Family planning in India has always been considered a women’s issue, with men only marginally responsible and engaged in family planning. The lack of male involvement is reflected, to an extent, in the very low use of male contraceptives. According to the fourth National Family Health Survey (NFHS4 2015-16), of all modern methods of family planning available in India’s public health system, female sterilization is the most used method (75%) followed by condoms (12%) and oral pills (9%). While male sterilization is an easier procedure compared to female sterilization, the share of male sterilization in the methods used is less than 1 percent (0.6%).
The basket of contraceptive choices in India includes two (out of seven) male-specific family planning methods, namely male sterilization and condoms, but their uptake has historically been low. The increase in condom uptake in 21 out of the 22 surveyed states in the first phase of the fifth round of the National Family…