{"id":50554,"date":"2019-07-25T19:00:06","date_gmt":"2019-07-25T13:30:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogadmin.forumias.com\/?p=50554"},"modified":"2019-07-25T17:41:16","modified_gmt":"2019-07-25T12:11:16","slug":"7-pm-having-the-last-word-on-population-control-25th-july-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/7-pm-having-the-last-word-on-population-control-25th-july-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"7 PM | Having the last word on \u2018population control\u2019 | 25th July, 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Context: <\/strong>India\u2019s\npopulationrelated concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Present\nPopulation:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At present, India\u2019s population stands at nearly 134 crore while\u00a0China\u00a0is inhabited by nearly 140 crore. Which means in another two years, India will overtake China. There is no denying that urgent and aggressive steps such as strict control policies and linking their observance with incentives are urgently needed to control the population.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Following are\nthe main effects of population explosion:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Problem of Investment Requirement: <\/strong>Indian\npopulation is growing at a rate of 1.8 percent per annum. In order to achieve a\ngiven rate of increase in per capita income, larger investment is needed.<\/li><li><strong>Effect on per Capita Income:<\/strong> Large size of population in India and\nits rapid rate of growth results into low per capita availability of capital.\nFrom 1950-51 to 1980-81. India\u2019s national income grew at an average annual rate\nof 3.6 percent per annum. But per capita income had risen around one percent.\nIt is due the fact that population growth has increased by 2.5 percent.<\/li><li><strong>Problem of Unemployment:<\/strong> Large size of population results in\nlarge army of labour force. But due to shortage of capital resources it becomes\ndifficult to provide gainful employment to the entire working population.\nDisguised unemployment in rural areas and open unemployment in urban areas are\nthe normal features of an under developed country like India.<\/li><li><strong>Low Standard of Living:<\/strong> Rapid growth of population accounts for\nlow standard of living in India. Even the bare necessities of life are not\navailable adequately.&nbsp;<\/li><li><strong>Poverty:<\/strong> Rising population\nincreases poverty in India. People have to spend a large portion of their\nresources for bringing up of their wards. It results into less saving and low\nrate of capital formation.<\/li><li><strong>Population\nand social problems: <\/strong>Population explosion gives rise to a\nnumber of social problems. It leads to migration of people from rural areas to\nthe urban areas causing the growth of slum areas. People live in most\nunhygienic and insanitary conditions. <\/li><li><strong>More Pressure on Land:<\/strong> Rising rate of population growth exerts\npressure on land. On the one hand, per capita availability of land goes on\ndiminishing and on the other, the problem of sub-division and fragmentation of\nholdings goes on increasing.&nbsp;<\/li><li><strong>Impact on Maternity Welfare:<\/strong> In India, population explosion is the\nresult of high birth rate. High birth rate reduces health and welfare of women.\nFrequent pregnancy without having a gap is hazardous to the health of the\nmother and the child. This leads to high death rate among women in the\nreproductive age due to early marriage. Hence to improve the welfare and status\nof women in our society, we have to reduce the birth rate.<\/li><li><strong>Pressure on Environment:<\/strong> Population explosion leads to\nenvironmental degradation. Higher birth rate brings more pollution, more toxic\nwastes and damage to biosphere.&nbsp;<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Recent\nControversial views on population Control:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>On July 11, World\u00a0Population\u00a0Day, a Union Minister expressed alarm, in a Tweet, over what he called the \u201cpopulation explosion\u201d in the country, wanting all political parties to enact population control laws and annulling the voting rights of those having more than two children.<\/li><li>A prominent businessman-yoga guru wanted the government to enact a law where \u201cthe third child should not be allowed to vote and enjoy facilities provided by the government\u201d<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Problem\nwith such views:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The demand of state control is on the\nperception that a large and growing population is at the root of a nation\u2019s\nproblems as more and more people chase fewer and fewer resources. <\/li><li>Such views can breed hatred among people\nand can result into violent clashes especially towards poor and minorities. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>India has always\nlooked at population so that it truly becomes a thriving resource; the life\nblood of a growing economy.&nbsp;Today,\nas many as 23 States and Union Territories, including all the States in the\nsouth region, already have fertility below the replacement level of 2.1\nchildren per woman. So, support rather than control works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Primary Reason of Population Explosion:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Family\nhealth, child survival and the number of children a woman has are closely tied\nto the levels of health and education.<\/li><li>The\npoor tend to have more children because child survival is low, son preference\nremains high, children lend a helping hand in economic activity for poorer\nhouseholds and so support the economic as well as emotional needs of the\nfamily. This is well known, well understood and well established.<\/li><li>As\nthe National Family Health Survey-4 (2015-16) notes, women in the lowest wealth\nquintile have an average of 1.6 more children than women in the highest wealth\nquintile, translating to a total fertility rate of 3.2 children versus 1.5\nchildren moving from the wealthiest to the poorest. <\/li><li>Similarly,\nthe number of children per woman declines with a woman\u2019s level of schooling.\nWomen with no schooling have an average 3.1 children, compared with 1.7\nchildren for women with 12 or more years of schooling. This reveals the depth\nof the connections between health, education and inequality, with those having\nlittle access to health and education being caught in a cycle of poverty,\nleading to more and more children, and the burden that state control on number\nof children could impose on the weakest.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>There should be a clear understanding that offering choices and services rather than outright state control works best.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>National\nPopulation Policy:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The National\nPopulation Policy (NPP) 2000&nbsp;is uniformly applicable to the whole country.\nIn pursuance of this policy, Government has taken a number of measures under\nFamily Planning Programme and as a result, Population Growth Rate in India has\nreduced substantially which is evident from the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The percentage decadal growth rate of the country has declined significantly from 21.5% for the period 1991-2001 to 17.7% during 2001-2011.<\/li><li>Total Fertility Rate (TFR) was 3.2 at the time when National Population Policy, 2000 was adopted and the same has declined to 2.3.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>India\u2019s Demographic transition (Economic Survey\n2018-19):<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>India is set to witness a sharp slowdown in population growth in the\nnext two decades. Although the country as a whole will enjoy the \u201cdemographic\ndividend\u201d phase, some states will start transitioning to an ageing society by\nthe 2030s. The age distribution, however, implies that India\u2019s working-age\npopulation will grow by roughly 9.7mn per year during 2021-31 and 4.2mn per\nyear in 2031-41.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Recent\nDemographic Trends:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Population growth in India has been\nslowing in recent decades from an annual growth rate of 2.5 per cent during\n1971-81 to an estimated 1.3 per cent as of 2011-16.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"313\" height=\"194\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogadmin.forumias.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/fig.jpg?resize=313%2C194&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-50555\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>As per the NSSO Periodic Labour Force\nSurvey 2017-18, India\u2019s labour force participation rate or the age-group 15-59\nyears is around 53 per cent (80 per cent for males, 25 per cent for females).\nDepending on the trajectory of labour force participation during 2021-41,\nadditional jobs will need to be created to keep pace with the projected annual\nincrease in working-age population of 9.7 million during 2021-31 and 4.2\nmillion during 2031-41.<\/li><li>At the other end of the age scale,\npolicy makers need to prepare for ageing. This will need investments in health\ncare as well as a plan for increasing the retirement age in a phased manner.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Way\nForward: <\/strong>A\nconsciousness has to be brought about, either by increasing the awareness of\nthe people with a sprinkling of some punitive or coercive measures, which are\nbound to boomerang in a democracy like India. They can be successful only in\nauthoritarian regimes like China, not in India. We do have existing policy and\ninitiatives but there is no doubt that there has to be drastic enforcement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/opinion\/lead\/having-the-last-word-on-population-control\/article28701719.ece\">https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/opinion\/lead\/having-the-last-word-on-population-control\/article28701719.ece<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Context: India\u2019s populationrelated concerns. Present Population: At present, India\u2019s population stands at nearly 134 crore while\u00a0China\u00a0is inhabited by nearly 140 crore. Which means in another two years, India will overtake China. There is no denying that urgent and aggressive steps such as strict control policies and linking their observance with incentives are urgently needed to&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/7-pm-having-the-last-word-on-population-control-25th-july-2019\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">7 PM | Having the last word on \u2018population control\u2019 | 25th July, 2019<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":49370,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[130,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50554","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-7-pm","category-public","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/7-PM.png?fit=1000%2C500&ssl=1","views":{"total":0,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1704924503},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50554","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50554"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50554\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50554"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50554"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50554"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}