GUWAHATI, India 24 October: In a world where high growth and competitiveness have become the order of the day, scarcity of resources, made worse by governance problems and rising population have retarded the development process in India.
The vicious circle of poverty, population explosion and environmental degradation has added to the country’s woes. If the population remains uncontrolled, it would be disastrous for the countrys economy.
The growth rate of the economy, which has reached respectable levels in the last two years, may get diluted (undermineret) if the population increase is not stabilised in the coming years.
India has 2,4 per cent of the landmass of the world but it has around 17 per cent of the population and this has been increasing at the rate of 1,9 per cent per annum while that of the world has been moving at 1,4 per cent per annum.
It is estimated that there would be 9,2 billion people in the world by the year 2050. According to the UN Commission on Population and Development, India, Pakistan and China along with Indonesia and Nigeria are among five countries that account for almost half the annual growth of 100 million of the worlds population.
Among the developing countries, China has launched drastic family planning programmes over the last decade. It is estimated that its population will increase from the present 1250 million to approximately 1500 million in the year 2025.
On the other hand, present indications reveal that the Indias population will cross that of China in the first quarter of this century.
The reasons for India not attaining success in controlling population may be attributed to the following factors:
One, backwardness, especially in states like Bihar, where the population growth is very high.
Two, inadequate awareness generation and spread of literacy at the grassroot level in some of the remote areas of the country.
Three, lack of a common civil code and the Governments reluctance to impose this fearing backlash from the minority community.
Four, high levels of gender inequality and hardly any initiatives to make women conscious of the need for family planning.
Five, superstitious beliefs prevalent among the illiterate and the rural poor (abortion and other birth control measures do not have divine sanction).
Six, lack of initiative by the panchayats to spread and implement family planning rigorously.
The National Family Planning Health Surveys found that women on an average gave birth to 0,7 more children than they actually wanted because of various factors, including non-availability of contraceptive services. In the high population growth States this gap is much higher.
Additionally, it was found that wherever women were socially disadvantaged because of their sex or lack of education and training or oppression or where the patriarchal system made them economically and socially dependent, population control became difficult and the birth rates were higher.
On the other hand, the birth rate decreased if the women were educated and autonomy.
Kerala is a case in point. Boasting of a very high literacy rate there has been a drastic decline in the population growth. Also in most of the north eastern States, where women are professionally engaged the fertility rate is quite low. In fact, contraceptive application and its long-term impact should be aimed at men rather than women.
Indias growth and economic performance may lose its momentum if family planning is not practiced by a majority of the people. Already the natural resources are depleted (udtømmes) thanks to a population density of around 320 per sq km (compared to around 135 per sq km of China) and it would be virtually impossible for the country to make its presence felt in the international scene if the population growth cannot be controlled.
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