together encompass more than one-third of the world's population. They have, however, adopted very different family-planning programs.

The One Child Policy has been at the core of the China's family-planning program since 1980. The government gives couples financial subsidies, a long maternity leave, better housing, and (in rural areas) more land if they agree to have just one child. To further discourage births, people receive free contraceptives, abortions, and sterilizations. China has made substantial progress in reducing its rate of growth.

As they moves toward a market economy and their families become wealthier, the One Child Policy has been relaxed, especially in urban areas. Clinics provide counseling on a wider range of family-planning options. For the most part, fears that relaxing the One Child Policy would produce a large increase in the birth rate have been unfounded.

India on the other hand, has not officially placed limits on family size. However, it was one of the first countries to embark on a national family-planning program, in 1952. Birth-control devices are distributed free of charge or at subsidized prices. Abortions have been legal since 1972 and several million abortions are performed each year. India's most controversial family-planning program was the establishment of camps in 1971 to perform sterilizations, surgical procedures by which people were made incapable of reproduction. A sterilized person was paid the equivalent of roughly one month's salary in India. But public opposition grew, because people feared that they would be forcibly sterilized.

India's government no longer regards birth control as a top policy priority. Family programs have instead emphasized education, including ads on national radio and television networks and information distributed through local health centers.