Main factor hindering growth of India

I had blogged in past on, does population growth leads to corruption growth? And I had concluded it stating, population growth should be used as a factor for development. That blog was in 2013, and I was probably naïve then. Now when I look back post my recent visit to US, I am seriously questioning my own belief of 2013.

Every nook and corner of India is a clear display of increasing population. Whether you are in a metro station, airport, railway station, road, highway, bus stop, hospital, shopping mall, market, temple, or even in a social/ religious gathering, we see all these places are overcrowded at any time of the day. This is a clear indication of overpopulation in the country.

According to the 2017 revision of World Population Prospects, the population of India was at 1,324,171,354. This is the second most populous country of the world after China and the various studies have projected that India will be world’s number-1 populous country, surpassing China, by 2024. It is expected to become the first political entity in history to be home to more than 1.5 billion people by 2030, and its population is set to reach 1.7 billion by 2050. This, inspite of the fact that the population policies, family planning and welfare programmes undertaken by the Govt. of India.

Causes of Over Population

The two main common causes leading to over population in India are:

• The birth rate is still higher than the death rate. We have been successful in declining the death rates but the same cannot be said for birth rates.
• The fertility rate due to the population policies and other measures has been falling but even then it is much higher compared to other countries.

The above causes are interrelated to the various social issues in our country which are leading to over population.

• Poverty and Illiteracy: Another factor for the rapid growth of population is poverty. Impoverished families have this notion that more the number of members in the family, more will be the numbers to earn income. Some feel that more children are needed to look after them in their old age. Also hunger can be cause of death of their children and hence the need for more children. Strange but true, Indian still lag behind the use of contraceptives and birth control methods. Many of them are not willing to discuss or are totally unaware about them. Illiteracy is thus another cause of over population
• Age old cultural norm: Sons are the bread earners of the families in India. This age old thought puts considerable pressure on the parents to produce children till a male child is born. More the better.
• Illegal migration: Last but not the least, we cannot ignore the fact that illegal migration is continuously taking place from Bangladesh, Nepal leading to increased population density.

Effects of Over Population

Even after 71 years of independence, the scenario of our country is not good, due to over population. Some major impacts of high population are as follows:

• Density: India has 382 persons per sq.km as against 33.27 persons per sq.km in US, which is alarmingly 11+ times. Imagine 11 persons standing in a space of 1 person.
• Unemployment: Generating employment for a huge population in a country like India is very difficult. The number of illiterate persons increases every year. Unemployment rate is thus showing an increasing trend.
• Manpower utilisation: The number of jobless people is on the rise in India due to economic depression and slow business development and expansion activities.
• Pressure on infrastructure: Development of infrastructural facilities is unfortunately not keeping pace with the growth of population. The result is lack of transportation, communication, housing, education, healthcare etc. There has been an increase in the number of slums, overcrowded houses, traffic congestion etc.
• Resource utilization & Inflation: Land areas, water resources, forests are over exploited. There is also scarcity of resources. Food production and distribution have not been able to catch up with the increasing population and hence the costs of production have increased. Inflation is the major consequence of over population.
• Inequitable income distribution: In the face of an increasing population, there is an unequal distribution of income and inequalities within the country widen.
• Corruption & Crime: Inflation and corruption grows hand in hand, when demand is more than supply. Law & order continue to collapse, for government can enforce only so much, and with so much population, all sort of crimes –small, medium, big all thrive.

Steps to Control Population in India

The Government of India, politicians, policy makers should initiate a bold and strong population policy so that the economic growth of the country can keep pace with the demands of a growing population. Major steps which have been already implemented but still need to be emphasised more to control population. 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 sterilisation and spacing births, free distribution of contraceptives and condoms among the poor, encouraging female empowerment, more health care centres 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.

Failure of democracy

Whatever may have been the vision of India’s founding fathers, Indian democracy has not lived up to their expectations. As a matter of fact, it has done far worse. Let us face the fact, all one sees in India is opposition to anything and everything. There is a latin phrase when converted means, “Man proposes, God disposes”, however in case of India, it is of “Government proposes, opposition disposes”. For everything that is proposed, there are opposition and eventually the proposal is either watered down or not taken forward. If Congress party is in power and proposes something, then BJP in opposition will oppose, and if BJP is in power, then Congress will oppose. The name of party in power changes, be it in central or state, but the role seldom change.

Additionally, there are delays in execution of every social welfare project, either bureaucratic or due to opposition. So, by the time any social welfare project is eventually completed, the world would have moved forward and the outcome of the project becomes inadequate.

Democracy is good, where everyone is consulted and decisions are to be taken in the best interest of the country & its people, but it is important to have:

a.       Right set of persons at helm of affair,

b.      Decisions are expedited and

c.       Actions are executed on faster pace.

Only if these happens, then people will be able to see the effect of it.

Vote bank politics

While above is absolute must, the truth is far from this. And if we think of the basic reason for above not happening, then it is largely attributed to vote bank politics. In the current scenario, vote bank politics has become a method to exploit the prejudiced emotions of masses either in name of religion, caste, rich vs poor and cater more votes.

Here politicians see people as votes for them, and do not want to initiate any actions or projects that may deprive them of votes. Measure to controlling population could be one of them –they fear losing votes of communities that are not in favour of population control. So growth be damned, politicians only want to remain in power and enjoy the perks of same without caring to implement projects/plans that will country to course correct & grow.

Conclusion

For India to really grow and be seen as developed nation, couple of bold and strong steps needs to be taken:

1. Control population –if need be, implement one child per family. Bring down the population from 1.3 Billion to under 1 Billion. If this can be done by 2030, then it will be wonderful.
2. Develop infrastructure at faster pace –More metros, more highways, coastal roads, widening of current roads etc. are urgently needed. If this means, few set of people will be disrupted due to construction activities, then so be it.
3. President rule –The parliamentarian form of government whereby people elect the government and its head is not helping due to vote bank politics. If President rule will help, then let us get it done.