S. Chandrasekhar

Indian Immigration in America

Immigration legislation which would place nationals of India on an equal footing with other persons seeking to enter this country is now pending in Congress. Two bills for this purpose have been introduced in the House, one by Representative Emmanuel Celler, Dem. (H.R. 4415) and the other by Representative Clare Boothe Luce, Rep. (H.R. 4479). Under their provi? sions qualified nationals of India would be eligible for citizenship in the United States, and somewhat under a hundred Indians could enter this country annually as immigrants under the quota. Another bill, spon? sored in the Senate by Senator William Langer of North Dakota (S. 1595), provides for the naturaliza? tion of Indians already living in the United States. However, it does not deal with the immigration ques? tion. As these three bills are under discussion, it is pertinent to survey the genesis, growth and present position of Indian immigration to the United States and Canada.

How India is tackling her population problem.

The Health Minister of India discusses the status of family planning in his country. The 1968 birth and death rates were 41/1000 per year and 16/1000 per year respectively. Life expectancy increased from 32 years in 1950 to 51 years in 1968. The governments objective is to reduce the birth rate to 25/1000 per year as soon as possible. 90 million couples in the reproductive age group are the target couples. The 4 methods of contraception advocated and made available for mass consumption are sterilization (vasectomy or tubectomy) IUD condom and pill. Factors favoring family planning efforts include the support of Mrs. Indira Gandhi operation of Primary Health Centers lack of objection from Indian religions and international assistance. Unfavorable factors include complaints that religion ratios are altering; bureaucracy; cultural resistance; and the weight of tradition apathy and inertia. Proposals which will go before Parliament include efforts to raise the age of marriage consent for girls (presently 15) and abortion liberalization.

Population Pressure in India

S INDIA overpopulated? Many have asked this question, and about as many have answered yes as no. Today India probably has a population of 400 millions. The rate of growth has been high during the past two decades: 10.6 per cent from 1921 to 1931 and 15.0 per cent from 1931 to 1941, though in earlier decades the population grew much more slowly for the seventy years from 1871 to 1941. Indias rate of growth is exceeded by that of several European and American nations. The trend for India (excluding Burma), the United States, and the United Kingdom may be seen from Table 1:

The Prospect for Planned Parenthood in India

QF THE many major socioeconomic issues facing present-day India, none is more grave or more urgent than her population problem. Although a countrys demographic situation may have many aspects, Indias over-population-taking the form of tremendous pressure on her limited land and other resources-is the basic issue, since all programs for improvement are either deferred or frustrated as population overstrains the capacity of education, public health, sanitation and rural recovery. While the general economic context of the problem in terms of the ratios between the number of people and the available resources or between man and land has remained basically the same, the new data provided by the i95i Census has modified the factual framework somewhat. Indias area and frontiers, as well as the political divisions of the states and their populations, have changed in the wake of independence. A brief review of the existing situation may serve not only to introduce the problem but also to contribute to an understanding of the difficulties inherent in implementing the major solutioninstitution of planned parenthood-which is now being attempted on a sizeable scale. Since i88i, when the first regular census was taken in India, there have been decennial censuses without a break. The i95i Census was the eighth regular census and the first in free India. With the exception of a certain amount of heat and emotion displayed in connection with recording the language spoken by the citizen interviewed, the i95i Census operations were as efficient, smooth and peaceful as could have been expected in a heterogeneous country marked by irrepressible cultural pluralism. The total population of India on March i, i95i, was 36i.8 million, on a total land area of I.27 million square miles. This figure includes the estimated populations of Jammu and Kashmir (4.4I million) and of the Part-B Tribal areas of Assam (o.56 million), where the administration rests lightly and where the i95i Census was not taken. The i95i popu-

India's Human Resources:

T HE greatest of Indias resources is in many ways the most neglected and most poorly developed. This huge reservoir of manpower, which is more important and valuable than soils, minerals, forests, fisheries, or any other natural resources, receives very little care and conservation. Where and under what conditions are these human resources produced? How and why do they grow? Are they growing too fast? What about their character and quality? What should we do to prevent them from deteriorating into a sad liability to the nation?

India's population problems and policies

(1975). Indias population problems and policies. The Round Table: Vol. 65, No. 257, pp. 13-27.

Infant Mortality, Population Growth and Family Planning in India.

This study surveys the level, causes, and course of infant mortality in India during the last seventy years. Besides this historical survey, the book examines the implications of high and low infant mortality on the countrys major problems of population growth and the current population policy designed to reduce the birth rate through family planning.Originally published 1972.A UNC Press Enduring Edition -- UNC Press Enduring Editions use the latest in digital technology to make available again books from our distinguished backlist that were previously out of print. These editions are published unaltered from the original, and are presented in affordable paperback formats, bringing readers both historical and cultural value.

Sino-Indian Relations

U A countrys foreign policy is generally governed by numerous historical, political, economic, geographic, cultural, religous, ethnic, and other considerations; but the main motivation is really enlightened self-interest. Through the centuries, this has been true of every country in the world which has had anything like a foreign policy. However, this does not mean that a nations foreign policy, because it is governed by self-interest, need necessarily be Machiavellian and bereft of any ennobling idealism. While the government of India conducts its foreign affairs on the principle of what is good for India as the policy makers understand it, there are certain progressive and theoretical principles upon which every foreign policy action is based. We may not always succeed in our aims, and sometimes we fall far short of them, especially when conflicting interests arise; nevertheless, the objectives are there, not as ornamental facade, but as serious guide-posts. An objective and nonpartisan evaluation of Indias foreign policy during the last dozen years will reveal that her efforts have been directed in the main to the promotion of peace, even if peace is negatively defined as the sum total of averted and arrested wars. Whether it is in Indonesia or among the emerging states of IndoChina, in Israel or Korea, Egypt or Tibet or with Pakistan, or in the general East-West Cold War, our singular aim has been to lessen

Family Planning in Rural India

U That we have a population problem in India, in the sense of an adverse ratio between the total available resources and the minimum needs of the country, is conceded by all thoughtful people. It is also agreed that we should increase considerably our agricultural and industrial production on the one hand, and control our numbers on the other, so that we can raise our standard of living in terms of the per capita consumption of necessary goods and services. To attain these objectives, voluntary agencies and the central and state governments of India are dedicated to the task of promoting family planning among all classes and groups in our society. Nobody disputes the need for some kind of family planning; the question is how to implement it in the areas where it is most needed. The dilemma before our country (whose population continues to increase at the rate of five million a year) is that, whereas population control is necessary to check the threatened decline in the already poor living standards, the successful practice of family planning methods requires a far higher living standard than is the case at present. Nearly eighty-three per cent of our population is rural. In the villages the birth-rate is higher than in the towns and cities. From the economic and health points of view, rural India needs family planning most, and yet the present socio-economic conditions in