India becoming most populous nation – is it a bane or boon?

Source: The post is based on the article “India becoming most populous nation – is it a bane or boon?” published in The Indian Express on 28^th April 2023.

Syllabus: GS 1 – Population and Associated Issues

Relevance: measures needed to utilize rising population for growth

News: India has now become the world’s most populous nation by overtaking China. There have always been arguments regarding controlling population growth as high population acts a bane for the nation.

What steps have been taken to control India’s population?

During the Emergency years, an attempt was even made to force compulsory sterilization. Vasectomy or tubectomy camps were run in the larger interests of the nation.

After China declared its One Child policy, many among the Indian elite campaigned in favor of such a policy in India.

However, the government of that time rejected the “one-child” policy and launched “Do Ya Teen Bas” followed by “Hum Do, Hamarey Do” campaigns.

How did population control begin in India?

The change in the population discourse began when both fertility and birth rates began to fall in the socially advanced states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

This was caused due to increasing literacy, education and health status of women, among other factors.

Moreover, as per the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), the total fertility rate (TFR) declined to 2.0 in 2019-21. This was marginally below the “replacement level fertility rate” of 2.1.

What are the consequences of rising population?

Rising population affects a wide range of areas such as economic policy, trade policy, internal and external migration, political demographics, demand for public services, the use of natural resources and inter-regional variations in growth.

India’s multilateral, plurilateral and bilateral trade agreements have been demanding access to overseas jobs and employment visas.

This implies that Indians instead of becoming assets for India, are becoming assets for the economic growth of the US, Australia, Japan, etc.

How can the rising population become an asset for India?

The Nobel Prize-winning economist, Milton Friedman was invited by then Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru in 1955 to study the Indian approach to planning and offer his views.

Friedman was not in favour of public investment in manufacturing, but strongly advocated public investment in education.

He argued that in any economy, the major source of productive power is not machinery, equipment, buildings and other physical capital but it is the productive capacity of the human beings who compose the society.

Hence, Friedman asked Nehru to invest in human capital because an ill-educated, ill-equipped, socially and culturally backward people are an economic liability.

Whereas, educated, healthy, productive and capable people are a national asset.

What measures can be adopted by the government to utilize its human capital?

Expenditures that improve the productive capacity of human beings are usually not considered as investment in India.

Moreover, out-migration of students has risen sharply over the past decade and policy makers are not worried about creating a knowledge-based economy and society.

Therefore, India needs to invest in its human capital including education because a nation that cannot offer proper education to all will forever find population a bane rather than a boon.