T. Nirmala Devi. Population Growth and Development in SAARC. New Delhi: South Asian Publishers, 1996. Hardbound. Indian Rs 160.00

The complex relationship between population growth and socio-economic development has long been debated. The arguments about the direction and causality of the relationship between population growth and development indicators remain inconclusive. The available literature on the subject reflects three main ideological groups. Nationalists see population growth as a stimulus to economic development, whereas the neo-Malthusians see it the other way round. The Marxists, however, see the population problem being solved in terms of development through a socialist model.