TABLE OF CONTENTS

India: Population and Dynamics: 2

Components of Population Growth 3
Birth Rate 3
Death Rate 3
Migration 3
Increase in population in India: 4
Causes of High Population: 4
Effects of Overpopulation: 4
1. Social: 5
2. Economic: 5
3. Political: 6
4. Environmental: 6
5. Health 6
Demographic Dividend: 6
Demographic Disaster: 7
Population and Poverty: 8
Population Control 8
Population Policy 9
Family Planning: 10
Population Policy in India: 11
Conclusion 12
 POPULATION AND ASSOCIATED

ISSUES

The people are a very important component of a country. They are its real wealth. It is
they who make use of its resources and decide its policies. Ultimately a country is
known by its people. Thus a country’s population is the total number of people living in it
at a particular point of time.
Population of the country continually changes due to birth and death rate and relocation
of families in search of better sources of income and livelihood. The global population
has seen a steep (near vertical) rise in the last half a century.
It is expected that in the near future, it will increase rapidly and give birth to numerous
issues in the least developed regions. It is recommended that there is a desperate need
to take urgent steps to control population otherwise serious problems can arise such as
environmental damage and restricted availability of food resources.
Constant growth of population is a major issue and therefore it is significant to
understand how policy makers can manage population growth for the benefit of society.

Demography

Demography is the science of population derived from the Latin word ‘demos’ which
means people. It
is concerned with the quantitative study of the size, structure, characteristics and
territorial distribution of human populations and the changes that occur to them. Also
concerned with the study of underlying causes or determinants of population
phenomenon. Demographic study gives the capability of the territory to accommodate
different populations in different points of time.

India: Population and Dynamics:

● The size and growth of population are two important components of the
demographic phenomena in developing countries like India.
● Between 1901-1951 the average annual growth rate did not exceed 1.33%, a
modest rate of growth.
● In fact between 1911 and 1921 there was a negative rate of growth of – 0.03%.
This was because of the influenza epidemic during 1918-19 which killed about
12.5 million persons or 5% of the total population of the country. The growth rate
 of population substantially increased after independence from British rule going
up to 2.2% during 1961-1981. Since then although the annual growth rate has
decreased it remains one of the highest in the developing world. According to
census 2011, the annual growth rate of the census is 1.3%.
According to 2011 census (a decennial official count of the population)
data:
● Indian population comprises 62.31 crores males and 58.74 crores females.
● 68.85 per cent of the total population lived in the rural areas as compared to
31.15 per cent in the urban areas.
● The population density is 382 persons per sq. km.
● Sex ratio of females is 943 females per 1000 males.
● Child sex ratio for females is 919 per 1000 males.
● Population in the age group of 0-6 years is 13.6 percent of the total population.

India added 18.19 crores to its absolute population in ten years between the 2001 and
2011 census which is approximately a decadal growth rate of 17.7 per cent. The rural
and urban population grew at 12.3 and 31.8 per cent (decadal) respectively.

Components of Population Growth

Birth Rate
Most commonly used indicator of birth rate is crude Birth rate. Generally expressed in
the number of live births per 1000. According to demographic transition theory birth rate
remains high for a nation from its under developed to developing phase. According to
the 2011 census, it is around 21.8% in India.

Factors that contribute to lower rate of decline in birth rate are:

● Customs of early marriage.
● Preference for male Child. Dominance of Patriarchal values.
● Dependency of Women.
● High rates of Illiteracy.

Death Rate
Death rate or mortality is measured through crude death rate, expectation of life at birth,
infant mortality rate and maternal mortality rate. There would be absolute growth in
population if the death rate is lower than the birth rate. Up to 1921, the crude death
rates had been quite high , around 40-50 per thousand populations. From 1911-21 to
1971- SI in a period of 60 years the average annual death rate declined from 48.6 per
thousand to 14.9 per thousand. And in census 2011 it was at around 7.
Increased control over famines and epidemic diseases due to improvement in medical
cure, programs for mass vaccination and efforts to improve sanitation has helped in
controlling epidemics and thus bringing down the mortality. One of the main factors
responsible for the growth of population is the declining death rates have not been
accompanied by corresponding decline in birth rates.

Migration
Migration can be defined broadly as permanent or semi permanent change of
residence. Migration plays a very important role in the distribution of population in the
country and is a response of humans to economic , social and demographic forces in
the environment. Four types of migration streams are Rural to Rural, Rural to Urban,
Urban to Urban and Urban to rural.

Migration can be caused by the following factors:

● Economic Factor:
■ It may lead to push and pull factors. Poverty, low productivity,
unemployment, exhaustion of natural resources are some of the push
factors. Similarly pull factors like opportunities which may be of better
employment, better working conditions and better amenities of life.
● Political Factor:
■ Some political parties in Maharashtra follow sons of soil policy which leads
to forced migration. Similar policies are visible in Tamil Nadu and few other
places.
● Social Factors:
■ It includes marriage induced migration. Sometimes even caste and
communal violence forces the victims to shift to new places.

Increase in population in India:

Causes of High Population:

● Demographic: Improvement in health conditions and control of diseases due

to advancement in medical conditions has led to decline in death rate but birth
rate has not decreased by a large margin.
● Economic: Economically weaker states often are the leaders in population
growth, attesting the theory that economic status of family is inversely
proportional to number of children.
 ● Education: It is closely linked with fertility rates. Less educated families are at
least informed or ignorant of the latest family planning techniques.
● Social: Desirability of male children, a common social practice in patriarchal
societies like India, can lead to high and skewed birth rates.
● Natural Calamities: India has advanced in science and which has helped in
preventing occurrence of any natural calamities unlike between 1911-21.
● Age of Marriage: Lower age of marriage is also considered an important
factor towards increase in birth rates.
● Cultural: Cultural barriers against use of contraceptives in various regions and
religions can also influence the population size.

Effects of Overpopulation:

Overpopulation is a serious threat to our own existence, India is now home to 1.4 billion
and is expected to grow 1.8 billion before stabilizing around the middle of the century, if
sufficient measures are taken. It leads to political, societal and economic problems such
as inequitable resource distribution, poor living conditions, failure of health infrastructure
and others. Excessive population leads to dysfunctionality of working institutions, dents
all plans to improve the country’s infrastructure, and renders social welfare initiatives
ineffective.

1. Social:
● Crime:
■ Population explosion has direct correlation with poverty and due to
resource constraints and lack of employment opportunities leads to
unemployment. Unemployment in turn leads to frustration and anger
among the educated youth, who are drawn to social crimes such as
robbery, beggary, prostitution, murder etc. The terrorist activities that we
see today in various parts of the country, for example Jammu and
Kashmir, is a reflection of the frustration among educated unemployed
youth.
● Minority-Majority Divide:
■ Overpopulation in certain communities can give rise to fears of their
dominance over the minorities and loss of identity.

Thus it can create fissures in the social fabric on the basis of religion and foment
communalism.
2. Economic:
● Unemployment:
■ Overpopulation results in a huge army of labor force, but due to the
shortage of capital resources it becomes difficult to provide gainful
employment to the entire working population. Disguised unemployment in
rural areas and open unemployment in urban areas is distinctly visible.
● Resource Scarcity:
■ Overpopulation directly leads to over exploitation of natural resources and
deterioration and degradation of the environment. Population in India has
grown geometrically whereas the resources are either fixed or have grown
arithmetically causing resource scarcity.
● Unequal Income Distribution:
■ Overpopulation affects the investment requirement and capital formation
of the government which is affecting the overall development work of the
government. The situation is compounded by unemployment, inequitable
distribution of food, rising poverty which are the main reasons behind the
rise of inequitable distribution of wealth.
● Poverty:
■ Unemployment, unequal distribution of income and resource scarcity all
lead to pauperization of the people.

3. Political:
● Economic and societal aspects of a country influence its polity. The rising
unemployment, poverty , inequitable distribution of money affects the law and
order situation in the country. Also due to illiteracy political parties play caste
politics and lead to disintegration of the country.

4. Environmental:
● Overpopulation is exerting pressure on land and the per capita availability of land
is diminishing. Population explosion has led to environmental degradation, in the
form of pollution, loss of biodiversity, global warming, among others. The forest
and agricultural land is decreasing at a faster rate. The effects of overpopulation
are already being seen in metropolitan cities like Delhi, which is reeling under air
pollution.
 5. Health
● Overpopulation is one of the major factors influencing the health of the people.
The increase in population has led to issues like urban crowding and
environmental changes that have resulted in the emergence of many infectious
diseases. Population growth adds to the inability of governments to scale up
health care systems and facilities.

Demographic Dividend:

India’s 51% of the population of 1.1 billion people is under 25 and two-thirds under 35. It
is believed India’s ‘youth bulge’, believed to last until 2050, could turn out to be its
greatest asset (demographic dividend)- or a demographic disaster if the government
fails to provide education and jobs for its burgeoning workforce. India has hit the “tipping
point” where a large number of young workers entering the labor force could unleash
major economic gains by boosting savings and investment.

If the unique opportunity presented by India’s demography is utilized, it can have

following benefits:
● The energy and vibrancy of youth would give a cutting edge to India’s economy,
science and technology because of the youth’s capacity to take risks and
innovative ideas.
● The share of the working age population in the total population of India is
expected to be around 65% till 2050.
● It is seen that states with higher growth in the working age population have
grown faster than others.
● It is believed demographic dividend could add 2% points per annum to India’s per
capita GDP growth.
● The dependency ratio will be less thus India would benefit from the savings,
investment from the large labor force.

Demographic Disaster:

However, the social cohesion may be badly affected if the economic gains are not
inclusive, not able to provide jobs and able to raise the living standards of the youth.
Lack of education, job opportunities and health care could muddle this rosy picture
present in the foregoing discussion on demographic dividend. An unskilled,
under-utilized, frustrated young population can derail the economic growth leading to a
demographic disaster which could undermine harmony and breed violence.
 ● On the education front the report card is abysmal and the literacy levels lag
behind many developing countries including sub Saharan Africa. The education
system is mired in corruption and the teacher absenteeism rate of 25% is the
second highest in the world behind only Uganda. According to the Pratham
report, only around 50% of fifth grade students can read books of class two and
fail in basic addition and subtraction.
● Similarly, the health infrastructure is poor and the number of malnourished
children is around 48% who tomorrow are going to be part of this demographic
dividend.
● India added the fewest organized jobs in the last seven years across eight
industries in the last few years. Contribution from unorganized sector jobs in
2017 will rise to 93% and 60% of those with jobs did not find employment for the
whole year which indicates chronic underemployment.
● Automation is becoming the next big threat to our labor force as Mckinsey
pointed out that 50-60% of the IT workforce is going to become irrelevant. The
effects are getting visible already as our bellwether IT sector is laying off people
and freezing recruitment. Also Indians in the US looking for jobs has gone up by
10 fold.
● Formation of the company is slowest and at the rate as was in 2009 and the
existing ones growing at 2%, the lowest in many years.
● By 2045 it is believed that we are going to produce more unproductive than
productive and we will have more unemployment than unemployed. We have
been in the ‘demographic dividend’ state for two decades now and we are going
to enter into a ‘demographic nightmare’ state in two decades now.
Thus to ensure this demographic dividend does not turn into a demographic disaster,
the only solution is to ensure more jobs in the services and manufacturing space, and
need to move towards reforming the education system. The ill effects of low job creation
are already apparent with an increase in the number of violent protests, rise in terrorism
and other law and order situations.

Population and Poverty:

● The rapid growth of population aggravates the poverty of people as the growth of
population exceeds the rate of growth in national income. Population growth not
only creates difficulty in the removal of poverty but also lowers the per capita
income which tends to increase poverty. The burden of this reduction in per
capita income is borne heavily by the poor people. Vice versa poverty also leads
to population explosion as explained earlier.
● With little access to health care and education, the next generation is likely to
repeat the cycle. Poverty affects their socio-economic development which is seen
as one of the major causes for population growth.
 Population Control
Increasing the welfare and status of women and girls, spread of education, increasing
awareness for the use of contraceptives and family planning methods, sex education,
encouraging male sterilization and spacing births, free distribution of contraceptives and
condoms among the poor, encouraging female empowerment, more health care centers
for the poor, to name a few, can play a major role in controlling population.
India’s strengths in the global world in various fields cannot be ignored, whether in
science & technology, medicine and health care, business and industry, military,
communication, entertainment, literature and many more. Experts are hopeful that by
increasing public awareness and enlisting strict population control norms by the
Government will definitely lead the way for the country’s economic prosperity and
control of population.
● Social Measure: Population outburst is considered to be a social problem
and it is intensely rooted in civilization. It is therefore necessary to make efforts to
eliminate the social iniquities in the country. Minimum age of Marriage: As fertility
depends on the age of marriage therefore the minimum age of marriage should
be raised. In India the minimum age for marriage is 21 years for men and 18
years for women fixed by law. This law should be strongly implemented and
people should also be made aware of this through promotion.
● Raising the Status of Women: There are prevalent biases to women.
They are restricted to houses. They are still confined to rearing and bearing
children. So women should be given opportunities to develop socially and
economically. Free education should be given to them.
● Spread education: The spread of education changes the views of people.
The educated men take mature decisions and prefer to delay marriage and adopt
small family customs. Educated women are health mindful and avoid frequent
pregnancies and thus help in lowering birth rate.
● Adoption: is also an effective way to curb population. Some parents do not
have any children, despite expensive medical treatment. It is recommended that
they should adopt orphan children. It will be helpful to orphan children and
children to couples.
● Social Security: is necessary for people. It is the responsibility of the
government to include more and more people under-social security schemes. So
that they do not depend upon others in the event of old age, sickness,
unemployment with these facilities they will have no desire for more children.
● Economic Measures: There has to be numerous economic measures taken
as a preventive measure for population explosion. Government must devise
policies for more employment opportunities. It is necessary to raise the
employment opportunities in rural as well as urban areas. Generally in rural
areas there is disguised joblessness. Another economic measure for population
 control is the development of Agriculture and Industry. If agriculture and industry
are correctly developed, a huge number of people will get employment. When
their income is increased they would enhance their standard of living and accept
small family norms. Good standard of living is a deterrent to large family norms.
In order to maintain their enhanced standard of living, people prefer to have a
small family.
● Urbanization: process can reduce population increase. It is reported that
people in urban areas have a lower birth rate than those living in rural areas.
Urbanization should be encouraged.
● There is a need to follow strict birth control measures such as China has
adopted the strategy to decrease the birth rate. But it is not possible to reduce
technological advancements to decrease the death rate in India. In order to
reduce the birth rate, several government-funded agencies like the Family
Planning Association of India spend excessive funds to promote family planning
as a basic human right and the norm of a two-child family on a voluntary basis.

Population Policy
UNEP defines population policy as an effort to affect the size, structure and distribution
or characteristics of the population. India has the distinction of being the first country in
the world to have a fully government-supported family planning programme. This is not
an overnight development. The foundations were laid in the early part of the twentieth
century.

India’s population policy aims to enhance the quality of life and increase individual
happiness. The objectives of population policy are:

● To influence the rate and pattern of population growth in socially desirable

directions.
● Decreasing mortality.
● Decreasing birth rate
● Creating awareness among the masses regarding consequences of galloping
population.
● Procuring necessary contraceptives.

Family Planning:

● According to WHO, family planning is a way of thinking and living that is adopted
voluntarily, upon the basis of knowledge, attitudes and responsible decisions by
 individuals and couples, in order to promote the health and welfare of the family
group and thus contribute effectively to the social development of the country.
● At the level of the family, family planning implies having only the desired number
of children. Thus family planning implies both limitation of the family to a number
considered appropriate to the resources of the family as well as proper spacing
between the children. The adoption of family planning, obviously, requires
conscious efforts made by the couple to control conception.
● As a social movement, family planning implies an organized effort by a group of
people to initiate change in the childbearing practices of the people by creating a
favorable atmosphere.
● A family planning programme involves a coordinated group of activities,
maintained over a period of time, and aimed at fostering a change in the
childbearing behavior of the females.
The various components of the family planning programme are:
● Information, Education and Communication Activities,
● Contraceptives: Supplies and Services,
● Training of Personnel,
● Research, and
● Administrative Infrastructure.
The family planning programme in India aims at the welfare of the family.

Population Policy in India:

● After independence, a Population Policy Committee was created in 1952 which

suggested the appointment of a Family Planning Research and Programmes
Committee in 1953.
● A Central Family Planning Board was created in 1956 which emphasized
sterilization. Up till 1960s a rigid policy was not adopted to arrest the fast growth
of population. The policy framed in 1951-52 was ad hoc in nature, flexible, and
based on a trial and error approach.
● In 1961-71, the population growth rate was 2.25% which was highest in any
decade after independence. At present (2001-2011), the population growth rate
has declined to 1.50%.
● In April 1976, the First National Population Policy was framed by the Union
Ministry of Health and Family Planning which suggested a wide spectrum of
programmes including raising the statutory age of marriage, introducing
monetary incentives, paying special attention to improving female literacy, etc.
● The 1990s, however, witnessed a marked shift in the approach of family planning
programmes in the country. The early years of the decade had seen
intensification of women’s movement, both within and outside the country, in
 reaction to the overwhelming responsibilities imposed on women in family
planning programmes for achieving fertility reduction.
● The National Population Policy 2000 provided a comprehensive framework to
provide the reproductive and health needs of the people of India for the next ten
years.The policy aimed to integrate education, Panchayati Raj Institution, women
empowerment, community initiative in the domain of population control. It
replaces the word family planning by family welfare.

Objectives:
● The immediate objective of the NPP is to address the unmet needs for
contraception, health care infrastructure, and health personnel.
● It also aims to provide integrated service delivery for basic reproductive and child
health care.
● The medium-term objective is to bring the Total fertility Rate (TFR) to
replacement levels (TFR of 2.1) by 2010, by implementing inter-sectoral
operational strategies.
● The long-term objective is to achieve a stable population by 2045, at a level
consistent with the requirements of sustainable economic growth, social
development, and environmental protection.

Conclusion
● To summarize, population escalation is a major issue around the world which has
adverse impact on numerous environmental and human health problems.
Population growth continues to increase in the world at a fast pace. As the
population enlarges, many experts are concerned about its dangerous results.
● The growth rate of population is a function of migration, birth rate and death rate
in a country. The change in population caused by net migration as a proportion of
total population of the country is almost insignificant and, therefore, can be easily
ignored. That leaves us with the birth rate and death rate.
● The difference between the birth rate and the death rate measures the growth
rate of the population. Over populated regions need more resources. Population
explosion causes deforestation for food production, urban overcrowding and the
spread of horrible diseases.
● The effective way to stop population growth is to implement family planning
policies but the exact way to achieve that has created a great deal of
disagreement. There is a need for a more focused approach in particular regions
which still suffer from high population growth rate.