Nehru on Population: A Pre-Independence View

Abstract

Reprints a section of Nehrus book The Discovery of published in the US in 1946 on the population problem (falling birth rates and national decay). Nehru foresaw a surge in population growth in Asia following the sweep of technology accompanied by improved education sanitation and public health but noted that India among other countries would be better off with fewer people. Despite this realization Nehrus writing reflects the current concern at the time with falling fertility which was seen as a symptom of national decay and with the relationship between population size and power. Urbanization was also decried and the importance of linkage to the soil for individual and racial wellbeing underscored. It is noted in the introductory matter that these views are indicative of an ambivalence of population and economic policies following Indian independence in 1947.