Conflict resolution and promotion of regional cooperation in South Asia has assumed a new urgency in the aftermath of the nuclear tests by India and Pakistan in 1998, and underlined by the outbreak of fighting in Kargil in 1999, full mobilization on the border during most of 2002, and continued low-intensity warfare and terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir. The stability of nuclear deterrence between the two countries is therefore a matter of great urgency and has found a place on the scholarly agenda of security studies in South Asia. Several books have been written on India's nuclear programme, but these have been mostly analytical histories. This book is a new departure in that this is the first time that a group of scholars from the South Asian subcontinent have collectively tried to apply deterrence theory and international relations theory to South Asia.

This book closely examines the changes, challenges and shifts in India's family planning programme since its inception in 1952. It discusses the dynamics of population growth, the demographic dividend, family planning and its impact on maternal and child health, and the pressures from various quarters to remove method-specific contraceptive targets from the programme. The volume highlights the shortcomings in the delivery of services by the public sector and the critical role of non-government organisations in research, promotion and advocacy. Rich in empirical data, this book will be an indispensable resource for scholars, policymakers, organisations and NGOs concerned with population and demographic studies. It will also interest those in sociology, public policy and public health.

India was a pioneer in legalizing induced abortion, or Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) in 1971. Yet, after three decades, morbidity and mortality due to unsafe abortion remain a serious problem. There is little public debate on the issue despite several national campaigns on safe motherhood. Instead, discussion on abortion has mainly centred around declining sex ratio, sex-selective abortion, and the proliferation of abortion clinics in urban areas. Adding to the problem is that abortion continues to be a sensitive, private matter, often with ethical/moral/religious connotations that sets it apart from other reproductive health-seeking behaviour. This book fills a gap in our understanding of the ground realities with respect to induced abortion in India to create an evidence-based body of knowledge. Using both quantitative and qualitative research methods, the case studies show why and under what circumstances women seek abortion and the quality of services available to them. They also explore inter-generational differences in attitudes and practices, the perceptions and selection of providers, female-selective abortion, and informal abortion practitioners. Among other issues, the contributors show that strong preference for sons, availability of modern techniques for diagnostic tests, widespread acceptance of the small family norm, and heavy reliance on female sterilisation as the primary method of contraception lead women to abort unwanted pregnancies. A book that goes beyond the smokescreen of data and regulations to unravel the human story behind elective abortion, it will be of interest to those studying health, public policy, and gender, apart from the general reader.

This book closely examines the changes, challenges and shifts in India's family planning programme since its inception in 1952. It discusses the dynamics of population growth, the demographic dividend, family planning and its impact on maternal and child health, and the pressures from various quarters to remove method-specific contraceptive targets from the programme. The volume highlights the shortcomings in the delivery of services by the public sector and the critical role of non-government organisations in research, promotion and advocacy. Rich in empirical data, this book will be an indispensable resource for scholars, policymakers, organisations and NGOs concerned with population and demographic studies. It will also interest those in sociology, public policy and public health.