Synopsis

This report can help other developing nations facing steep population increases to chart a course for reducing poverty, limiting ecological damages, and eventually, stabilizing their populations.

Executive Summary

In the late 1960s, when India's population stood at about 500 million, the Ford Foundation sponsored the Second India Study to investigate how that nation could cope with the inevitable doubling of its population by the year 2000. In "Second India" Revisited, Dr. Repetto and an eminent Indian research team compare the forecasts of the original study with the actual effects of India's rapid population growth. In so doing, they pave the way for a better understanding of the interrelationship among demographic change, economic growth, environmental stress, and government policy. Although limited to one nation, the findings in "Second India Revisited can help other developing nations facing steep population increases to chart a course for reducing poverty, limiting ecological damages, and eventually, stabilizing their populations.