6. Joint family system : In India, population growth during 15 year
Had nothing
where social relations in the country-
side are still by and large pre-
capitalist, joint family system is very
much common as it conforms to the
concrete reality of the time. The joint
family system induces young couples
to have children, though they may
not be in a position to support them.
7. Lack of education : Illiteracy is
the mother of all miseries. According
to the 2001 census, 6538 per cent of
the population is literate. The
percentage of literacy among women
is much lower i.e. 54.16 per cent as
compared to 75.85 per cent among
men. Moreover, whatever female
literacy we now have in this country
is largely concentrated in urban areas
and the incidence of female illiteracy
is the highest in large North Indian
states, viz.; Uttar Pradesh, Bihar,
Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. The
education alone can change the
attitudes of the people towards
family, marriage and birth of a child.
So, as long as mass of the population
remains illiterate, it cannot be
exposed to rational and radical ideas
and people will not shed irrational
ideas and religious notions and will
continue to have bigger families even
if it causes deprivation and a low
standard of living.
Indias Population : The
Future
The census of 2001 has shown
that contrary to Registrar Generals
population projections for 19962016,
the rate of population growth was as
high as 1.93 per cent per annum
during the 1930s. Now population
projections for 2006, 2011, and 2016
given in the table below present an
extremely rosy picture.
Population Projections
Average
Population annual
Year Period
in crore growth
rate (%)
2001 10270
2006 11137 200207 163
2011 11944 200712 141
2016 12675 201217 120
Source : Planning Commission, Tenth
Five Year Plan, 200207.
These population projections
assume sharp decline in the rate of
PD/August/2007/347
knowledge has grown.
period from 2002 to 2017. In
underdeveloped countries like Sri
Lanka and China annual rate of
population growth has already been
brought down to 12 per cent.
Therefore, if the planning commis-
sion assumes that by 201217, the rate
of population growth would decline
in India to 12 per cent per annum, it
seems a fairly realistic assumption.
However, India still does not satisfy
the conditions which China and Sri
Lanka have created to bring down the
rate of population growth. In both
China and Sri Lanka, adult literacy
was over 84 per cent in 2000. Against
this literacy rate in India was 57 per
cent. Given the neglect of education
in India, we may not accomplish
literacy levels of China and Sri Lanka
even by 2017. Moreover, in Indias
conservative society contraceptive
prevalence is 41 per cent against 85
per cent in China and 62 per cent in
Sri Lanka. Thus a sharp decline in the
rate of population growth in India
during the next 1415 years does not
seem to be realisable and population
projections assuming low states of
population growth seem to be
unrealistic.
Far Reaching Bad Conse-
quences
1. Low economic development :
The population explosion is a
concrete reality in India and its
implications are considered to be
serious for the future economic
development of the country. The
countrys existing population is an
obstacle to economic development.
Further growth in population will
result in an additional burden on the
economy in the sense that it will
make larger demand on resources for
unproductive consumption, leaving
little for productive purposes. Hence,
population in India is the major
constraint on its economic deve-
lopment.
2. Declining land-man ratio :
According to the 2001 census, the
density of population in the country
was 324 per sq. km as against 117 per
sq. km in 1951. This increase in
density of population may look
alarming, if one makes the
assumption that over the years,
neither the utilisable resources have
increased, nor the technological
of this sort happened, the population
growth would have been disastrous
for the country. In 1991, 55 crore
people were dependent on agricul-
ture, as against 252 crore in 1951. No
doubt in all these years some new
land has been brought under
cultivation. Nevertheless, per capita
cultivable land has declined. Presen-
tly, it is a little less than 017 hectare,
as compared to 033 hectare in 1951.
3. Adverse impact on employ-
ment situation : Indias rapidly
increasing population has caused a
large scale unemployment and
underemployment. Because of the
failure of the secondary and tertiary
sectors to expand employment
opportunities at a fast rate, more and
more people have to fall back on
agriculture to eke out a living.
4. Adverse impact on per capita
income and standard of living : The
dependency burden in India is
greater than in the developed
countries, since the working force in
the former is required to support
almost twice as many children as they
do in the latter countries.
Steps/Measures to Control
Population Explosion
To deal with the present popu-
lation problem, three fold measures
would be required :
1. Economic measures :
(a) Expansion of the industrial
sector.
(b) Creation of employment opp-
ortunities in urban areas.
(c) Equitable distribution of
income and removal of poverty.
2. Social measures :
Right education can only change
the attitude of a person towards
family, marriage and the number of
children he should have. The status of
women in the society also affects the
birth rate.
3. The family planning programme :
(a) Public Information Program-
meUnder this programme couples
in the reproductive age are explained
the usefulness of family planning.
Once the idea of family planning
catches up the imagination of the
people, they will themselves volunta-
rily start practising it.
Continued on Page 352