Of the four key areas that define women’s empowerment, personal efficacy, power in intra-household negotiations, societal engagement, and access to income-generating activities, we see improvements in the first three domains. In contrast, the fourth — access to employment — has stagnated.

If south India wants a larger population, it needs to focus on family-friendly policies or encourage migration from more populous states.

Instead of focussing excessively on rankings with well-recognised shortcomings, recognising achievements and refining goals consistent with national priorities will be a more fruitful approach.

India proved that development is the best contraceptive. Now, we need to focus on adapting to the demographic destiny through careful planning. We’ve made the right choices, the next step is fixing the pieces of the population puzzle.

India’s growing economy is lifting families out of poverty but often onto a precarious perch. A single disaster can push them right back. Policy, obsessed with counting the poor, ignores the question of helping ‘newly poor’.