All about India
Political Impacts
-
Conflicts over Land for Agriculture
An impact of the high population of India is the decreasing amount of arable land for agriculture. With plots of arable land depleting, conflicts arise between farmers for land. An example is a protest that occurred in 2010 due to unhappiness of farmers over the government’s proposal to use the land for the expansion of industries. The farmers were unable to reach a peaceful agreement over the use of plots of land, leading up to the eventual protest against the government for not ensuring that workers involved in agriculture have enough land for stable living. To find out more about the various conflicts occurring in India, click here.
-
Conflicts over Water
In Indian cities, water conflicts often take place due to its scarcity. As the population grows rapidly, the supply of water is unable to meet the demand as service provision is inefficient and groundwater is depleted and polluted. A country is considered water-stressed if it has less than 1,700 cubic meters per person per year. However, with a population of 1.27 billion, India has less than 1,000 cubic meters of water per person per year (The National Bureau of Asian Research for the Senate India Caucus, 2013). This shows that water constraints in India is a very significant problem due to rapid population growth and has since resulted in many conflicts. Examples of such conflicts include the Krishna-Godavari water dispute, the Cauvery water dispute and the Ravi-Beas water dispute. Also, conflicts take place between India and other countries due to the scarcity of water. One example is the ongoing conflict between India and Pakistan over water which caused them to engage in three major wars and countless other skirmishes and diplomatic rows. To see more about how water pollution in India adds on to the strain on water resources, click here. To learn more about the various conflicts in India, click here.
Social Impacts
-
Decreasing Amount of Resources
As the population of India increases, the amount of resources does not follow the same trend. Instead, resources are rapidly being used up, causing the total amount of resources in India as well as the amount of resources available per person to keep decreasing, leading to a growth of competition for survival as basic necessities like food and clothing become more scarce. For example, there is a lack of food and clean water to sustain the growing population in India, which can be seen from how a third of India’s population is believed to be malnourished, and 40% of children receive less food than they should. According to an article by World Bank Group, “more than half of all children under the age of four are malnourished, 30 percent of newborns are significantly underweight, and 60 percent of women are anemic.” (World Bank Group, N.A.). To learn more about the malnutrition situation in India, click here. To find out more about how the decreasing amount of resources aggravates the malnutrition of women, click here.
-
Over-strained Infrastructure and Lack of Facilities
Facilities such as housing, transportation, health care, and education become inadequate for the sustenance of the growing population. For example, the growing population of dwellers in urban areas (31.16%, 2011) has resulted in a lack of housing, causing 60% of the residents in Mumbai to live in slums. There is also an acute shortage of medical facilities such as qualified doctors, medicines, dispensaries, modern health care facilities, etc., and shortage of education facilities including schools, colleges, qualified teachers due to high population. In addition, a situation of "over urbanisation" which puts unbearable strain on urban amenities prevails in India. With the rapidly growing population, the worst symptoms of congestion in every aspect of living conditions are manifested in the urban areas. Overcrowded houses, slums and unsanitary localities, traffic congestion and crowded hospitals have become common features in urban India. Thereafter, due to the lack of facilities to sustain the growing population, large-scale deforestation may be introduced to create more land for the implementation of facilities such as housing and hospitals, which also leads to negative environmental consequences such as air and water pollution. To see more about the environmental situation in India, click here.
-
Increased Cost of Living
As the number of people in India grows, the demand for basic necessities such as drinking water and other commodities will increase. This in turn results in an increase in price of goods when the supply is no longer able to meet the demand, therefore causing an increase in cost of living among the people in India. Using Delhi as an example with rates from 2010, hospital expenses have increased by 240% compared to the average for 2004. The per capita monthly expenditure on medicines and tests done outside hospitals also increased 129%. At the same time, the rents have increased by 186% on average and the cost of education have increased by 126% (The Times Of India, 2012). While the well-to-do minority in India are able to cope with this increase, the rest of the population living under the poverty line are unable to handle the added burden and fall back in terms of buying power and living conditions. This increases the gap and inequality between the different social classes of India. To see more about the socio-economic inequality in India, click here. To see how the poverty situation is like in India and what problems the people are facing, click here.
-
Urbanisation Beyond a Healthy Developmental Limit
As the population grows, there is decreased quality of living conditions due to congestion and bad sanitation, especially in rural areas. As a result, more rural people tend to shift to urban areas in search of jobs and better living conditions, causing a sudden increase in the population of urban India. Together with the naturally high birth rates in India, over-urbanization has taken root in urban India. This phenomenon leads to many problems such as increased housing problems in cities, high vehicular movement in cities leading to accidents, pollution, etc., serious problem connected to vast urban waste generation and its disposal, serious drinking water shortages and unending demands for civic amenities like roads, transport, markets, etc. To learn more about the environmental issues that India is facing, click here. To learn more about rural-urban migration as a cause of urban poverty, click here.
-
Rising unemployment rate
The increasing number of people in India leads to problems such as decreasing job opportunities. As the population grows rapidly, people start to fight for the limited job opportunities available. According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), unemployment rate in India is showing an increasing trend, rising from 3.5% in 2011 to 3.6% in 2012 to 3.7% in 2013. This aggravates the poverty situation in India. To learn more about the poverty situation in India, click here.
-
Increased Inequality and discrimination
There is a growing imbalance of ethnic groups based on numbers. Most of the minority groups reside in rural areas and thus have little access to education which causes a lack of family planning, resulting in high birth rates. However, these people also suffer from high infant mortality rates caused by bad sanitation and poverty. Hence, the population of minority groups grows at a slower rate as compared to the rest of the population. This aggravates the situation of an imbalance of ethnic groups. As the imbalance of ethnic groups grows, the minority groups are further discriminated against, resulting in conflicts. To learn more about the conflicts in India, click here. Also, this is worsened by the presence of a strong caste system in the Indian society. The deeply entrenched caste system causes low social mobility, where people of lower statuses do not interact with one another and have little chance of climbing up the social ladder. To find out more about the caste system in India, click here.
Economic Impacts
-
Growth of Industries
As the population of India increases, there is an increase in manpower that India is able to provide for expanding industries. As this is attractive for foreign investors, it leads to an increase in the number of investing companies in India, causing the emergence of more factories over the years. As industries grow, there will also be negative implications for the environment such as air and water pollution. Click here to find out more about these environmental implications.
-
Increased Government Expenditure
Rapid population growth in India has resulted in higher demand for resources and facilities, which has significantly increased government investment in resources and facilities to sustain the growing population. According to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI), government spending in India increased from 1503.10 INR Billion in the third quarter of 2013 1907.13 INR billion in the fourth quarter of 2013 (Government of Punjab, 2012).
-
Readily Available Manpower Resources
The rapid growth of India’s population has positively benefited India’s economy by providing its growing industries with sufficient manpower. Hence, there is little need for outsourcing for talents and manpower. This ensures that the national identity of India would not be excessively diluted. With the growing number of children, child labour also becomes more prevalent. To find out more about child labour in India, click here.
Environmental Impacts
-
Expansion of human activity
As the population of India grows rapidly, there is also rapid expansion of human activity such as the burning of fossil fuels and the production of waste which, more often than not, pollutes the environment and causes the destruction of forests and the loss of biological diversity which may lead to instability of ecological systems and reducing ability of the ecosystem to combat global warming. Click here to find out more about these detrimental environmental impacts. As the production of waste increases, the quality of living conditions of people decreases. To learn more about the poor sanitation plaguing many people in India, click here.
-
Strain on Natural Resources
The growing population of India puts strains on natural resources. Although India accounts for 2.4% of the earth’s surface, it not well endowed with natural resources (University of Michigan, N.A.). Coal, iron, ore, and bauxite are India’s primary mineral reserves. As such, common resources such as forests, water and fossil fuels are over-exploited, resulting in land and water constraints, which may lead to deforestation and desertification with permanent damage to renewable resources. In India, deforestation issues arise partly because of the growing masses of poor people who depend on biomass for energy (Flavin, 1991). Furthermore, the migration from rural areas to urban areas has sparked a growing demand for timber, lumber, and paper. Evidently, this rapidly depletes the forests (Greep, 1998). This loss of forest leads to greater problems since forests have much control over the ecological balance, biodiversity, and quality of the environment. Click here to find out more about deforestation in India.
-
Water Constraints
As India’s population continues to grow rapidly, competing demands for water coming from households, industry, and agriculture have wide-ranging implications for the country. According to the World Health Organization, 97 million Indians lack access to safe water today, second only to China (Luthra and Kundu, 2013). There is a growing demand for water, and yet the supply is unable to fulfil the demand, leading to water constraints. To find out more about how water pollution aggravates the problem of water constraints, click here. The lack of potable water for the growing population affects the health of the people. To find out more about the health conditions of people and India's healthcare system, click here. On a side note, the unpredictable climatic condition of drought aggravates the problem of water constraints in India. To learn more about drought in India, click here.
-
Spread of Diseases
Land constraints due to the growing population and poverty result in many dwellers having to live in congested areas with bad sanitation due to the lack of housing, increasing the spread of diseases, especially infections. To learn more about the poor sanitation in India, click here. This is further aggravated by environmental conditions such as flooding that increases the spread of waterborne diseases, especially in rural India, which greatly affects the public health of India and the overall well-being of people. However, the healthcare in India is not developed enough to provide target-specific treatment for some of such infections. To learn more about the healthcare system in India, click here. To learn more about the environmental conditions of India, click here.
Impacts of Population Growth
Political Causes
-
Peaceful conditions
For nearly a century [1860-1960], India enjoyed comparative peace without involving herself in major inter-conflicts or wars after the establishment of the British rule which lasted from 1600 to 1947. In 1857, India went through the Indian Rebellion due to resentment against the British ruling force, causing India to face a period of unstable politics, economy and security. However, this issue was quickly put to rest as the East India Company that was in control of India was dissolved and direct rule from Britain was established in India. Following this political reform, India underwent technological revolutions and agricultural industrialization while civil wars were common throughout the world. These relatively peaceful conditions of India attracted foreigners to invest and take root in the nation, resulting in the growth of the nation’s population over time. Also, under direct British rule, it was decided that India was to be governed with profit making in mind. Hence, the British bequeathed large scale capital investments in infrastructure, shipping and mining. Agriculture was commercialised with the development of a cash nexus, while education about law and order was pushed forth as an attempt to create suitable conditions for the growth of industries and enterprises, effectively integrating India into the world economy. Hence, the British policies increased India’s importance and popularity in the world as a suitable nation for foreign immigrants to seek better opportunities. This contributed to the growth of the population in the past.
-
Ineffective containment of illegal immigration
Illegal immigration has plagued India ever since the 1970s. Since the 1971 War of Independence that created the state of Bangladesh, millions of Bangladeshi immigrants have been pouring into India (Ghosh, 2012). For instance, in 1971, during the civil war in neighboring East Pakistan (the former name of Bangladesh), at least 10 million Bangladeshis poured into West Bengal in India. The majority of those migrants were Hindus fleeing persecution (rape, murder, forced conversion, etc.) from Muslims. In subsequent years, the bulk of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh were Muslims seeking to escape poverty (Ghosh, 2012). Back then, agitation by India’s dwellers led to the rise of All Assam Student Union to urge the government to put a stop to this issue. However, up till today, we can see that the government has failed to effectively contain the number of illegal immigrants in India. In an article published by The Hindu Times in July 2013, it is said that the border with Bangladesh has gaps, resulting in immigrants swimming across to India or crossing the border on foot through breaks in the fence. According to India's Minister of State for Home Mullappally Ramachandran, almost 1.4 million illegal Bangladeshis have migrated to India over the past decade alone (Shivadekar, 2012). Hence, we can see that the ineffective containment of illegal immigration is a factor that has led to population explosion in the past and a high population growth rate even till today.
Social Causes
-
Low Accessibility and Affordability of Education in some parts of India
There is generally low accessibility and affordability of education for many people in India, especially for those residing in rural areas. For example, some people living in rural areas have little access to education due to the lack of a developed transport system which inhibits them from travelling to schools. According to the National Transport Policy Committee (NTPC), Fair Weather Roads connected only 55% of villages (Government of India, 1980). Also, the problem of low affordability of education is largely caused by the prevalence of poverty in rural India (number of absolute poor: 216.5 million) and in some urban parts of India (number of absolute poor: 52.8 million). Despite the availability of schools in most of India, people living below the poverty line are unable to afford the fees of private schools which offer better quality education, and although they may be able to send their children to government schools with cheaper school fees, the quality of education in most of such schools is very low. As a result of the aforementioned problems, many Indians often cannot afford or lack access to proper education. Thus, many are uneducated or lowly educated and do not fully understand the consequences of have large families, leading to lack of conscious family planning and a subsequent high birth rate in India (20.24 per 1000 population), thereafter contributing to a high population growth rate. To see how the lack of education affects rural poverty in India, click here.
-
Poor Quality of Rural Education
Although the number of rural students attending school is rising in India, the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) shows that more than half of the students in fifth grade are unable to read a second grade text book and are not able to solve simple mathematical problems (Kaur, 2013), and this is largely owing to the poor quality of rural education. There are several factors contributing to the poor quality of rural education such as a high student to teacher ratio in government schools, lack of committed teachers, lack of adequate facilities such as classrooms and lack of proper and suitable resources such as textbooks. As a result, many rural dwellers are lowly educated and do not fully understand the consequences of having large families, thus giving birth to many children without giving much thought. This results in a high birth rate in rural India, leading to a high overall birth rate in India, which is a contributing factor to the high population growth rate in India. To find out more about how the poor quality of education affects rural poverty in India, click here.
-
Religious Beliefs
Many religions reject the use of family planning and birth control methods. Such examples include Hindu belief that it is considered one's dharma to have children, Islamic belief that children are given by the grace of God and so the more children a woman has, the more she is respected in her family and society, and Catholic belief that abortion is a sin. In India, 80.5% of the population are Hindus, 13.4% are Muslims, and 2.3% are Christians (BIPS Canada, 2010). Hence, it can be seen that these ideals which promote the birth of children are adopted by many in India, contributing to the growing population. On a side note, to see how the presence of different religious beliefs brings about conflicts in India, click here,
-
Joint Family System
In a joint family system, the children are looked after by all earning members of the family. A member may not be in a position to earn money but when he gets married, he produces more children in the hope that his children may be able to earn and add on to the income of the family. In this way, the existence of a joint family system induces young couples to want to have more children though they may not be in a position to support them, thus resulting in high birth rates. This is especially prominent in rural areas where there is a greater emphasis placed on the joint family system. Also, rural areas in India tend to be clan dominated and such clans are often characterized by strong family honor. Thus, the joint family system is usually adopted so that they can better ensure that everyone is looked after, minimizing the chances of shame falling upon their clan. Furthermore, the increase in number of offsprings they produce adds on to their overall domination in numbers, earning them glory and prestige. Hence, it can be seen that the idea of the joint family system causes high population growth.
-
Preference for a Son
Many families have a preference for a son rather than a daughter as a male child is considered an asset for the poor, a dowry earner for the family, a liberator for the God fearing, a life insurance for the middle man and a matter of pride for the mother. Due to the absence of policies that restrict the number of children each couple can have, the preference for males causes them to continuously try for a son and ultimately have many children. This fuels a high birth rate in India. The preference for a son is a form of gender discrimination against women in India. To find out more about gender discrimination in India, click here.
-
Poverty
Another factor responsible for rapid growth of population is widespread poverty in both rural and urban India. According to Business Digest, “More than 300 million Indians earn less than US $1 everyday and about 130 million people are jobless.” (Anidil, 2014). These people who have to struggle to make ends meet tend to give birth to more children because it is believed that more children mean more earning hands, and in the long run will increase their economic stability. Also, due to poverty, the infant mortality rate among such families is higher due to the lack of resources such as food and medical facilities. Thus, they tend to give birth to more children assuming that not all of them will be able to survive, contributing to a mounting increase in the population size of India. With the increase in population, the problems of scarce resources and jobs and poverty also increases, resulting in the continuation of this cycle which leads to an ever-increasing population. To learn more about the poverty situation in India, click here.
-
Progress in Medical Knowledge
Although widespread poverty still exists in India and the development of the country continues to be hampered, the improvements in medical facilities have been tremendous (Anidil, 2014).The crude death rate in India decreased from 12.5 deaths/1000 population in 1981 to 7.39 deaths/1000 population in 2013. Also, the infant mortality rate in India decreased from 129 deaths/1000 live births in 1981 to 44.6 deaths/1000 live births in 2013. The average life expectancy of people in India has increased from 52.9 in 1980 to 67.5 in 2013 (Meild, 2009). These statistics are clear indications of the improvements in the medical field. Progress in medical knowledge and its application in India has allowed better control over the spread of diseases like Malaria, T.B., Cholera, Plague, Influenza, Smallpox, etc.. Also, the spread of health care facilities and hospitals in rural areas has created consciousness among the people about their health and improved sanitary conditions, reducing the death rate to a marked extent in India. The infant mortality rate has also been lowered through mass immunization programmes and the providence of proper medical treatment to the children. Due to the decreasing crude death rate and infant mortality rate, there continues to be a high population growth rate. However, despite the improvements in healthcare, its accessibility is not evenly spread throughout India and hence, India is not benefiting as a whole. To find out more about the accessibility to healthcare in rural and urban India, click here. To find out more about India's healthcare in general, click here.
-
Improvement in Transport Facilities
Improvement in transport facilities due to measures taken such as the Pradhan Mantri gram Sadak Yojana policy (click here) has helped to improve the accessibility of facilities to a certain extent for the population. People living in rural areas now have greater access to medical and health facilities. This has resulted in a lower death rate as seen over the past decade, resulting in high population growth. However, with that being said, the transport system in India is not yet developed well enough to facilitate effective and efficient movement of people across the nation, as can be seen from the continuation of existing problems such as lack of access to education and social services in rural areas. To see how the lack of well developed transport facilities affects accessibility of healthcare in rural India, clic here.
-
Early Marriage
Early marriages or child marriages are prevalent in most of rural India where old traditions are highly emphasised and in some urban areas where families prefer to get their girls married young since the giving of a daughter in marriage is considered an act of high religious spirit. Hence, about 80% of girls in India are married during the most fertile period of 15 to 20 years of age. (Preserve Articles, N.A.). Early marriages then normally lead to early and high frequency of child births due to a lack of mature understanding of the consequences of having a large family and thus lack of conscious family planning. Also, early marriage prolongs the childbearing period. All these factors in relation to early marriage in India cause an overall increase in birth rate and thereafter of India’s population over the years. To see more about child marriages in India, click here.
-
Universal Marriage
In India, the practice of universal marriage is both a religious and social ceremony, a potent reason for the rapid increase in population of India. Indians consider marriage as a social obligation especially for women. At the same time, life-long bachelorship is looked down upon. Presently in India, about 76% of women are married at their reproductive age. (Preserve Articles, N.A.). By the age of 50, only 5 out of 100 Indian women remain unmarried. As marriage is universal in India, there is a high birth rate, thus leading to a high population growth rate.
Economic Causes
-
Need for manpower to sustain agricultural economy
India is an agricultural country with 67% of the population being directly or indirectly dependent on agriculture (Preserve Articles, N.A.). In an agricultural economy, children are needed for work on farms especially during harvesting and sowing seasons. Thus, compared to industrially advanced economies where people prefer small families on economic grounds, such economies tend to favour bigger families for sufficient manpower to manage the plot, leading to high birth rates and thus high population growth. Sometimes, this need for manpower to sustain the agricutural economy also results in child labour. To learn more about child labour in India, click here. On a side note, to see how drought affects the agricultural economy in rural India, click here. To see how flooding affects the agricultural economy in rural India, click here.
Causes of Population Growth
Currently, India is the second most populous country in the world with 1.27 billion dwellers (India Women Welfare Foundation, 2009), falling just behind China with a population of 1.354 billion. According to ABC News, India currently faces approximately “33 births a minute, 2,000 births an hour and 48,000 births a day, which calculates to nearly 12 million a year”(ABC News, N.A.). Due to its large population, India now represents approximately 17.31% of the world’s population. Despite measures such as the population policy put in place to curb the issue, this number is still growing at an alarming rate of 1.31% per year, causing experts to predict that India will the the most populated country by 2025. While a growing population may be desirable for having more homegrown talents and manpower, population growth in India has also brought along many negative implications ever since India became an independent country in 1947.
Current Situation
Population Growth in India
National Level
1. New National Population Policy (2000)
The new National Population Policy was announced in 2000. The policy brought forth a number of reforms, including compulsory registration of marriage and pregnancy along with birth and death, cash incentives for compliance with requirements regarding antenatal checkup, institutional delivery by a trained birth attendant, increasing the number of health workers, improving the availability of contraceptives and strengthening the health and family welfare services. The immediate objective of the policy was to meet the unmet needs for contraception, healthcare infrastructure, health personnel and integrated service delivery. Its mid-term objectives were aimed at bringing the total fertility to replacement levels (two children per couple) by a vigorous implementation of intersectoral strategies by 2010. Statistics have shown that the total fertility rate of India decreased from 3.2 in 2000 to 2.5 in 2010. This shows that the National Population Policy has been effective in lowering the total fertility rate over the years, but not effective enough as its mid-term objective of lowering the total fertility rate to 2.0 was not met. Its long-term objective was the stabilisation of population for 2045. One way in which the overall effectiveness of this policy can be measured is through the population growth trend in India over the past decade. The population growth in India decreased from 1.58 in 2000 to 1.31 in 2012, showing that the National Population Policy may have a contributing factor in reducing the rate of population growth. However, at the same time, the population growth rate is still high in India, thus the population policy needs to be more effective so as to control the population growth rate within acceptable boundaries.
While the population policy has proved to be somewhat effective in lowering fertility rates, we feel that it has been over-emphasising the role of positive measures such as contraception, sterilisation and abortion to control population growth without paying adequate attention to the dynamic interaction between India’s demographic structure and the economic and social development and implications of such interaction for limiting the rate of population growth. For instance, there are many aspects of demographics that have been largely overlooked in the planning of this policy such as the steadily dwindling sex ratio, the higher incidence of female mortality at specific ages, the opportunities for females to work, the population education, etc. These aspects are equally as important as positive measures such as encouraging contraception, sterilisation and abortion, and should be taken into consideration. The population policy of India should not confine itself to the reduction of birth rate alone, instead it must be all comprehensive strategy for overall improvement of social, economic and demographic fabric of a nation.
Under the policy, the Government of India also offered an incentive package to model small families. It includes improvement in the facilities for safe abortion, prize to village panchayats and district boards fulfilling the target of model small families in respect to reducing infant mortality rate and improving literacy, an incentive of Rs. 500 for the upbringing of female children up to the limit of two, an incentive of Rs. 500 to the couple aged 19 years on the birth of first child to the birth of second child, insurance up to Rs. 5,000 for the couple below the poverty line who has two living children, incentive to the couple marrying after the fixed age, producing first child after 21 years of age and adopting permanent family planning measures after the birth of second child. I feel that the introduction of these incentives to the public is practical as the material rewards that come along with family planning are attractive and can induce people to follow the set requirements. At the same time, however, the use of incentives must not be the primary tool in bringing fertility rates down. Rather, more emphasis should be placed on providing affordable, accessible, and good quality education to the large masses so as to educate them on family planning and the consequences of having large families. After all, education is key to solving the root of the problem.
2. Five-Year Plans
The First Five Year Plan was enacted in 1951 (Thapar, 2011) with aims to present an accurate picture of the factors contributing to the rapid population increase in India, discover suitable techniques and devise methods for effective family planning and last but not least give advice on family planning as an integral part of the service of government hospitals and public agencies. When the plan was first laid out, the focus was on improving the standard of living in India mainly by agricultural development. As a result of the first policy, an improvement in good irrigation system was seen in the agricultural sector, causing the GDP growth of 3.6%.
This policy continued unaltered when it was time to rectify as changed to be made in the plan and come up with new ideas during the Second Plan in 1956. However, in addition to the present plans, the voluntary sterilization scheme was introduced in 1956. Although this was expected to reduce the population growth in 5 years, the population growth rate in the 1961 Census made was unexpectedly high, creating a sense of fear and urgency in the government. In an attempt to better the situation, the government shifted the focus of the 5 year plan when the third plan was to be presented in 1961. The creation of social climate in favour of small family norms, provision of readily accessible services, adoption of effective family planning methods by all eligible couples, stimulating such social changes as increasing marriage age, education and employment of women, accuser overall economic development, and continues research and evaluation, became the guide principles of population policy of this plan.
The Five Year Plan created in 1969 was then targeted at reforming the government expenditure agenda, to facilitate the growth in exports and to alter the socio economic structure of the society. As a result of this policy, great advancements were made with respect to India’s national income, allowing India to be considered an emerging power in the global context. The Fifth Five Year Plan that started in 1974 increased the outlay to Rs. 500 crore for family planning programmes. The introduction of integration of family planning services with welfare services covered under the minimum needs programme was seen. This was to integrate most of the basic social services like education and public health services with family' planning and nutrition for children, expectant and nursing mothers.
During the Sixth Five Year Plan in 1980, the idea of family welfare continued to be accorded a high priority and was further developed. The new plan adopted a strategy to integrate health, family welfare and nutritional services at all levels. In order to achieve this aim, enhanced cash compensation for voluntary sterilisation and full rebate in income tax for specified donations for welfare purposes were among some of the incentive popularised by the plan.
During the creation of the seventh plan in 1985, the government took a significant turn to concentrate on making family planning programmes more effective. Its major objectives included: increasing the mean age at marriage for females to over 20 years, promoting 'two-child family' norm, protecting over 42 per cent eligible couples by way of variety of contraceptives, enhancing child survival rate by reducing the infant mortality rate to 90 per thousand live births through universal immunization of infants and of prospecting mothers, bringing down the crude birth rate to 29. 1 per thousand and the crude death rate to 10.4 per thousand, generating environment for fertility decline through relevant socioeconomic interventions, promoting female literacy and employment programmes, and providing population education to all children in 11-15 age group and also to those out of educational institutions through Adult Education and Non-formal Education programmes. All this was to be achieved by effectively involving the people in general. Due to the many changes along the course of the different 5 year plans, the eighth plan as targeted at simply fixing the target to achieve the crude birth rate of 26 per thousand, infant mortality rate to 70 per 1000 live births and the couple protection rate to 56 per cent.
The following Five Year Policies up till today have been targeting employment rates, increase rate human and social development in attempts to decrease the poverty rate in India. The plans have indeed succeeded in reaching the goals that were set up as can be seen by the GDP growth of 2%, the increase in agricultural GDP growth rate of 4%, the creation of 70 million job opportunities. Hence, it can be said that the Five Year Policies have benefitted the people of India in one way or another. However, the plans that were once set up to control the population growth seems to have lost their purpose and does not directly fight the issue. Nevertheless, it can be hoped that by increasing the quality of life for the people living in India, they will become more educated and willing to be involved in the concept of family planning, indirectly curbing the issue of the growing population.
3. Family Planning Programme (2011)
India launched a nationwide Family Planning Programme in 1952 (Government of India, 2011), which was expanded to cover maternal and child health, family welfare and nutrition in 2011. Family planning clinics were established in both urban and rural areas in order to cater to more women who are willing to learn more about it. The efforts of the Government in implementing the Family Planning Programme has had significant impact in the country by enlightening people about contraception and its merits, which can be seen from the following statistics. Nearly 98% of women and 99% of men in the age group of 15 and 49 have a good knowledge about one or more methods of contraception. Adolescents seem to be well aware of the modern methods of contraception. Over 97% of women and 95% of men are knowledgeable about female sterilization, which is the most popular modern permanent method of family planning. 93% of men have awareness about the usage of condoms while only 74% of women are aware of the same. Around 80% of men and women have a fair knowledge about contraceptive pills. The year 2010-11 ended with 34.9 million family planning acceptors at national level comprising of 5.0 million Sterilizations, 5.6 million IUD insertions, 16.0 million condom users and 8.3 million O.P. users as against 35.6 million family planning acceptors in 2009-10 (Government of India, 2011). Over the decades, there has been a substantial increase in contraceptive use in India, which shows the considerable success of the Family Planning Programme. However, with that being said, the success of the Family Planning Programme is still not able to substantially decrease the population growth rate of India such that it goes within acceptable range, hence there is a need to step up on population control measures.
4. Integration of Family Planning into General Healthcare
Although women in India are generally acceptive of family planning programmes, the thoughts of men then differ, as shown by 12 surveys conducted in India on the attitudes of Indians with regards to childbirth. Thus, many women are unwilling to voluntarily visit the facilities provided to learn more about the use of contraceptives as their actions would be looked down upon by men and then become the talk of the town for days to come. In order to appeal to more women, the government has integrated family planning programmes into normal healthcare institutes other than the ones that specialize in it. This makes the idea of family planning more acceptable and encourages women to step forward to learn more about family planning. However, this initiative has not resulted in significant impacts in terms of the birth rate in India, largely because men tend to call the final shot in household decisions. Women then have little opportunities to input their opinions and knowledge on the number of children they feel should be produced.
State Level
1. Rewards-for-Sterilization Scheme (2011)
In 2011, health officials in the state of Rajasthan introduced the Rewards-for-Sterilization Scheme which offered rewards such as televisions, food processors and cars to compatriots who step up to be sterilised. This scheme is unlike official policies, and focusses on providing those who follow government requirements on family planning with rewards. While this scheme may be feasible and practical for encouraging the use of positive measures such as contraceptives, sterilisation and abortion since many would be attracted to the tangible rewards, it must not be the main instrument in reducing birth rates. Instead, education is a much more effective and reasonable approach as it solves the root of the problem by allowing people to learn about the importance family planning. In this way, people would not just use contraceptives and undergo abortion just to fulfill the requirements to earn the rewards, but instead, they would understand the rationale behind these actions and the birth rate would also be more significantly reduced.
2. Project for Community Action in Family Planning
This project is located in Karnataka, operating with 154 fixed project villages and 255 control villages. In this project, it is ensured that all project villages are able to provide nearby residents with a health subcenter. Although this advantage is beneficial to those who are in close proximity with the project village, the significance is diminished as villages that are the most distant from the center would stand little chances of benefiting from such facilities. Despite this being a government initiative, it is assisted and managed mainly by local voluntary groups. For example at Jamkhed, the project is much assisted by the local Women’s club. These local voluntary groups are responsible for providing or securing sites suitable to be made into distribution depots for condoms and birth control pills, as well as making arrangements for the operation of sterilization camps. The success of this project has been clearly shown in data provided by the Project for Community Action in Family Planning. By the mid-1980s, a high number of 43% of couples were using family planning, a full 14% above the state average (Indian Women Healthcare Foundation, 2011). Other than simply advocating the use of contraceptives and family planning, this project has also significantly improved the status of women at the same time, involving them and empowering them to bring about change in their communities. This contribution is important because of the way in which the deeply entrenched inferior status of women in many communities in India negates official efforts to decrease the fertility rate.
Policies and Measures Taken to Curb the Growing Population
The growing population of India has proven to bring about a lot more negative implications than positive ones. This causes us, as Singaporeans, to think deeper into the issue of a growing population in our country. Though a large population does indeed bring about economic benefits as there is a greater manpower pool for the development of industries, the growth of a population also brings about many negative impacts as well. For example, the high population growth has the potential to bring about dilution of national identity, conflicts over resources like land and water, over-strained infrastructure, increased costs of living, rising unemployment rates, increased government expenditure and environmental consequences such as the production of waste, strain on natural resources and increased spread of diseases. With all these potential consequences kept in mind, is it really beneficial to seek toward a population of 6.9 million people by 2030 despite the small land size and little natural resources that Singapore has to offer? We feel that while the economy of Singapore is important, the well-being of people is even more important. Definitely, the demographics of India are extremely different from those of Singapore, thus not all the impacts of a growing population such as over-urbanisation as seen in India is applicable in Singapore. Singapore has a more well developed education of well as many social safetynets, all of which will help to ensure that Singaporeans will be able to pregress as one to prevent the socio-economic gap between the rich and the poor from widening. Singapore's government is well equiped at managing the nation, minimizing the possibility of the occurance of conflicts or other negative impacts.
However, if we think about this issue from another perspective - the amount of natural resources we have, it is obvious that we certainly have a greater risk of causing a greater strain on resources as compared to India. Currently, Singapore is already facing a strain on the amount of resources we have. We are building roads underground, stacking public transport facilities and shopping centres one on top of the other, furiously trying to develop new methods of recycling water and decreasing the size of housing facilities just so to meet the current demand of Singaporeans. Other that putting a strain on resources, Singaporeans are affected as well- rising prices of HDB flats, increasing congestion on roads and many more. While increasing the population growth of our country, it is possible that these situations will indirectly be worsened. Hence, in our opinion, the emphasis placed on improving the economy of Singapore cannot overpower the concerns regarding the well-being of citizens. With the small land area of Singapore, the aim to achieve population of 6.9 million may be too far-fetched.
Personal Opinion
When talking about the growing population of India, China is commonly associated for its large population that has been dominant throughout the past few decades. Although both countries have similar land area to population size proportions, the situation of India is set to worsen as the population will continue to grow according to the World Population Prospects 2010 which ranked India as the first for the largest expected population growth by 2050. On the other hand, the population growth of China is expected to stabilize by 2030. This is said to be due to the One-Child policy that is strictly carried out in all parts of China, resulting in decreases in population growth rates over the years - from 14.26% in 1985 to 0.46% in 2013. However, although the One-Child Policy may have been a factor resulting in this decrease in population growth, this was highly resented by China’s general public in its beginning stages. If this policy were to be implemented in India, it cannot be safely said that the outcomes would be the same as the religious beliefs of the two nations are different. In India, the majority of the nation are Hindus. In the Hindu religion, children are said to the the gift of god. Hence, people resent the idea of abortion. This policy would thus go against the national beliefs of the nation, possibly causing more harm- dissent between the nation and its people, than benefits.
In terms of climatic conditions, both India and China are located in Asia, making them susceptible to monsoon seasons, having an adverse effect on agriculture. However, while India is largely affected by the climatic changes, China is not as affected due to its lower dependence on agriculture for economic growth. Although India has been developing into an open-market economy in recent years, she has not managed to completely transform herself into a nation that profits from diverse forms of export rather than mainly on agriculture itself. China, on the other hand, has been adopting a market-oriented system for decades, placing much emphasis on liberation of free market trade, increased autonomy for state enterprises, diversified banking systems and the opening of the stock market trade. Hence, China has since then grown to become the world’s largest exporter, deemed by experts as the world leader in gross value of industrial output. China can thus be deemed as an example of what India can possibly become if policies heading to the correct direction are created.
The diversion in industries and economic dependence may also be the reason why the poverty rates are lower in China as compared to India. In 2010, the poverty rate of India was at 29.8%, while that of China was comparatively lower at 13.4%. This is because the presence of more industries translates to a higher demand for workers, both high and low skilled to fill up job vacancies be it labourers or managers. This is clearly illustrated by the lower unemployment rate that China has as compared to India (6.5% and 9.8% respectively as of 2011) Thus, this allows more people to have a slightly more stable livelihood as compared to those in India. The better developed transport system in China also enables those living in rural areas to be connected to different parts of China to take advantage of such opportunities. On the other hand, many people living in rural parts of India are often stuck in their cycle of poverty due to the lack of exposure and accessibility to such opportunities. The competition for such opportunities is also greatly intensified by the growing rate of population growth Education in China also plays a part in lowering the rate of poverty in the nation. The school life expectancy of China is at 12 years, one year higher than that of India. The literacy rate of China is also better than that of India at 95.1%, whereas only 62.8% of India is literate. This may be a result of China’s state-run education system, where it is compulsory for all children to attain at least nine years of education. In India, however, there is a lack of education facilities for state-run schools, while private and international schools are unaffordable for most people. Hence, 90% of India’s children do not complete basic education. Due to the lack of sufficient education, children in India lack essential skills, preventing them from taking on higher ranking and better paying jobs, leaving them with little to support themselves and their families, eventually causing them to be stuck in the cycle of poverty.
While China is better than India some aspects, both nations face the issue of gender discrimination against women. Just like India, there is a presence of a strong preference of sons over daughter stemming from traditional customs. The people of China believe that only sons areable to carry on family names, inherit family properties and host their parents’ funeral ceremonies, making male descendants much more important for a family as compared to a female descendants. (Shuo, 2007) Just like India, China has enacted laws to prevent the blatant discrimination against women in forms such as violence, employment and education opportunities, even making such discrimination illegal. However, because this ideal has long been firmly rooted into the minds of the chinese and is illustrated in religious beliefs, these measures are insufficient in managing the issue. Looking at China’s example, India needs to plan out the future action plan to be implemented to properly deal with gender discrimination as it is already evident in other societies that simple enactment of laws will not be enough to put an end to this issue.
Comparison to China
http://static.tree-nation.com/public/images/content/2012/06/041863b21ba0ede24cb12ac15a61a93d_pan.jpg
Different Perspectives
Political Views
Government
As the population of India increases, there is an increase in manpower that India is able to provide for expanding industries, boosting the economy of India. This may appeal to the Indian Government in the aspect of economics.However, rapid population growth in India has resulted in higher demand for resources and facilities, which has significantly increased government investment in resources and facilities to sustain the growing population. Also, the growing population brings about many negative environmental impacts such as air and water pollution, increased waste production and the spread of diseases which the government has to address.
Social Views
India's general population
There is a decreasing amount of resources to sustain the growing population, leading to increased competition among the people for basic necessities such as food and water. job opportunities, housing, education, etc. Also, facilities such as housing, transportation, health care, and education become inadequate for the sustenance of the growing population. In addition, the growing population leads to congestion, especially in urban areas. As the number of people in India grows, the demand for basic necessities such as drinking water and other commodities will increase. This in turn results in an increase in price of goods when the supply is no longer able to meet the demand, therefore causing an increase in cost of living among the people in India. Land constraints due to the growing population and poverty result in many dwellers having to live in congested areas with bad sanitation due to the lack of housing, increasing the spread of diseases, especially infections. Hence, India's general population would not support the growing population.
Urban dwellers
As the population grows, there is decreased quality of living conditions due to congestion and bad sanitation, especially in rural areas. As a result, more rural people tend to shift to urban areas in search of jobs and better living conditions, causing a sudden increase in the population of urban India. This phenomenon leads to many problems such as increased housing problems in cities, high vehicular movement in cities leading to accidents, pollution, etc., serious problem connected to vast urban waste generation and its disposal, serious drinking water shortages and unending demands for civic amenities like roads, transport, markets, etc. Hence, urban dwellers would generally be against the growing population
Rural dwellers
With the growing population, there is decreased quality of living conditions due to worsened sanitation. This leads to the spread of diseases.
Economic Views
Local MNCs
Majority of the Multi-national companies that invest in India currently will not be provoked by the ever-growing population. The Indian Government is currently trying to encourage companies to come up with innovative ideas to increase productivity rates to further boost the economy of India and to increase their competitiveness on the global stage. This will not prove to be a problem for major multi-national companies as they possess the capital to invest in research to come up with such innovative ideas, and thus they would remain in India and receive Government incentives. In addition, although rental prices are increasing rapidly, most MNCs will have the capital to pay rental fees and hence will not be too affected by that. Moreover, the wide diversity that India has to offer with its large population spurs innovation and entrepreneurship, and as a result, firms will devote more time and capital into researching for innovative and higher technology to increase productivity. As productivity rates increase, workforce growth increases. This diversity is attractive to MNCs due to the economic growth that it brings about. Also, the large amounts of cheap labour that India offers is a significant incentive for MNCs. However, one setback is that the growing population of India puts strains on natural resources which some MNCs may require for development.
Local SMEs
SME sector of India is considered as the backbone of economy contributing to 45% of the industrial output, 40% of India’s exports, employing 60 million people, create 1.3 million jobs every year and produce more than 8000 quality products for the Indian and international markets. With approximately 30 million SMEs in India, 12 million people expected to join the workforce in next 3 years and the sector growing at a rate of 8% per year, Government of India is taking different measures so as to increase their competitiveness in the international market. Also, with the growing population, local SMEs enjoy an influx of cheap manpower for growth and development of the companies.
Foreign Investors
Due to the growing population, there is a greater supply of manpower needed to fill job spaces for the growth of industries and enterprises. Hence, many foreign investors may be attracted to India's readily available supply of manpower resources, thus choosing to invest in India. Also, the large amounts of cheap labour that India offers is a significant incentive for foreign investors. However, while the supply of manpower resources increases, the supply of natural resources decreases. Depending on the nature of the companies, foreign investors may also choose not to invest in India due to this impact of growing population which may bring detrimental effects in the long run. On the other hand, many foreign investors may choose not to invest in India also because of its large population. With the readily available supply of manpower, many investors will start to set up companies in India, thus increasing the competition between companies. As some foreign investors may lose out due to competition, they may choose to avoid investing in India.
Property Investors
The India property market is booming along with its economy and many foreign money investors are taking advantage of this and investing in property. However, with the growing population, there will be an increase in demand for land supply and housing. Thus property prices will rise in the long term, which may put off potential property investors.
Low-skilled Local Workers
The government has to plan to build many new facilities and infrastructure to accommodate the growing population. Hence, as more low-skilled workers are needed to build these infrastructure, job opportunities will be open and many low-skilled workers can get a job.On the other hand, there is also a huge number of low-skilled workers, especially with the increasing rate of rural to urban migration for job opportunities. As a result, there is also competition among the workers to get jobs, leading to decreasing job opportunities as well as increasing employment rates if the generation of low-skilled jobs is unable to keep up with the growing number of low-skilled workers.
High-skilled Local Workers
High-skilled workers in India will not be as affected by the growing population because majority of the high-skilled workers are able to find jobs. As a large proportion of India has little access to education due to geographical circumstance such as living in rural areas, or cannot afford education due to poverty, many people can only take on low-skilled jobs. Hence, there is much less competition for high-skilled jobs among workers.
High-skilled Foreign Workers
High-skilled foreign workers with skills and expertise may choose to go to India to kick start new value added emerging sectors. Such high-skilled foreigners that can add to the diversity and value of the economic sector will be welcomed. High-skilled foreigners will be able to complement the economy of India in the professional aspects, for example, knowledgeable foreign talents will be able to help India broaden in their research in the medical field. This will hence ensure jobs for these foreigners.
Low-skilled Foreign Workers
Low-skilled foreign workers usually would not choose to go to India to look for job opportunities as India faces high population growth, decreasing job opportunities and an increasing unemployment rate.