Population Explosion - Essay, UPSC MAINS | Course for UPPSC Preparation - UPPSC (UP) PDF Download

Population Explosion

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(1) Opening    —    Quote

(2) Body    —    Statistics—Population 838 millions. Growth 2.2%. Average Family size 5.4. Infant Mortality 37. By 2015 overtake China. BIMARU states.

    —    History—1921 profile of population—rural, urban. Great Divide. Fall in death rate but not in birth rate. Infant mortality reduced and so did female mortality. Average age increased.

   —    Reasons–Economic growth, health, religious reasons, poverty, ignorance and illiteracy, female’s position, poor family planning management, lack of political will, no deterrent.

 —    Family Planning—history—priority from Ist Plan. But not much fund, organisation and management. Present status—centre of development plan, vigorous mass campaign, new and better contraceptives, female child acceptance, anganwadi workers and teacher’s involvement, linkage with female and child health care, nutrition, pre-post-natal care, schooling, female rights, population education.

 —    Effects—negates growth, more pressure on resources resulting in illiteracy, poverty and unemployment, pressure on health system, land.

(3) Closing    —    Need for a mass movement, political will.

“In final analysis, we are the victims of our own perceptions, staring at shadows on Plato’s cave, perhaps it is easier for us to reach some far off planet in the outer space than to have fertility regulation on earth.”

To some of us, the above statement may appear very pessimistic. However, looking at the almost unabated population growth of our country does tell us about the magnitude of this problem. To any discerning observer, population explosion, as this high population growth is more popularly known, is the single biggest problem facing our nation that is eating away the fruits of our economic growth and development. We are the seventh largest nation area wise but we are second in population and if something is not done soon about it, we will become the most populous country in three to four decades. This is not a very rosy picture, indeed.

There is no better way to appreciate the magnitude of this problem than by studying our census data. According to the 2011 census, our population load at 121 crore million which is 16% of the total world population. That means, every sixth person in this world is an Indian. Our decennial growth rate of population was 17.64% which means 1.76% every year. In 

simple terms, 40 people are being added to the population every minute. This rate is even higher in the rural areas which have the growth rate of 3.94% per year. Hence, the number of people per square kilometers (density) is staggering 382.

Historically, our population started growing rapidly only after 1921 the year of great divide. Before that famines, epidemics, high infant mortality, and high female mortality etc. all kept the population in check. But gradually as death rate declined due to better health care facilities, there was a spurt in the population growth rate because the birth rate did not decline proportionally. Today life span has increased to a respectable 72 years, infant mortality is down to 34 per 1000 birth and better facilities have helped to reduce women’s death at child birth. But our birth rate continues to be alarmingly high.

There are a number of reasons for it. First is the economic reason. People think that more hands mean more income, so they produce more children. They are unable to realise that this might have been true decades back, but today is the age of skilled workers. Skilled and well trained person can earn what two or three unskilled workers cannot. Moreover, with a large family, lack of resources, it becomes difficult to impart proper training. This causes more number of unskilled, less productive & lesser earning workers. This breeds more poverty and not more income generation.

Unfortunately, most of us are illiterate and ignorant about the harms of a large family. Ignorance also breeds the false notion that children are God’ ifts. So, people, out of their religious outlook, do not use artificial means of spacing children and reducing their number. And this traps them in a vicious cycle of poverty, ignorance and illiteracy.

Yet another reason for high birth rate is the backwardness of women. They are married off early and this means that their reproductive period is longer. Also, desire for a male child makes people produce an army of children for whom they can provide for little. Also, females are the most sufferers of a large family both physically and psychologically. But being suppressed and kept away from decision making, they can do little. Also, their ignorance about and inaccessibility of the means of birth control hamper their involvement in the programme of birth control. So, we find that poor status of women causes a large family which further reduces their status. They become weak physically, exhausted mentally and lose their identity as an individual. This shows, both the problems feed and breed upon each other.

In addition to the above mentioned reason poor planning and management of Family Planning Programme has contributed a lot to this problem. Lack of funds, proper training, motivated personnel and means of communication are some ills plaguing this programme. However, oflate government has tried to remove these ills. Population control is accepted as being at the centre of any development plan. Intensive campaign are being carried out. Birth control is being linked to pre and post natal care, safe birth, health and well being of mother, nutrition, education and female rights. Population education is being taken up in schools. Some legal means are being employed e.g. to prevent candidates with large number of children from contesting election etc.

Yet another reason for the failure of our family planning programme is the lack of political will. While leaders declare from the stage that something should be done to control population explosion, very little of it is converted into concrete action. Our family planning programme is painfully neglected. No leader appears to have guts to fight the religion and traditional mind set of people lest he lose his votes.

It is very important that the problem is curbed very soon and very fast. Excess population [that we already have] is eating into our limited resources. The economic growth is being negated by population growth. Excess population is creating tremendous pressure on our educational & training system, our health system. It has been breeding the twin menace of poverty & unemployment. These socio-economic problems have been creating tremendous strain on even our polity.

Yet this problem cannot be tackled by government alone. Experience of other countries have shown that it is the people who can make or mar the programme. Government can act as a catalyst, a motivator and a coordinator. So, we need a mass movement involving educated people, youth, women’s organisations, teachers, doctors and community leaders. This movement should encompass the social, religious and economic dimension of the problem. Only then can we contain population explosion.