India, July 25 -- India crossed a line last year and barely paused over it. The Sample Registration System report put the country's total fertility rate at 1.9, below the replacement level of 2.1, Delhi is at 1.2, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal are at 1.3. We went from 5.2 children per woman in 1971 to fewer than two in a single lifetime.

The response has been cheques. Andhra Pradesh now offers Rs.30,000 for a third child and Rs.40,000 for a fourth, and other states are considering the same.

Now the second fact. Ayushman Bharat, the largest publicly-funded health assurance scheme in the world, does not cover IVF or any assisted reproductive procedure in most states. Nor does most private insurance, which lists infertility under excl...