A far cry from the times of “Hum Do Humare Do” and the controversial forcible sterilization programs carried out by the government during the Emergency, the issue of demographic management is being discussed at the level of policymakers in India.

In a briefing by the NITI Aayog elaborating its deliberations with states as part of its Governing Council meeting, CEO BVR Subrahmamyam said that several states spoke about their future plans in terms of demographic management. As the median age grows in India, several states with lower fertility rates are facing the prospect of a rapidly aging population and have already started taking measures ensure welfare for senior citizens, provide for skilling and employment as well as arrest population decline to avert scenarios like Japan, South Korea and China.

While Subrahmamyam cited examples of countries like Japan where the impact of the population’s median age of 50 years is visible in the society, he said that the government is now targeting to achieve zero poverty across Indian villages after having delivered welfare services to households.

Refuting allegations of West Bengal’s Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee not being allowed to speak in the meeting, he said that she was rather allowed to speak out of turn as the state had requested for a time slot before the lunch break, as otherwise it’s turn would’ve come towards the end as per the alphabetical order. He added that there was no interruption for any CM till their alloted 7 minutes of address and no mikes were switched off.

A paper was circulated among states on Viksit Bharat’s vision for 2047 before the meeting, which witnessed participation by 26 states/Union Territories and absence registered by 10 states/UTs. The absentees included Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana, Delhi, Puducherry, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand and Bihar.

While Subrahmamyam said that Bihar’s absence was understandable as it had a state assembly session till late last evening, he said that most of the absentees had deliberately boycotted the meeting. While the NITI Aayog expects replies on strategies and state-specific targets from states on the circulated agenda in the next few weeks, it has urged all states to participate in discussions to ensure that the Centre and other states benefit from suggestions.