Describe the nature of Population Problem.
Answers
Answered by
2
TThe Government of India and its thoughtful citizens have been aware of the problems posed by the rapid growth of India's population during the past decade and a half; but the adverse economic circumstances of the last two or three years brought home to them, as nothing had done in the past, the disturbing nature of India's population explosion. The psychological climate necessary for the serious implementation of the family-planning program had arrived.
The dimensions and magnitude of India's population problem may be briefly recalled. India's total population passed the 520 million mark in mid-1968. That is, one out of every seven persons in the world is a citizen of India. With only 2.4 percent of the world's total land area, India has to support 14 percent of the world's total population. To this population a baby is born every second and a half, 21 million births a year, a birth rate of 41 per thousand per year. Some 8 million persons die every year-a high death rate of 16 per thousand per year. Thus the nation adds 13 million people- Australia's present population-to the existing population every year. The population is growing at the rate of slightly over 2.5 percent per year. And at the current rate of increase it may double itself in the next 28 years, reaching the incredible figure of one billion before the end of this century.
The major cause of this high rate of growth is not so much the high birth rate as the increasing success, in terms of Asian standards, with which India's health and medical services have been implemented in the last three five-year plans. Major communicable diseases like cholera, malaria and smallpox have been nearly brought under control and measures to eradicate them are now being put into effect. And, in response to these relatively improved health conditions, life expectancy has risen from 32 years in 1950 to 51 years in 1968.
But India has also registered remarkable progress in both the agricultural and industrial sectors during the last 20 years of her political freedom. This progress, far exceeding anything registered during any comparable earlier period, is all the more significant considering the heavy odds and unprecedented problems that the new Government of India had to face, ranging all the way from the forced Hindu migration from Pakistan into India, which involved the settlement and rehabilitation of millions of refugees, to the brief but costly border wars with Communist China and Pakistan. In addition, the food problem has been a cause of considerable anxiety, especially over the past few years.
Although the availability of goods and services has increased threefold over the last decade, their per capita consumption has not increased at all. While this year a partial breakthrough in agricultural production has been achieved, resulting in bumper crops of nearly 100 million tons, compared to about 65 million tons a year in the past few years, the per capita consumption of foodgrains has not markedly increased. As for educational facilities, the number of universities has increased from 16 in 1947 to 67 in 1968, and the liberal arts colleges affiliated to these universities have increased proportionately-an impressive achievement. But thousands of students with the requisite academic credentials continue to find it difficult to secure admission to these colleges. The increased facilities simply do not keep pace with the needs of the growing population. This is true of almost every aspect of life in India.
All this is reflected in the national income figures. India's total national income increased from Rs. 86 billion in 1948-49 to Rs. 149 billion in 1966-67, or an increase of 73.25 percent over a period of nearly two decades. But the per capita income increased during the same period from Rs. 248 to Rs. 297, a meagre 19.76 percent. Not only is India's per capita income today among the lowest in the world, but the rate of increase over two decades of overall national development is remarkably insignificant.
The main reason why the Indian economy continues to be an economy of shortages is the country's excessive population growth. Between mid-1947 when India gained her political freedom and mid-1968 she has added 182.7 million to her total population. Like other underdeveloped countries, India bears witness to the fact that the technology of health and hygiene can be more rapidly transmitted than the technology of production and economic growth. This means that the population increases rapidly as a result of death control, but the increase in the production of food and other necessities does not keep pace.
The dimensions and magnitude of India's population problem may be briefly recalled. India's total population passed the 520 million mark in mid-1968. That is, one out of every seven persons in the world is a citizen of India. With only 2.4 percent of the world's total land area, India has to support 14 percent of the world's total population. To this population a baby is born every second and a half, 21 million births a year, a birth rate of 41 per thousand per year. Some 8 million persons die every year-a high death rate of 16 per thousand per year. Thus the nation adds 13 million people- Australia's present population-to the existing population every year. The population is growing at the rate of slightly over 2.5 percent per year. And at the current rate of increase it may double itself in the next 28 years, reaching the incredible figure of one billion before the end of this century.
The major cause of this high rate of growth is not so much the high birth rate as the increasing success, in terms of Asian standards, with which India's health and medical services have been implemented in the last three five-year plans. Major communicable diseases like cholera, malaria and smallpox have been nearly brought under control and measures to eradicate them are now being put into effect. And, in response to these relatively improved health conditions, life expectancy has risen from 32 years in 1950 to 51 years in 1968.
But India has also registered remarkable progress in both the agricultural and industrial sectors during the last 20 years of her political freedom. This progress, far exceeding anything registered during any comparable earlier period, is all the more significant considering the heavy odds and unprecedented problems that the new Government of India had to face, ranging all the way from the forced Hindu migration from Pakistan into India, which involved the settlement and rehabilitation of millions of refugees, to the brief but costly border wars with Communist China and Pakistan. In addition, the food problem has been a cause of considerable anxiety, especially over the past few years.
Although the availability of goods and services has increased threefold over the last decade, their per capita consumption has not increased at all. While this year a partial breakthrough in agricultural production has been achieved, resulting in bumper crops of nearly 100 million tons, compared to about 65 million tons a year in the past few years, the per capita consumption of foodgrains has not markedly increased. As for educational facilities, the number of universities has increased from 16 in 1947 to 67 in 1968, and the liberal arts colleges affiliated to these universities have increased proportionately-an impressive achievement. But thousands of students with the requisite academic credentials continue to find it difficult to secure admission to these colleges. The increased facilities simply do not keep pace with the needs of the growing population. This is true of almost every aspect of life in India.
All this is reflected in the national income figures. India's total national income increased from Rs. 86 billion in 1948-49 to Rs. 149 billion in 1966-67, or an increase of 73.25 percent over a period of nearly two decades. But the per capita income increased during the same period from Rs. 248 to Rs. 297, a meagre 19.76 percent. Not only is India's per capita income today among the lowest in the world, but the rate of increase over two decades of overall national development is remarkably insignificant.
The main reason why the Indian economy continues to be an economy of shortages is the country's excessive population growth. Between mid-1947 when India gained her political freedom and mid-1968 she has added 182.7 million to her total population. Like other underdeveloped countries, India bears witness to the fact that the technology of health and hygiene can be more rapidly transmitted than the technology of production and economic growth. This means that the population increases rapidly as a result of death control, but the increase in the production of food and other necessities does not keep pace.
Similar questions