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The interface of public health and federalism are increasingly gaining scholarly attention in the fields of comparative federalism and welfare state studies. This volume looks into various facets of public health and governance in India from a legal, institutional and policy perspective.The volume explores the regulatory architecture around healthcare in federal systems of governance; public finance and insurance; private sector in medical care and the tussle for power between the union and the states. A multidisciplinary volume with essays from scholars working in public health, economics, political science and legal studies, the book critically evaluates India's public policy apparatus dealing with health crises, inequity and the lack of health infrastructure and resources among other challenges. It also looks at the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on federalism and democratic structures as well as the role of institutions such as the NITI Aayog and other central agencies in policy formulation and implementation within the broader framework of intergovernmental relations in a federal system.The book will be of interest to students and researchers of public health, public policy, health administration, medical sociology, constitutional law and political science, as well as of federalism.

`The book is timely, invigorating and thought-provoking and makes a well-researched and very informative contribution to a critical understanding of the history of population-control measures in India. I am sure it will become a standard reference source for scholars and policy-makers interested in social demography, rights in relation to reproductive health and policies on population, health and family planning′ - Population Studies In this critical examination of India′s family planning programme, the author concludes that the health sector in India is influenced by ideas of eugenics and of Malthus. He explains how these ideas have moulded the discipline of demography and helped to construct the family planning programme. The author looks for empirical evidence on the apparent reproductive profligacy of the poor and points to history to show repeated association between population and economic and health improvement. Questioning the motives behind the emphasis on reproductive health and rights, he maintains that neo-liberal economic policies have dealt a huge blow to ideas of the universal provision of health services.