To have or have not: Blame men for Bihar's population crisis, say survey

Bihar's overall unmet need for family planning is 21.2%, the third highest in India

If it were up to her, Saroja Devi, 23, would not have had three children. But it is not up to her. Her husband opposed contraceptives and surgical sterilisation, and she does not, she confessed, dare defy him.

Saroja Devi’s predicament is shared by many women across Gaya, a district in southern Bihar, according to an IndiaSpend survey that studied the persistent failure of family planning in India’s most fertile state by children per woman. More than 90% of women discussed family planning with their husbands, but only 18% of them had