POPULATION EXPLOSION
Population explosion refers to the rapid and dramatic rise in world population that has occurred over the last few hundred years. Population Explosion defined as a significant number of people staying in the individual area. It is a huge problem in India. In fact, in all over the world, it is increasing, especially in the poorer countries it is developing. During the 1951 Census, the Population increased by 361 million. During the 2011 Census, the Population increased by 1.21 billion.
Population Explosion is a big issue in the developing country. No one people are following the right step to control the Population, even the government of India is not leading proper rules and regulation for control the Population Explosion. It causes many problems among people.
Prime Minister highlighted “population explosion” and underscored the need for “social awareness” to deal with this concern while addressing the nation on 73rd Independence Day.
Total Fertility Rate
The National Total Fertility Rate (TFR) is estimated to be still marginally higher than the replacement rate. The latest estimates (for 2017) by the Sample Registration System (SRS) under the Registrar General of India (RGI) has pegged the country’s TFR at 2.2, marginally more than the replacement rate which stands at 2.1.TFR measures the number of children born to a woman at the end of childbearing age. Replacement Rate is the average number of children a woman needs to have to keep the population at a constant size.
States with higher TFR
Seven states have recorded a higher TFR than the national average of 2.2 — Uttar Pradesh (3.0), Bihar (3.2), Madhya Pradesh (2.7), Rajasthan (2.6), Assam (2.3), Chhattisgarh (2.4) and Jharkhand (2.5) — that account for about 45% of the total population in the 2011 Census. Gujarat and Haryana, too, recorded a TFR of 2.2, which is above the replacement rate but is equal to the national average.
States with lower TFR
Relatively well-off states in the south — Kerala (1.7), Tamil Nadu (1.6), Karnataka (1.7), Maharashtra (1.7), Andhra Pradesh (1.6) and Telangana (1.7) — demonstrate fertility rates and TFR below the rate required for population replacement, West Bengal (1.6), Jammu and Kashmir (1.6) and Odisha (1.9), too, were estimated to have lower TFRs in 2017.
Reasons for trends in TFR
The latest report of 2017 underlined that the TFR has declined from 5.2 to 4.5 between 1971 and 1981 and from 3.6 to 2.2 between 1991 and 2017.Trends vary along the rural-urban divide as well as the literacy levels of women. The SRS reveals that while an “illiterate” woman is likely to give birth to 2.9 children on average, a “literate” woman will produce fewer (2.1) children. The TFR for a woman with education levels of a graduate or above is 1.4 children. Likewise, urban areas have been usually found to have a lower TFR than rural areas. This decline in fertility rates is also reflected in the total population growth recorded in the Census. The decadal population growth in the intervening period between the 2001 Census and the 2011 Census has seen a decline after the 1971 Census.
India population growth is briefly classified into four periods
1. Period of stagnant growth rate (before 1921)
2. Period of steady growth rate (1921 - 1951)
3. Period of rapid growth rate (1951 - 1981)
4. Period of declining growth rate (after 1981)
Factors determining population growth
The basic factors determining population growth are
1. Birth rate
2. Death rate
3. Migration
a) Out-migration (Emigration)
b) In-migration (Immigration)
Birth Rate:
Birth rate has a positive influence on growth of population. Higher the birth rate, higher will be the growth of population.
The birth rate depends on the following factors:
- The age of marriage
- The rapidity of child birth
- Social customs, beliefs and traditional norms.
- Illiteracy and ignorance of controlling births.
- Better health facilities - lead to higher birth rate.
Death Rate:
Lower the death rate, higher will be the population growth and vice versa. High death rates may be due to hunger, starvation, malnutrition, epidemics, lack of proper medical and sanitary facilities. On the other hand, low death rates may be the result of better diet, pure drinking water, improved hospital facilities, control of epidemics and contagious diseases and better sanitation, control over famines, Expansion of medical facilities, Decline in Infant mortality.
Factors affecting the Distribution and Density of Population:
India is the second most populous country of the world after China. The distribution of population is generally studied in terms of density. The density of population in India is not uniform. On the basis of density of population. India can be divided into three broad regions of high density, the areas of moderate density and the areas of low density. The factors which affect density and distribution can be grouped into two categories. They are physical factors and socio-economic factors. There is a range of natural factors and human factors that affect population distribution and density.
Adverse effects of overcrowding in urban areas:
1. Slum proliferation
2. Violence against vulnerable
3. Loss of confidence in Government
4. Poverty, deprivation, illiteracy, Malnutrition
5. Epidemic (Spreading of diseases)
Cause:
High Birth Rate:
There are several causes of high birth rate in India.
1. Firstly, poverty is main cause as poor people consider children as assets who help them to supplement family income even at the tender age.
2. Secondly, illiteracy among the rural people has been traditionally an important reason. Due to high infant mortality rate, people were encouraged to have more children in last century.
3. Thirdly, attitude towards having a male child resulted in high birth rate. Fourthly, early marriage results in long child bearing capacity and causes high birth rate. Universality of marriage in India also supplements this reason.
Social and Religious reasons
In India, every person has to marry because marriage is a compulsory institution as per social norms. In joint family system, nobody feels individual responsibility and everybody has access to equal level of consumption. Therefore, people do not hesitate to increase the size of the family.
Most of the people think that at least one male child should be born in the family. In the expectation of getting a male child, they go on increasing the family size.
Poverty
Poverty is another cause which contributes to the increase in population. Children are source for income of the family. The children at a very young age help their parents in work, instead of going to school and thus prove to be an asset for the family. Every additional child will become an earning member and thus supplement the family income. Impoverished families have this notion that more the number of members in the family, more will be the numbers to earn income.
Standard of living
People whose standard of living is low tend to have more children because an additional child is considered as an asset rather than a liability. Since a majority of the population is uneducated, they are unable to understand the need for family planning. They are unaware that a smaller size of family will help them enjoy a better standard of living.
Illiteracy
A major part of the population (about 60%) in India is either illiterate or has the minimum education. This leads them to accept minimal work in which they cannot even support themselves. Unemployment and under employment further lead to poverty. Moreover due to the prevalence of higher rate of illiteracy, there is widespread ignorance in the form of social customs and beliefs like early marriage and preference for a male child. As a result, there is high rate of population growth in the country.
Effects of Population Explosion in India
Unemployment:
Generating employment for a huge population in a country like India is very difficult. The number of illiterate persons increases every year. Unemployment rate is thus showing an increasing trend.
Manpower utilization:
The number of jobless people is on the rise in India due to economic depression and slow business development and expansion activities.
Pressure on infrastructure:
Development of infrastructure facilities is unfortunately not keeping pace with the growth of population. The result is lack of transportation, communication, housing, education, health care etc. There has been an increase in the number of slums, overcrowded houses, traffic congestion etc.
Resource utilization:
Land areas, water resources, forests are over exploited. There is also scarcity of resources.
Decreased production and increased costs:
Food production and distribution have not been able to catch up with the increasing population and hence the costs of production have increased. Inflation is the major consequence of over population.
Inequitable income Distribution:
In the face of an increasing population, there is an unequal distribution of income and inequalities within the country widen.
Poor standard of living:
• Growth of population affects the standard living.
• In spite of development in industry and agriculture high growth of population affects the standard of living.
Basic amenities:
High growth of population hinders the efforts of the government in providing basic amenities like drinking water, education, public health etc.
Homeless / Slums:
High growth of population leads to overcrowding of cities and proliferation of slums/ homeless
Increasing Crime Rate / Law and order problems
Growth in population leads to rise of crime and increase in violence in urban & semi urban areas.
Human deprivation Index (measure of multi dimension poverty):
The human deprivation Index which is measured based on 5 parameters pukka housing, safe drinking water, electricity, sanitation (toilets) and fuel for cooking.
The human deprivation is very high because of lack of people housing safe drinking water etc.
Population Control in India-Remedial Measures:
Large size of population is a challenge for India's economic development and is needs to be addressed. The growing population problem calls for a definite population policy and its effective implementation.
There are several remedial measures to control population.
1. Firstly, the late marriages should be encouraged to reduce the period of reproduction among the females, bringing down the birth rate.
2. Secondly, self-restraint due to spread of awareness and education can help in combating high rise in population. Increased consciousness towards better standard of life comes due to education and awareness and induces people to reduce their family size.
3. Thirdly, Infant Mortality Rate should be brought down. People produce many children when Infant Mortality Rate is high, so that they can offset the loss due to premature death of their offspring.
4. Fourthly, women should be treated on par with their male counterparts. Education among women should be encouraged to make them financially independent. Working women prefer small size families.
5. Fifthly, more planned families should be covered under social security schemes. Children are born in India in a hope that they would take care of parents in old age. An increased social security net will lessen the desire to produce children as old age insurance.
6. Sixthly, the availability of cheap devices of birth control should be in place.
As fertility depends on the age of marriage. So, the minimum age of marriage should be raised.
In India minimum age for marriage is 21 years for men and 18 years for women has be fixed by law. This law should be firmly implemented and people should also be made aware of this through publicity.
So, women should be given opportunities to develop socially and economically.
Free education should be given to them. The spread of education changes the outlook of people. The educated men prefer to delay marriage and adopt small family norms. Educated women are health conscious and avoid frequent pregnancies’ and thus help in lowering birth rate.
The polygamy became illegal in India in 1956, uniformly for all of its citizens except for Muslims, who are permitted to have four wives and for Hindus in Goa where bigamy is legal. A polygamous Hindu marriage is null and void. Following Uniform Civil Code will control the population growth Rate.
Population Policy
India was the first developing country to adopt a population policy and to launch a nationwide family planning programme in 1952. The main objective of the population policy is to ensure that there is reasonable gap between the fall of death and birth rates. Population policy refers to the efforts made by any Government to control and change the population structure.
Difficulties in implementation of Family Planning Programme in India
Poverty:
The majority of the Indian population is poor. They cannot incur expenses on the preventive measures of family planning. Contrary to it, they prefer more children as these are expected to contribute to the income of the family.
Illiteracy:
The greatest obstacle in the way of the family planning is the wide spread illiteracy found in India. Due to illiteracy the majority of the population does not know the significance of family planning. They will not be able to understand the significance of family planning till they are educated.
Fatalist:
Most of the people in India are fatalist. They regard every child as the gift of God. They believe that children are born with one mouth and two hands. They do not believe in the worth of family planning.
Religious Opposition:
Some people regard family planning anti-religious and an immoral act. They oppose the family planning.
Lack of Finance:
The movement of population control measures has not yet reached to every nook and corner of the country. Sufficient funds are required to propagate and implement the message of family planning. But the requisite funds are not available.
Lack of Cheap and Effective Methods:
In India there is lack of cheap and effective methods of birth control. There is inadequacy of population control research center. There are several reasons for this. There is no mechanization whereby the result of research is actually transmitted to the administrators and policy makers.
Shortage of Trained Staff:
There is shortage of trained staff including doctors and nurses. In India, there are only two doctors for every 10 thousand population. The shortage of trained manpower and inadequacy of motivation of the staff are also responsible for the poor performance of the policy of family planning.
POSSIBLE QUESTIONS FROM POPULATION EXPLOSION:
1. Examine whether growing population is the cause of poverty or poverty is the main cause of population increase in India.
2.Overpopulation puts burden on limited economic resources. Discuss challenges faced by India in controlling population growth? What effect does COVID 19 have on population control?
3.Write a note on total fertility rate.
4.India to exceed the population of china by 2025, Discuss and Conclude it is boon or ban? What are the preventive measure to control population India?
5.Describe mitigation malnutrition in India and how it plays role in population?
6.Explain the stability of Population explosion and Factors affecting and influencing population explosion.
7.Explain world population day and it's background. What are the measures Indian govt has taken to control population in India?
8.What is the reason for the large-scale population explosion in India?
