Inter-lInkages between PoPulatIon DynamIcs anD DeveloPment In ...

• Environmental sustainability. The vision also includes a clear commitment to pursue a developmentprocess which is also environmentally sustainable. The Eleventh Plan strategy seeks to not only preservenatural resources but also provide equitable access to those who do not have such access at present.• Gender equity. The Eleventh Plan makes an attempt to move beyond empowerment and recogniseswomen as agents of sustained socio-economic growth and change.• Governance. The Eleventh Plan recognises that improved implementation of the government interventionsis needed to benefit from their expansion. Good design, sufficient accountability and curbing corruptionat various levels are seen as important to improve implementation.• Role of the States. Much of the implementation of government intervention is through the state system.Therefore, close coordination and collaboration with state governments will be necessary to realise theEleventh Plan’s vision.The strategy to ensure above inter-related components aims at achieving a particular type of growth process,which will meet the objectives of inclusiveness and sustainability. The key elements of this strategy include:• Increase economic growth through increased savings and substantial increase in the total resources forCentral and State Plans;• Double the rate of growth in agriculture through increasing yields;• Double the pace of addition to the area under irrigation;• Generate high growth in the industry through addressing infrastructural barriers, enhancing skills, impartingsome flexibility to labour laws, supporting small-scale and medium size enterprises, continuing improvementin performance in public sector enterprises and special attention to slow growing regions;• Ensure good quality infrastructure - railways, roads, ports, airports, telecommunications, and electricpower and other forms of energy;• High priority to education and skills development;• Improve access and coverage of health and nutrition services;• Meet differential needs of women and children to realise women’s agency in development and child rights;• Rural development through: (a) National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (NREGA); (b) BharatNirman Programme to provide electricity and drinking water; (c) road construction programme, and (d) theTotal Sanitation Campaign;• Urban poverty alleviation and slum development programme;• Focus on science and technology capacity development as drivers of growth;• High priority to environmental concerns in development planning; and• Enhance the role of local government (Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs)) in planning, implementing andsupervising delivery of essential services.How does this broad vision of inclusive growth and attendant policies and strategies relate to interlinkagesof development with population dynamics? Basically, the development processes outlined inthis development approach, if implemented well, will have significant indirect impact on fertility andtherefore, on population growth and age-sex composition. It will reduce fertility through higher incomeand educational levels for all segments of the population, particularly of women; improve genderequity; and increase access and coverage of health services. These processes will also have someimpact on mortality, particularly of infants, which is also a pathway to reduce fertility.2. National Rural Health MissionThe Government of India has often used the ‘Mission’ mechanism to address complex, long standing problems.The Mission approach is expected to focus on achieving results through a carefully developed strategy toachieve the desired result, improve funds flow, initiate clear focus on administrative accountability, andnecessary implementation flexibility.26