Opinion: Beyond ‘too few’ and ‘too many’ — India’s demographic paradox

As fertility falls and ageing accelerates, India must shift from population control to a welfare-centred policy rooted in care, equity, and dignity

By Balhasan Ali, Tasneem Khan

Since its independence, the population question has riddled India’s policy concerns — shaping debates on resource allocation, food security, employment, housing and urbanisation. In the early decades, as fertility remained high and mortality plummeted with advances in medicine and public health, India’s rising population unsettled policymakers and scholars alike. Paul Ehrlich, in The Population Bomb, famously warned that India might not be able to feed its growing population amid rampant hunger and poverty.

But history, as we know, unfolded differently.

Defying such prophecies, India transformed its agricultura