The Population Situation in India
With 950 million people, India ranks second to China among the most populous countries. But since China
1
a family planning program in 1971, India has been closing the gap. Indians have reduced their birth rate but not nearly
2
the Chinese have. If current growth rates continue, India"s population will
3
China"s around the year 2028 at about 1.7 billion.
Should that happen, it won"t be the
4
of the enlightened women of Kerala, a state in southern India. While India as a whole adds almost 20 million people a year, Kerala"s population is virtually
5
. The reason is no mystery: nearly two-thirds of Kerala women practice birth control,
6
about 40% in the entire nation.
The difference
7
the emphasis put on health programs, including birth control, by the state authorities,
8
in 1957 became India"s first elected Communist government. And an educational tradition and matrilineal (母系的) customs in parts of Kerala help girls and boys get
9
good schooling.
While one in three Indian women is
10
, 90% of those in Kerala can read and write.
Higher literacy rates
11
family planning. "Unlike our parents, we know that we can do more for our children if we have
12
of them," says Laial Cherian, 33, who lives in the village of Kudamaloor. She has limited herself
13
three children—one below the national
14
of four. That kind of restraint (抑制，克制) will keep Kerala from putting added
15
on world food supplies.