In 1959, the Demographic Advisory Committee was appointed by the Ministry of Health, mainly to co-ordinate research on population.
The Family Planning Communication Action Research Committee was set up in 1960 to coordinate and promote research in family planning communication and motivation.
The two committees were merged in 1967 to form the Demographic and Communication Action Research Committee which became defunct when its term expired on November 3, 1971.
This committee was reconstituted on December 6, 1972, as the Committee on Socio-Economic Studies on Family Planning to cover the economic, sociological, educational, psychological, communicational and demographic aspects of population growth and family planning.
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The 1961 Census of India provided a wealth of data to students of demography, and a large number of reports and monographs, based on these data, were published.
In 1963, India hosted the First Asian Population Conference in New Delhi an important event in the history of demographic research in India.
The Sample Registration Scheme, initiated by the Registrar General of India in 1964-65, was a step forward in solving the problem of obtaining reliable estimates of birth and death rates and rates of natural growth. The progress made by this system in obtaining reliable estimates has been quite promising.
Indian demographers have also made important contributions to the methodology and techniques of population analysis. Some of these contributions may be listed at this stage.
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The formulae developed by Chandra Sekhar and Deming to estimate the missing events of births from vital registration and retrospective surveys are now widely used.
Jain developed new techniques for evaluating and adjusting Indian age data. Zachariah’s contribution to the technique of analysing migration data collected through a census is well recognised.
Rele’s method of estimating birth and death rates and rates of natural increase from the census data has wide applicability.
Demographic research in India can be seen to encompass a wide range of relevant topics. It may not be an exaggeration to say that research has been conducted to cover all aspects of population though, of course, some areas, such as fertility and family planning, have been emphasised to a greater extent than others.
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For instance, by March 1977, nearly 450 studies were completed in the field of fertility. Similarly, there have been numerous studies covering Knowledge, attitude and practices concerning family planning (KAP studies).
This emphasis on the study of fertility and family planning ls quite natural in a country which is concerned about the rapid growth of its population and wants to curb it.