1.3 Billion and Counting

Overpopulation is a serious problem in India...... it is the second most populous country in the world, and its population alone accounts for 17% of the world’s total population. A short analysis of this problem by our frequent blogger Yami Malhotra.

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A still of the crowd in India during a political rally.

WHY IS INDIA SO DENSELY POPULATED?

• The birth rate outnumbers the death rate. The death rates have declined over the years, but it’s not the same in the case of birth rates.

• Early marriage is still a problem which mostly females tackle as illiteracy is still prevalent in almost all parts of the country. Parents often believe in spending money in getting their girl child married off instead of spending it on her education.

• Due to poverty and illiteracy, citizens are often uninformed of contraceptive and birth control methods.

• India is a patriarchal society therefore, if a girl child is not killed after birth, parents can end up having many children just for one male child.

WHAT ARE THE CONSEQUENCES OF OVERPOPULATION?

Overpopulation leads to a chain of problems which are mostly linked together.

• Illiterate citizens may not be aware of the benefits of education and may not want their children to go to school.

• It’s true that sometimes industries require unskilled labour, but the competition to get in still remains high because there are less jobs and a larger workforce. But if a person is illiterate, they are more likely to remain unemployed or underpaid.

• Unemployment leads to poverty as a person cannot make sufficient money to make both ends meet and make a living. Eventually they would not have enough money to send their children to school as feeding them is a challenge enough. This would mean that their children would get trapped in this vicious cycle too.

• Resources are poorly utilised. As the population increases, so does the demand for land. This leads to the exploitation of water resources and forest resources.

• Resources are accumulated only in a few hands and are distributed vaguely. There is a wide gap between the rich and poor which is tough to bridge because the rich citizens are often unwilling to share their wealth and resources with the poor citizens.

• Overpopulation leads to global warming because industries grow along with the population in order to cater to their needs.

• Recently, the food production and distribution have not been able to keep up with the demand of the people which has led to inflation.

SO WHAT CAN WE DO IN ORDER TO CONTROL OVERPOPULATION?

One cannot implement and execute plans unless it comes from the government itself but all a person can do is suggest, hoping it might work someday. Before talking about how to control overpopulation, what should be discussed is, what to do with the population we have RIGHT NOW.

• Since the illiteracy rate in India still remains high, the government should recruit illiterate citizens for infrastructural activities especially in the rural areas (like building schools, roads and medical facilities) and be paid under the NREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005).

• The distribution of contraceptives and condoms among the poor should be made free.

• More awareness regarding pregnancy should be spread especially among the illiterate citizens.

• The government should plan on enforcing a One Child Policy in India which should not affect those who were born before the policy would be implemented.

• Male and female sterilisation is also an option but, population control should not harm members of the country.

• At last, one can only suggest, but the final decision lies with the government to implement it and execute it.

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Written By Yami Malhotra