India, Feb. 9 -- Until the 1970s, the fertility rate in India hovered close to 6 (that is, on average, six children were born to one woman). Demographers warned of a Malthusian crisis threatening the country. Over the next five decades, the Centre successfully stabilised the population. Families were encouraged to adopt the two-child norm, and the fertility rate fell below 2.1, the replacement level. That the total fertility rate (TFR) fell from 3.4 to 2 during 1992-2019 points to the success of the State policy. This decline in fertility rate has been secular - across communities and most states.

This remarkable success is now under threat from politicians, who are insensitive to women's agency. The chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh and...