Demographic Evolution of India's Family Planning Programme

India has the unique distinction of having been the first country to introduce an official programme for family planning in 1951 as an integral part of its socio-economic development plan. Since then the programme has grown steadily and today it is perhaps the second largest programme in the world, covering a huge population of about 70 crores. During its evolution, various strategies were developed for extending the reach and improving the performance of the programme.