Just an aside: one thing people who harp on India's population problem seem to miss is that the fertility rates in India are on a steady downward trend. Indeed,

Just an aside: one thing people who harp on India's population problem seem to miss is that the fertility rates in India are on a steady downward trend. Indeed, it's below replacement level in several Indian states. See here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_states_and_union_territories_of_India_by_fertility_rate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_states_and_union_terri... . The literacy rates too are improving ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literacy_in_India https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literacy_in_India) as are the poverty levels (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_in_India https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_in_India). It's no coincidence that India's poorest states are also its most populous and also most illiterate. They also happen to wield the most political power in India. The trouble is that India has a social bootstrapping problem. India's governance depends on the leaders Indians elect, which means that the electorate sets the policy followed by the leaders. And this electorate is largely poor and illiterate. This means that vastly sub-optimal policies get followed than what would be ideal. Often religious, casteist and nationalistic tropes are an easier sell than those based on science, commonsense and reason. But it also has the advantage that draconian policies that oppress the citizens don't get implemented.