Population Problem in India
Over-population has been major problem in India. The efforts to remove the curse of population problem have only been partially effective. In consequence the rate of population increase has gone down, but the balance between the optimum population growth and a healthy nation is far to be achieved.
Ignorance, illiteracy, unhygienic living and lack of proper recreation have remained the caused of population problem in India.
Both men and women should realize the dangers of over-population. If we make a random survey we shall find that still there are women as well as men who are not able to grasp why they should have less children. The television instructs through advertisements and tableaus about the merit of a small, manageable family. But still there are families that suffer from die-hard superstition. They consider adoption as an unholy activity. Again the backward tradition of professional ancestry is also firmly rooted in a large cross-section of our Indian society. A blacksmith, a carpenter, a mason or a tailor promptly trains his children to pick up the trade of their father. Naturally, they have a psychological make-up that the more sons they have the more they can employ. Thus a laborer produces more as that mean more income.
People, themselves must realize the merits of a small family. They should be encouraged to adopt preventive checks – checks that control the birth rate.
Another factor that encourages the growth-rate is religion. Some communities consider any mandate or statutory method of prohibition to be sacrilegious. India being a secular state, she cannot exercise any check or restraint on religious grounds.
Another great factor that contributes to the population growth is the cursed voting system. It is based on number. On the other hand the voting pattern, especially in northern India, is based on caste. Naturally, the caste that outstrips the other castes in sheer number of votes enjoys a comparatively higher leverage in the domain of powers.
Early marriages not only leads to high-population and thwart the progress of our young population, they entail an enormous amount of trouble to young mothers. These young girls, in most cases, are not healthy enough to bear the burden of childbearing.
The importance of a higher standard of living should be inculcated in the mind of the mass of the people. The desire for better living conditions automatically works as a deterrent to heavy increases in population. It restricts the population explosion and thus tends to keep high the efficiency of our existing population.
Education at the grass root, more equitable distribution of the natural wealth, restrictions on religious fanatics that would damage the country’s economy by unnecessary births, and lastly, weight age to voting not by number but by some other method – these alone can bring about a kind of effective control over the population problem.
