Important Questions & Answers: Demographic Structure & Indian Society - 3

Long Answer Type Question

Q.42. What is Social Demography? Give its definitions.

Ans: Social demography (or simply demography) is the systematic study of human populations with special reference to their size, distribution, composition and the processes that produce population change. It examines both quantitative aspects (for example, birth and death rates, migration, growth) and qualitative aspects (for example, age-structure, sex ratio, education, health) and relates these to social and economic factors.

Q.43. Which subjects are included in the subject matter of social demography?

Ans: The subject matter of social demography covers several interrelated topics. Broadly, these may be grouped under distribution, size, structure, change and characteristics of population, and studied from biological, social, geographical and economic perspectives.

• Distribution of Population: Spatial distribution across villages, towns and cities, and patterns such as urban-rural and occupational distribution.
• Size of Population: Population size and factors that affect it, including fertility, mortality, migration and growth rates.
• Structure of Population: Composition by age, sex, education, health status and other social characteristics.
• Changes in Population: Processes responsible for change in size and structure such as differential fertility, mortality, migration and social mobility.
• Features of Population: Comparative study of population attributes across regions and groups.

Q.44. Give the main features of National Population Policy-1976 and National Population Policy-2000.

Ans: India was perhaps the first country to explicitly announce an official population policy in 1952. The policy took the concrete form of the National Family Planning Programme. Its broad objectives have remained the same - to try to influence the rate and pattern of population growth in socially desirable directions, through the promotion of various birth control methods, improve public health standards, and increase public awareness about population and health issues.

The programme suffered a setback during the years of the National Emergency (1975-76) when the government introduced a coercive programme of mass sterilisation. Vast numbers of mostly poor and powerless people were forcibly sterilised. There was widespread popular opposition to this programme, and the new government elected after the Emergency abandoned it.

The National Family Planning Programme was renamed as the National Family Welfare Programme after the Emergency, and coercive methods were no longer used. The programme now has a broad-based set of socio-demographic objectives. A new set of guidelines were formulated as part of the National Population Policy of the year 2000. In 2017, the Government of India came out with the National Health Policy 2017 in which most of these socio-demographic goals were incorporated with new targets.

Q.45. Explain briefly about the achievements of Indian Population Policy.

Ans: India's population policies and programmes have achieved several measurable successes over the decades. Key achievements include:

• Population growth rate has declined since 1991.
• Both crude birth rate and death rate have fallen, and the gap between them has narrowed.
• Total Fertility Rate (TFR) has declined from 3.8 in 1990 to 2.7 today.
• Many states (e.g., Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala) have brought their TFR down to 1.7 or below replacement level.
• Death rates fell sharply after 1921 due to better control over famines and epidemic diseases.
• India is progressing towards the later stages of demographic transition with reduced annual population growth rate.

These changes show that the policies have helped slow population growth and improve health outcomes, though the birth rate has declined more slowly than the death rate.

Q.46. Describe Malthus's theory of population growth and the theory of demographic transition.

Ans:

(a) Malthus's Theory of Population Growth: Thomas Robert Malthus argued that population increases geometrically (1, 2, 4, 8...) while food supply increases arithmetically (1, 2, 3, 4...). Because population tends to outstrip the means of subsistence, Malthus believed that misery and poverty are inevitable unless population growth is checked. He identified two kinds of checks on population:

• Positive Checks: Events that raise the death rate, such as famines, epidemics, wars and natural disasters. These are involuntary and reduce population by increasing mortality.
• Preventive Checks: Voluntary measures to lower the birth rate, including later marriage and moral restraint. Malthus preferred moral restraint and was critical of some artificial methods of birth control.

(b) Theory of Demographic Transition: The demographic transition theory describes how population growth changes as societies develop economically. It identifies three broad phases:

• Phase 1 - High Stationary: Both birth and death rates are high, so population growth is slow.
• Phase 2 - Early Expanding (Transitional): Death rates fall rapidly due to improved nutrition, sanitation and public health, while birth rates remain high for a time. This produces rapid population growth (a population explosion).
• Phase 3 - Late Expanding/Low Stationary: Birth rates decline and approach low death rates, so population growth slows and may stabilise.

The theory links declines in mortality and fertility to social and economic development and has been useful in explaining population change in many countries.

Q.47. What are the differences between rural and urban societies? Write in detail.

Ans: Rural and urban societies differ on several social, economic and cultural dimensions. Major differences are:

• Family: Rural families often remain joint and patriarchal with strong family control; urban families are more likely to be nuclear, less controlling and allow greater autonomy, especially for women.
• Neighbourhood: Neighbourhood ties are strong in rural areas and find expression in primary group relations; in urban areas neighbourhood relations are weaker and often formal or situational.
• Occupation: Agriculture dominates rural livelihoods; urban areas offer diverse occupations, specialisation and greater choice based on skills and education.
• Population Density: Urban areas have high density and crowding; rural areas are less dense and land is more readily available for households and agriculture.
• Status of Women: Women in urban areas generally have higher educational and economic status and more public roles; rural women often face restrictions, limited education and confinement to household and agricultural work.

Q.48. Explain briefly about the scope of social demography.

Ans: The scope of social demography can be viewed narrowly and broadly. In a narrow sense it emphasises formal demographic processes-births, deaths, marriages, migrations. In a broader sense it includes social structures, institutions and cultural factors that interact with demographic variables.

• Formal demographic processes: Fertility, mortality, marriage and divorce, migration.
• Informal processes: Age composition, sex ratio, population size and composition, and socio-economic consequences of population change.

Modern social demography links demographic phenomena to social, economic and cultural processes-education, family structure, mobility, class and caste, values and norms-so that demographers interpret population change in its wider social context.

Q.49. Tell us something about the changing demographic position of India.

Ans: India's demographic profile has changed markedly over the last century in terms of birth and death rates, life expectancy, sex ratio, literacy, population density, urbanisation, age structure and religious composition. 
Key points are:

• Birth and Death Rates: Both rates were high before 1931. After 1921-31, death rates fell sharply while birth rates declined more slowly. The gap between them widened, leading to high growth (Chart 1 and Section 2.2).
• Population Growth: Average annual growth rate was low (under 1.33 %) from 1901-1951; it rose to 2.2 % during 1961-1981 and has since declined (Table 1).
• Sex Ratio: The overall sex ratio declined for more than a century and stood at 943 females per 1,000 males in 2011. The child sex ratio (0-6 years) fell even more sharply to 919 in 2011 (Table 3).
• Literacy: Literacy rate rose from 18.3 % in 1951 to 73.0 % in 2011. Female literacy has been rising faster than male literacy (Table 4).
• Rural-Urban Composition: The share of urban population increased from 10.8 % in 1901 to 31.2 % in 2011 (Table 5).
• Age Structure: The proportion of the 0-14 age group fell from 42 % in 1971 to 29 % in 2011, while the 60+ group rose from 5 % to 8 %. The share of the working-age group (15-59) increased (Table 2).

India is moving through the transitional stage of demographic transition with wide regional variations.

Q.50. Give the main features of population policy of India.

Ans: Main features common to India's population policies include:

• Started in 1952 as the National Family Planning Programme - the first such official policy in the world.
• Objective: To influence the rate and pattern of population growth in socially desirable directions by promoting birth control methods, improving public health, and raising awareness.
• Setback during Emergency (1975-76) due to coercive mass sterilisation.
• Renamed National Family Welfare Programme after the Emergency; coercive methods were stopped.
• 2000: National Population Policy provided broad-based socio-demographic guidelines and emphasised informed choice and reproductive health.
• 2017: National Health Policy incorporated most of these goals with specific targets (Box 2.5), including reduction of TFR to 2.1, increase in life expectancy, reduction in infant and maternal mortality, and universal access to family planning.

The policy stresses voluntary adoption of small-family norms through education, awareness, and welfare measures rather than coercion.

Q.51. Read the passage and answer the following questions:-
Hospital deliveries on the rise, maternal deaths dip New Delhi: Institutional deliveries, where children are delivered at health centres or hospitals have picked up in India over the last five odd years, around 60 lakh infants were born in safe confines of health care centres in 2010-11 as compared to 2005-06.
Experts say one main reason for this spurt is the Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY), which was launched in April 2005 to reduce India's shamefully high maternal and infant mortality rates. The JSY promoted institutional delivery among would-be mothers by providing cash assistance.
Emboldened, the Ministry has launched the Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakaram (JSSK) this year. The initiative entitles all would-be mothers free delivery, free drugs and free diagnostics.
(i) What are the entitlements given under the JSSK?

Ans: Death rates fell sharply after 1921 due to increased control over famines and epidemic diseases through better medical facilities, vaccination, sanitation, and state relief measures.

(ii) What were the possible reasons behind an improvement in low maternal and infant mortality rates during 2005-2011? What were the outcomes?

• Possible reasons: Policy efforts under the National Family Planning/Family Welfare Programme, improved public health standards, and the shift from coercive to voluntary welfare approaches after the Emergency. 
• Outcomes: Lower death rates, reduced population growth rate since 1991, decline in TFR from 3.8 (1990) to 2.7, and India moving towards the later stages of demographic transition. Institutional improvements in health services have contributed to these gains, though the birth rate has been slower to decline.