Is Population a BOOM or a DOOM

India’ Population crossed a Billion a decade back. Since India’s Independence our population has grown steadily in Geometric progression fm 345 Million to cross over a Billion in 1999 a three folds jump. Indian’s constitutes almost 1/5th of the Global Population, just 2nd to China and with the current birth rate we will surpass them by 2025.

While India has grown in leaps n bounds in almost all the spheres since 1947, we keep patting our back for all the laurels we have achieved. Now with the kind of population explosion, the time has come for us to Check in our Population. This is something nobody wants to discuss. Today none of the Political Parties, Past or Present, Media or NGO’s are ready to debate. It is not that the Govt is naïve or not VISIONARY; it is just that the Govt wants to shy away fm this topic. It is this huge illiterate population on which the Politician thrive upon and use them as a vehicle for a assured vote bank to stay in power. At every General and Assembly election the prospective candidates keep making false promises to the ppl for them to b voted back to power. This has been a vicious circle for so many years and Generation Next will have to pay a heavy price for our ignorance.
The Govt earlier slogan of Hum Do Humar Do does not hold good in today’s already overstretched and overburden infrastructure and resources.

Population is indeed a BOOM.

Look around as u travel back fm ur office/home. The Infrastructure and our fellow citizens, though a lot is still desired. It is nice to see India progressing. Living in a city I used to wonder IF India was/is indeed really a poor country with the kind of wealth u c.
FMCG/Telecom/General Industry/FII are all having a very good run n smile as their sales have picked up with the growing population. Today India is a destination for all major MNC’s, that is becoz of the very sheer size of our population and our consumption. While the growth in the population has fuelled in growth in many industries and sectors, it has created more jobs which effectively increases our living standards/index and overall contributes to the growth of the country. India’s best brain are around the world in almost all disciplines, be it Space, Finance or Art. We are building other nations and contributing to their economy.

The dark side of BOOM, I won’t say DOOM, but could be a DOOM.

India has limited natural resources, be it the Land, Water N Oil. We still heavily depend on Agriculture and the Monsoon. With the uneven distribution of Industries & Wealth.
The people fm the villages migrate to the cities in search of work. There is a heavy influx of migrated population coming up to the city in search of work. Stats prove that India’s rural population has grown tremendously in the last 5 decades. With no work/occupation. The population in rural India keeps multiplying as they have NOTHING TO DO.
The myth that of “More Hands more Money/Work to sustain” just does not hold good anymore. This ceases as soon as our Agriculture land turns into another SEZ or is earmarked to setup a plant/industry.
The exploitation of our mineral resources is threatening our forests, nature reserves, and general ecology. Seventy percent of our energy resources need to be imported putting constant pressure on us to export more or face currency devaluation. Over use of resources is contributing to natural disasters occurring more frequently and with greater devastation. Life is a big struggle just to put together the bare essentials for survival, and shortages of resources works most against the poor and underprivileged. Even as sections of India's middle-class struggle with scarcities - it is the poor and vulnerable sections of society who suffer most. With the steady growth in the population there will be more strain on these very resources on which we capitalized so long. It is time we learn to sustain and retain.

Looking into the above perspective, I wonder what solution/policy India needs to adapt:

The govt should comes with bold legislation for a One Child Policy and should reward Couples/Bachelor/Spinsters who adopt a child.

There has to be a mass education program emphasizing the affects of over population in the rural areas and how we should control it. Rope in NGO’s and various other bodies to get across the message.

There seems to be no Govt policy on this issue..
NO AMOUNT OF GROWTH CAN KEEP IN PACE WITH POPULATION GROWTH. @ We will not be able to sustain another quarter century.

Development in Medicine have largely contributed to the lower mortality rate,
We need to wake up and at least start a debate, o/wise NO matter what amount of our growth of 8% or 9% GDP will be null and void if we have equally more number of mouths to feed and take care.

Let me end with the quote fm Sir Richard Attenborough:
“Instead of controlling the environment for the benefit of the population, may be we should control the population to ensure the survival of our environment.

Thanks of reading, please post in ur comments or email ur valuable feedback to hkumanath@gmail.com .

Take care, God bless u and keep smiling.