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Population Control and Eugenics: Dhanvanthi Rama Rau and Margaret Sanger in the Making of India’s Family Planning Programme, 1930s–1960s

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  • Daksha Parmar
  • Mohan Rao

Abstract

This article explores the contribution of two pioneering women, Dhanvanthi Rama Rau and Margaret Sanger in shaping the official Family Planning Programme (FPP) of India. Rau, popularly known as the ‘Mother of India’s Family Planning’, was at the forefront of the debates on birth control. From the early twentieth century, Rau was in correspondence with Margaret Sanger—eugenist and the messiah of medicalised birth control from the United States of America (USA). Based on archival collections from various libraries in India and the USA, this article attempts to explore the concerns of Rau and Sanger in raising questions about population control 1 and family planning in India. The concern of improving the health of mothers and children was, for them, a scaffolding on which to build the agenda of population control. As their advocacy of contraception was shaped by eugenic 2 and neo-Malthusian ideas, they were successful in institutionalising a programme of family planning that called for an immediate reduction in the birth rate. This was to be achieved through gendered population control policies and practices.

Suggested Citation

  • Daksha Parmar & Mohan Rao, 2023. "Population Control and Eugenics: Dhanvanthi Rama Rau and Margaret Sanger in the Making of India’s Family Planning Programme, 1930s–1960s," Indian Journal of Gender Studies, Centre for Women's Development Studies, vol. 30(3), pages 330-349, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:indgen:v:30:y:2023:i:3:p:330-349
    DOI: 10.1177/09715215231183624
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Frey, Marc, 2011. "Neo-Malthusianism and development: shifting interpretations of a contested paradigm," Journal of Global History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 6(1), pages 75-97, March.
    2. Ines Smyth, 1996. "Gender analysis of family planning: Beyond the feminist vs. population control debate," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 2(2), pages 63-86.
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