18. In order to spread the message of family planning throughout the nation, a new multi-media motivational strategy is being evolved which will utilize all the available media channels including the radio, television (specially programmes aimed directly at rural audiences), the press, films, visual displays and also include traditional folk media such as the jatra, puppet show, folk songs and folk dances. The attempt is to move from the somewhat urban-elitist approaches of the past into a much more imaginative and vigorous rural-oriented approach. In this context my Ministry is working in close coordination with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, and is also trying to draw the best media talent available in the country into the structuring of the new programme.

19. This package of measures will succeed in its objective only if it receives the full and active cooperation of the people at large. It is my sincere hope that the entire nation will strongly endorse the new population policy which, as part of a multi decided strategy for economic development and social emancipation, is directed towards building a strong and prosperous India in the years and decades to come.

It is evident from the above that the first policy document was quite comprehensive in nature. It was a statement about how seriously the Government of India viewed the rapid growth of population and what measures it visualized for arresting population explosion. The policy also noted that there was a need to reduce regional disparity in growth rate of population and included all conceivable policy options to reduce fertility rate. On the one hand it stressed improvement in age of marriage and female education and on the other hand it included incentives and disincentives to promote sterilization. However, it failed to visualise that in a democratic country coercion for sterilization would not be acceptable to people. As a result although the policy succeeded in putting population control on top of the development agenda but achieved very little to promote family planning on a sustained basis. The following parliamentary elections were fought largely on the issue of compulsory sterilization and the Congress party lost the elections. The family planning programme suffered and for several years no one in government could dare endorse population control measures.