an essay on the increasing population in india
Answers
1. Every sixth person on the globe today is an Indian, and by the turn of the century, every fifth living person will be an Indian.
2. India adds about 10 lakh persons to its population every fortnight.
3. Addition to India’s population is an equivalent of a Chandigarh a week, two Bhopal a month, and an Australia every eight months. During 1981-91, addition to the population was to the tune of 113 million, equalling the combined population of France, the UK and Italy.
4. By 2035, India would overtake China as the world’s most populous nation. While the rate of annual population growth in India is 1.9 per cent, in China it is 1.2 per cent. Thus, while China’s population would double in 60 years, India’s population would double in 34 years.
5. Around 49 per cent of the increase in India’s population in one decade is from four states of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh (known as BIMARU states).
6. More than three times as many couples enter the reproductive span than those leaving it, with the fertility rate of the younger group being three times higher than that of those passing out of the reproductive range.
7. At the present rate of growth, life for most Indians would be unbearable—medical facilities would be difficult to provide, expenses on education, housing, etc. would be exorbitant, technical and professional education would become the exclusive prerogative of the elite, and the scarcity of food would once again plunge more than half of the nation below the poverty line.
The goals of containing India’s population at the level of 1,000 million by the turn of the century and that the population growth rate would decrease to 1.2 per cent per annum by 2000 A.D. have receded beyond redemption. No amount of jugglery with statistics, particularly in relation to the acceptance of contraception by couples, can wish away the harsh reality that India’s population would reach 101 crore by 2000 A.D.