Population Explosion

By – Supriya

Next to the People ‘s Republic of China , India is the most populous country in the whole world. In 2011, India, with 1,210,193,422(1.21 billion) people is the second most populous country in the world, while China is on the top with over 1,350,044,605(1.35 billion) people. The figures show that India represents almost 17.31% of the world ‘s population , which means one out of six people on this planet live in India. India occupies 2.4% of the world ‘s land area and supports over 17.5% of the world ‘s population. Although, the crown of the world ‘ s most populous country is on China’s head for decades , India is all set to take the number one position by 2030. With the population growth rate at 1.58% , India is predicted to have more than 1.53 billion people by the end of 2030. In 1952, India was the first country in the world to launch a national programme, emphasizing family planning to the extent necessary for reducing birth rates ” to stabilize the population at a level consistent with the requirements of national economy”. The population of India at that time had been around 342 million . The population comprises 623.7 million males and 586.5 million females , according to a provisional 2011 Census report. China , the most populous nation , accounts for 19.4 percent of the global population. Among the states and Union Territories , Uttar Pradesh is the most populous state with 199 million people and Lakshadweep the least populated at 64429. The combined population of UP and Maharashtra is bigger than that of the US . The Census indicated a continuing preference for male children over female children. The latest child sex ratio is 914 female against 1000 male  – the lowest since Independence. According  to the data, literates constitute 74 percent of the total population aged seven and above. The literacy rate has gone up from 64.83 percent in 2001 to 74.04 percent in 2011 showing an increase of 9.21 percent. Concerned over the possibility of the country ‘ s population touching 1.8 billion by 2045, the government is taking various steps to rein in total fertility rates. The steps taken to stabilize population include the adoption of a National Population Policy , constitution of the National Commission on Population , registration of the National Population Stabilization Fund and constitution of an empowered action group for focused attention on eight demographically weaker states. The immediate objective of the national population policy is to address the unmet needs for contraception , health care infrastructure , and child health care. Most importantly , education is the key to greater awareness in people , which will ultimately control population . This is evident from the fact that Kerala which has an overall literacy population , while Uttar Pradesh which has an overall literacy rate of 57.36% and female literacy rate of 42.98% constitutes 16.49% of the Indian population.
The major cause of this population explosion is the widening gap between the birth and the death rate due to increased medical facilities . Another social cause in India that contributes to the growth of population in India is the low age of marriage . Early marriages should be discouraged at any cost which can be done only through various means such as the television and the cinema. This brings us to another related problem that of high illiteracy rate. Due to illiteracy , measures like family planning get defeated . Education makes people broad – minded , liberal , open to new ideas , logical and rational . It helps to keep away orthodoxy and superstitious thinking . Other causes of population explosion are joint family system , lack of responsibility of the young couples in the joint family to bring up their children, lack of recreational facilities and lack of information. The road is long and sturdy for India but it is not an impossible destination to arrive at. The government has to adopt strict measures like not recruiting the persons having more than two children, spread education and awareness among women etc. People should be made aware of the repercussions of population explosion and if that does not help, fear of law can also be used as a last resort in order to find ways to control the population of the country.

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