"Population acts as both asset and liability for the nation ". Justify...
- Population is nothing but human capital, and it depends on the country whether it wants to see population as an asset or a liability.
- We could take an example of India and China. India always considers population as a liability due to:-
- poverty
- illiteracy
- unemployment and so on
- Whereas China uses its population. Wondered why almost all the toys and machinery/ stationery comes from China? Well, China isn't as rich as India (on the basis of physical features, culture and so on), but it has taken initiatives to remove illiteracy, poverty and unemployment by giving jobs to people in industries.
- India too has taken initiatives, but the illiterates don't know what is good for them and so they meekly decline the offers of becoming literate. And India isn't able to provide jobs as it doesn't have enough money to build up industries and grow farms (half of the money is in Swiss bank).
- India's next fault is that it buys up the latest technology, but it doesn't know how to use it. Once it learns the process, it'd surely be able to give jobs at least to literates.
So, population can become either an asset or a liability, based on the country and its citizens.