The population of India- 1,241,491,960 ( 2011)
Source: World Bank
The population of India has risen dramatically during the post-independence period. The increase in population is due to the spread of health care facilities thus resulting in the fall of death rate. Within a period of a little over half century, population of India has tripled to cross one billion marks. It is predicted to surpass China by 2030 to become the highly populated country in the world.
The demographics of India are inclusive of the second most populous country in the world, with over 1.21 billion people (2011 census), more than a sixth of the world's population. Already containing 17.5% of the world's population, India is projected to be the world's most populous country by 2025, surpassing China, its population reaching 1.6 billion by 2050. Its population growth rate is 1.41%, ranking 102nd in the world in 2010.
India has more than 50% of its population below the age of 25 and more than 65% below the age of 35. It is expected that, in 2020, the average age of an Indian will be 29 years, compared to 37 for China and 48 for Japan; and, by 2030,Indian's dependency ratio should be just over 0.4.
The unprecedented population growth has contributed too many problems such as poverty, unemployment, food problem, housing, clothing which are the basic necessities of life. These things are directly related to the quality of life. The rising population has outpaced all the development and technological gains. It has nullified all our achievements in the field of industrialisation. Despite all the progress made even one-fourth of India’s population is still living below poverty line. Even they do not have the bare necessities of life available to them. Millions of people have to go to bed without food. Starvation death is frequent in India despite being self-reliant in food production.
Population growth is witnessing geometrical progression. The resources of subsistence are increasing in arithmetical progression. India has to accommodate sixteen per cent of total world population in 2.3 per cent of total land. The pace of our population growth is horrifying. Forty-four children take birth every minute. Our population is rising by 2.9 per cent per year. Thus every year an extra 26 million people are added to the existing population. Availability of better food, better hygiene and above all modern facilities in medicines, surgery and health care have caused longevity and decline in the rate of mortality. It has further aggravated our population problem.
The government is taking stern measures to check the Population. It has started the family planning as early as immediately after the independence. It was the first country to introduce family planning. But the programme failed to bring desired result. So it is the need of the hour to realise the menace of population growth. Our society needs to be made aware of its dangers. The NGOs and media should come forward to create awareness in terms of population growth. We as aware citizens should change our mindset. Failure to check further increase in population may have disastrous effects. A mass awareness programme should be launched through radio, TV and other press media. The masses should be properly educated to the advantages of family planning.
SOURCE-INTERNET
No comments:
Post a Comment