Martha Nussbaum said India has 1.6 billion people, a number according to her, was "too many". She claimed that people in India do not have enough to eat and there is "widespread famine in lots of parts of India."
The scheme aims to develop 40 lakh self-help group (SHG) members as rural micro-entrepreneurs and assist them in becoming "lakhpati baidos (elder sisters)".
The RSS leader Dattatreya Hosabale raised concern over decreasing population of Hindus and added that India needs to have an effective population policy that will be applicable across all communities.