Family planning programmes: lessons from management interventions

The family planning programme in India has had many ups and downs. It has also taken many forms: the clinical model, for instance, was followed by the extension approach.In this article, Nirmala Murthy traces a brief history of the programme and compares the experiences of Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh where management interventions were introduced at the instance of the World Bank, and Maharashtra where they were initiated from within the Health Department. Management interventions were successful in Maharashtra, but failed in Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh. The author explains the reasons for the two very different outcomes and recommends that, to be fruitful, management interventions should form a part of the management development strategy.