Name Sripati Chandrasekhar | ||
Died June 14, 2001, San Diego, California, United States Education Presidency College, Chennai, New York University Books Infant Mortality - Populatio, Red China: An Asian View, India's abortion experience, Gulf Crisis - Globalism - and Stock, "A Dirty Filthy Book": Th | ||
Sripati Chandrasekhar (22 Nov. 1918, Rajahmundry - 14 June 2001 San Diego, Calif.) was a well-known Indian demographer, economist, sociologist, and scholar who as published extensively on demographics, especially related to India.
Chandrasekhar attended Vorhees High School in Vellore, India, and Madras Presidency College, from where he graduated with a B.A. and M.A. in economics. In 1944 he earned a Ph.D. in Sociology from New York University.
In April 1964, Chandrasekhar was elected to the upper house of the Indian parliament. He was appointed Minister of Health and Family Planning by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1967.
Chandresekhar was deeply concerned by the growing Indian population and advocated a variety of population control measures such as sterilization, abortion, and abstinance. He faced criticism from traditional sectors of society, for example when he advocated that Indians begin eating beef, in contravention of hindu tradition.