Essay on “Population Problem” Complete Essay for Class 10, Class 12 and Graduation and other classes.

THE POPULATION PROBLEM

OR

POPOULATION EXPLOSION

OR

THE PROBLEM OF THE INCREASING NUMBERS IN INDIA

OR

THE PLANNER PROPOSES, POPULATION DISPOSES

7 Best Essay on “The Population Problem in India”

Essay No. 01

                         “No country can be overpopulated if there is work for everyone”.

                           —–Jawahar Lal Nehru

        Over-Population is one of the numerous problems facing India.  It is a burning question of the day.  It has been engaging the attention of the public and the press for a pretty long time.  Much has been said and written about this problem of ever-increasing numbers. During the last century, Malthus, a well-known economist; had stated in his famous essay on the population that population increased at a much faster rate than food supply.  Malthus seems to be quite true if we look at the conditions prevailing in our country today.

        India occupies only 2.4 percent of the total land area of the world but the population of the country is 16 percent of the total global population.  According to the 1991 census, the population of India had crossed the 882 million mark. What is more, it is still increasing at an alarming rate.  It is rising at the rate of about one million heads every month.  According to the 2001 Census, the population of India crossed the 1000 million mark.  This crossing of the billion mark has shaken the government and the people of India to the bones.  Since 1947, the population of India has increased by 360 million.  This means we have added an entire population of the erstwhile USSR. Every year, the increase in India’s Population equals the population of Australia.  The situation is just staggering.  The production of food cannot keep pace with the alarming increase in numbers.

        The causes of this problem are not very far to seek.  Ours is a hot country.  So we have a high birth rate.  The boys and girls of our country grow and mature sexually at an early age.  Early marriages are common even today, especially in rural areas.  Moreover, the birth of a baby is supposed to be the work of God. Illiteracy and ignorance are still rampant Bog families still carry prestige with them.  So the birth rate is quite high.  On the other hand, medical facilities have increased a lot since independence.  It has led to a decrease in the death rate.  The population is, therefore, increasing at a terrific speed.  Last but not the least, there is a lack of means of recreation for the masses.  This and many other social factors are at work.  They account for this serious problem facing the country.

        The problem of ever-increasing numbers must be solved on a top priority basis.  Unless it is solved our Five Year Plans cannot raise our standard of living.  No plan for employment can succeed in its absence.  The food problem will remain as it is.  So, for the future prosperity of the nation, every effort must be made to solve it.

        A planned population control program should be launched to check this phenomenal growth in population in our country.  The first step, of course, is the education of the people.  Their whole mental outlook must be changed.  They have to realize that it is a sin to have a large family.  Besides this, an improvement in the economic condition of the people will also bring down the birth rate.  Family planning schemes should be made popular.  Attractive incentives should be given to those couples who come forward to plan their families.  Those who refuse to be all in line should be suitably penalized and discouraged.  Medicines, operations, and other devices, that help in checking the birth rate should be made available to all.  They should not be limited to cities only.  They must reach rural India.

        With the crossing of the billion mark, the planners in the Government of India have once again started thinking of steps that can be taken to control the population in the country.   A suggestion has been made that the country should declare a two-year baby holiday.  It has also been suggested that the one-child family norm should be adopted.  Punitive measures are also being thought of to curb this population explosion.  No hard decisions have so far been taken.

        To sum up, population control is a crying need of the hour. It is a problem that concerns each citizen of our country.  If we do not plan our families, we might perish one day.

700 Words

Essay No. 02

Population Problem

India is a big country, but so are her problems. The population is one of these problems. The present population explosion and the baby boom is very serious problem. It is becoming more and more alarming day by day. The rapid growth of the population in India has nullified most of our achievements in the fields of economics, industrialization, employment generation, planning, and development. The phenomenal increase in our population has left far behind ‘our developmental and technological gains. With the result that there is no check on increase in poverty, misery, diseases, dissatisfaction, frustration, unemployment, and illiteracy. Even the bare necessities of life are being denied to the people, and millions and millions of citizens are living under the line of poverty. In spite of our planned development and scientific progress, the specter of starvation has been staring at the masses.

The reasons behind this rapid growth of our population are too obvious to be ignored. Early marriage, great fertility in Indian women, decline in the rate of mortality because of modern facilities in medicine, surgery and health care, illiteracy and lack of proper education in family planning, etc., are some of the major causes of the problems. Though child marriage has been banned, it prevails as a social custom in many states and every year thousands of child marriages are performed before the very eyes of the custodians of the law. The tropical climate of the country helps the high degree of fertility among Indian women. Here a girl of 15-16 years old is mature enough to deliver a child if married. People in India still consider children as divine gifts. Most of the people in villages and slums in the cities are totally unaware of the evil consequences of a large and unplanned family. The people in rural areas, being ignorant and superstitious, believe in the divine dispensation in the molding of a family and refuse to adopt the measures of family planning.

The Malthusian specter has been haunting India in spite of our family planning program and population policy. According to Malthus population increases in geometrical progression while resources of sustenance increase only in arithmetical progression. Malthus would have been happy to see his theory come true in India, had he been alive. By the turn of this century, we shall have a population of 1000 million. Our growth of population at the rate of 2% is really alarming. Every minute we have about 45 additional mouths to feed. The longevity and falling death rate further aggravate our population problem. According to the estimates of the demographers, with the present rate of growth in population, India would soon become the most populous country in the world and China would be relegated to second place. The baby boom in India reduces the quality of life and increases the problems of unemployment, health, family welfare, housing, and many others. The chronic problem becomes even worse because of illiteracy and ignorance. People in rural India frequently indulge in sex as a diversion without using the means of contraceptives and family planning.

To fight this danger of ever-increasing population some strict and urgent measures should be taken. More funds should be allocated for family planning, mother and child care, and birth control programs under the Five Year Plan. More and more sterilization facilities coupled with increased monetary incentives should be provided in the villages and towns. Child marriages should be dealt with a heavy hand and marriage registration should be made compulsory. Without registration, no marriage should be considered legal. As far marriages and divorces are concerned, there should be a uniform civil code, and no discrimination should be exercised on the basis of religion, etc.

A mass propaganda and education program should be launched through radio, T.V., and the press to educate the masses as regards the many advantages to be had from family planning, birth control, and late marriages. If the present rate of birth does not come down in near future, it would be disastrous for the country, and then ultimately we would be constrained to resort to such unpleasant means as compulsory sterilization. It is better that we use more and more sterilization, loops, condoms, oral contraceptives, etc., to curb the menace of rapid growth in population before we are forced to such drastic steps such as compulsory sterilization, etc.

720 Words

Essay No. 03

Population Problem of India

The population has always had the tendency of growing but, as long as it is within the limits of acceptability and management, it is very welcome. However, in India, as we all know, the growth of population is all proportion to its other achievements.   

India is the most thickly populated country in the world. second only to China. This population growth if left unchecked will automatically allow absolutely no impact on the development of the country, in any other sphere. No matter how many and how vast our development programs maybe, this disproportionate growth of population will nullify it all. For instance, if a home is big enough for four people to live in very comfortably and the population rises to six. When the home is big enough for six, the population becomes eight and hence goes on and on. This would obviously mean that never can there be entire comfort, as, when comforts are increased, population to take advantage also increases thus the position remains the same. The net result of this sort of situation would be that, there would never be any sufficiency, no matter how much we may achieve. Similarly, when the family income is enough to cater to four, the family size rises to six, when it rises to be enough for six, the problem size rises to be eight. This is a question of just simple Arithmetic that is easily understood by all, yet, remains unanswered and unsolved.

In the last fifty years of India’s Independence, this has been the exact position of India. India has undoubtedly made tremendous progress on all fronts but this problem population has just nullified all the achievements if see them in the perspective of the whole country. This makes us feel as though we are just the same as we were fifty years back, and, I dare say this is all just because of the continuously rising graph of population.

If this situation continues, I think, India can never hope to be among the progressive countries of the world, as, all progress is bound to be naught by the disproportionate growth of the population. The Government, the NGOs, and above all the individuals, should work together to tackle this problem for, as long as this is not satisfactorily solved there is no end to the dark tunnel of poverty and hunger.

To tackle this Herculean problem we must attack it very methodically. Let us analyze why and where the population growth is maximum, and then attack the virus. The belief of society that, a son is essential in a family makes several families grow to undesirable and uncouth sizes. Parents don’t stop producing till they get a son Besides this, in rural India where growth is phenomenal the parents do not feel the need for a small family, and they do not seem to feel the burden of the large family. They seem to hold the view that, each child who comes with two hands, is able to fend FOR himself. Hence, no one is a burden on the parents. These parents do not realize that their children pose problems for the country, if not for the individual family. A problem galore comes ahead with this rising population the problem of child labour. The child trafficking problem and several other problems take birth due to the little ones taking to job-seeking the parents feel that they are earning for themselves so, no problem is there for the society and the country. However, this is not true for, it is these rural children seeking employment that leads to the exploitation of children in the urban areas. And the sad part of it all is that the rural adults do not understand this.

The layman’s solution to this magnum problem is to enlighten the village folk to the necessity and advantages of having a small family, and few children who can be brought up so well that they become good citizens of the country and contribute to the development of India However, if after much explanation and even cajoling, the rural people do not understand the magnitude of the problem, they should, I dare say be forced into family planning with several incentives and punishments for their activities in the family planning process.

700 Words

Essay No. 04

Population Problem

Population explosion is one of our major problems. India is in the grip of a population explosion, which has affected all our developmental activities very badly. The persistently high birth rate and a considerable decline in mortality rate have made India an overpopulated country. The problem is becoming more and more alarming with the passage of time. In terms of population, India is the second-largest country after China. The infant mortality rate has come down to 80 from 126 per thousand. Life expectancy, on the other hand, has considerably increased. This phenomenon has resulted in the rapid growth of the population of younger people. Similarly, there are an increasing number of men and women over sixty years of age. Consequently, the clash of ideas and interests between the young and the old has become common.

There are about 18 million births every year in India. With this high fertility and decline in mortality, our population has already crossed the 1 billion mark. The enormity of the problem has been realized but commensurate steps towards population control have not been taken so far. The measures taken to date, to address this colossal problem, are really not adequate. Meaningful population control programs should take into account such socio-economic factors as age of marriage, female literacy, rate of mortality, the status of women, and poverty because they have a strong bearing on our population explosion.

The growth of our population at the rate of 2% is really alarming. Every minute we have 45-50 additional mouths to feed. If this baby boom continues, our country will soon be the most populated in the world and China will be relegated to the second position. This baby boom reduces the quality and standard of living and increases the problems of unemployment, housing, health, family welfare, education, etc. The problem becomes all the worse because of illiteracy, ignorance, superstitions, religious and communal prejudices. Most of the people in villages and slums in the cities are totally ignorant of the evil consequences of a large and unplanned family. Owing to a lack of proper awareness and age-old traditions, coupled with superstitions, people in villages believe in the divine dispensation in the moulding of their families and refuse to plan them. Small farmers and agricultural labourers, etc. have large and unplanned families because of the economic value of the children. The more the children, the more hands there are to earn for the family.

To achieve the desired aims and objectives in regard to population control and family planning, the status of women should be improved. They should be well educated and informed and economically independent so that they can have control over their fertility. It is a fact that female literacy has a strong correlation with higher age of marriage and lower birth rate. The birth rate can be brought down by 12 per thousand if the mean age of marriage is raised to 20 years among women. It has been observed that seven years of schooling leads to a three-and-a-half-year delay in marriage and also lower infant mortality. Late marriages should be encouraged and child marriages should be dealt with strictly. Marriage registration should be made compulsory and no marriage should be considered legal without it. ‘Two children’ norm should be strictly implemented and there should not be any violation of it.

Unless the population is controlled, neither can poverty be eliminated nor the living standard is improved. Under the Five Year Plans, more funds should be allocated for family planning, mother and child care, and birth control programs. More and more sterilization facilities, coupled with increased monetary incentives, should be provided in villages and towns. Couples accepting family planning with one or two daughters should be provided proper insurance cover, ensuring their welfare in old age. Security and protection in old age should be ensured to such couples by the government and society. A strong system of incentives and disincentives should be adopted to check this explosion in our population.

Poverty and ignorance are at once both the cause and effect of our rapid expansion of population. Along with rapid and proper economic development, there should be proper awareness among the people about the desirability of family planning. A mass propaganda and education program should be launched through the press, T.V., radio, etc. to enlighten the masses regarding the many advantages of family planning, birth control, and late marriages. If the present baby boom does not stop in the near future, it will be disastrous for the country. It is better that people use more and more means of sterilization, loops, condoms, oral contraceptives, etc. to check the menace of rapid growth in the population before it is too late. We can learn much in this respect from countries such as China and Sri Lanka, etc. More emphasis should be laid on employment, women’s education, poverty alleviation, and birth-control schemes. It is through these means alone that the concept of a small family can be popularised.

Poverty arising out of unemployment and under-employment is the major cause of large families. Family planning and economic development have a strong positive association. One cannot be achieved without the other. They are interlinked and interdependent. The experience of the developed countries in this connection is before us. In poor families, an additional child is considered economically desirable, because he or she can help in increasing the income of a family to some extent.

The moot question is why India has so far failed in its population control program and family welfare schemes. The policy-makers, leaders, demographers, and health and family experts should come together and seriously ponder over the matter. We should review our population control program so as to give it a new direction and dimension with the active involvement of the various governmental, private, and corporate agencies. Even small countries like Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have managed to reduce the total fertility rate faster than India. Every year there is an increase of 18 million in our population, which is equivalent to the total population of Australia. All the other states in India should try to emulate Kerala, where the total fertility rate is just 1.8. Our total fertility rate at present is 2.9, which needs to be reduced by one percentage point. Family planning and welfare programs need to be turned into a people’s movement. It is an established fact that this explosion in our population is the root cause of poverty, social tensions, urban squalor, crime, environmental degradation, and ever-increasing unemployment.

1000 Words

Essay No. 05

India’s Population Problem

India is a big country. She has got a large population and according to the census figures of 1991, India’s population is 8+3,930,861. The same as per the census of 1981 was 683, 810. 051. According to the census figures of April 1, 1971, the country’s population was 547,949,809 persons whereas the country’s population in 1961 consisted of about +39 million. During the 1951 census, it was 360 million approximately. During the last decade, the population has increased considerably. Thus the birth rate has not fallen much, whereas the death rate has fallen considerably. The birth rate of 1961-70 was officially recorded as 41.1 per thousand and the death rate for the same period was 18.9 per thousand. It has been estimated that the birth rate in April 1971 was only 35.4 per thousand. But the targeted birth rate is 32 per thousand.

Now the birth rate is 30.05 and the death rate is 10.02 per thousand. The sex ratio at present is 1000: 929.

These figures show that India is likely to face a very big population problem. With the growth of every child, the country’s resources are strained to a great extent. When he grows young, he needs employment and all other facilities. Thus the Government is concentrating mainly on Family Welfare Programme.

During the emergency, the government had been trying its best to introduce Family Planning Programme and more than one crore persons had been brought under this scheme according to rough estimates. During that period, however, great progress was made with regard to family planning operations. But it caused resentment among the masses due to the wrong behaviour and attitude of the Government officials.

Now the very concept of the Family Planning Programme has been changed and it has been renamed as the ‘FAMILY WELFARE PROGRAMME’. The Government has paid cash-doles to those people, who suffered on account of unsuccessful operations. The use of force in the implementation of Family Planning was condemned. The policy of preparing the people mentally to realize the importance of family planning has been deemed as more effective.

People may take the certain herb or may undergo operations of their own free will. But the Government propaganda goes on through Press and Platforms for building short families. The welfare of the people is the sole aim of the government and all programs are to be implemented with their sweet will.

The Government is canvassing other measures also such as ‘YOGIC CONTROL MEASURES’, ‘HERBAL CONTROL MEASURES’ and observance of strict moral code, etc. Thus the Government wishes to control the population but it is very difficult to use force for this purpose. The best methods are self-control and other measures. Thus the Government is now trying to popularize programs for curtailing the size of families and thus checking the rise of population.

The population growth has to be checked, but through natural methods and by the consent of the people. The entire objective will fail by the use of force. People must be told the merits of the smaller size of family and its necessity for their own betterment.

500 Words

Essay No. 06

Population Problem

India is a vast country. Our country is facing many serious problems. We daily read of famines, floods, and earthquakes. The government is doing its best to solve these problems.

Of all the present problems the most dangerous is the population problem. The economists estimate that the increasing population in India is very discouraging. According to them, India’s population is multiplying very rapidly. If this population continues increasing at this high rate, it will be about 1010 million at the end of 2010. The situation would be more explosive than that created by atom bombs. It is therefore obvious that some sort of birth control on the growing population is very essential.

Our planners have thought over his problem seriously. Allocation of funds for welfare in Five Year Plans has been increasing. In the first Five Year Plan Rs. 5 lakhs were kept for population control. But in the Fourth five-year Plan. Rs. 100 crores were kept for family welfare. The centers are associated with some hospitals of the locality. The red triangle is the symbol of FamilyWelfare Centre. In the rural areas, there is a Family Planning Centre for every eighty thousand persons. Mobile service units are provided. For every fifty thousand population, there is one Mobile Unit. Various contraceptives and other facilities are provided in the hospitals.

Family Planning is being encouraged. Posters connected with family planning are seen on the walls, buses, etc. Propaganda is made through newspapers, radio, films, and Television.

However, the progress in this field is very slow, while the population is increasing very rapidly. It is not only the duty of the government to make plans and schemes but the people should also feel the seriousness of the problem. They should co-operate with the Government. They should make it their duty to exercise some control over it:

Once our late Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi had said, “With our limited resources we must ensure that in every home every child is a wanted child and has the rightful share of health, education, and employment.”

An increase in population causes many problems. We require more food, clothing, house, education facilities, health care, employment opportunities, etc. for increasing numbers. All this requires a huge expenditure and elaborate planning. All this is an uphill task. In order to control the population, adequate serious steps should be taken to get rid of illiteracy, poverty, and superstitions.

Free family planning devices should be made available to all, particularly in rural and slum areas. Incentives should be given to those who have only one or two children. Panchayats, NGOs, educational institutions, and media should play a role in bringing about an awakening in this regard among all sections of society.

450 Words

Essay No. 07

Population Problem in India

Population in India is increasing rapidly. It is called “Population Explosion. Illiteracy, control over death rates, religious beliefs, poverty, and ignorance are the causes of the population problem. At present, India’s population is more than one hundred crores. It is the root cause of poverty. No nation can progress without controlling overpopulation. The citizens should be educated about the advantages of a small family. Medical science has greatly checked the death rate. Unfailing means should also be invented to check birth-rate. If we fail to check the birth rate, we shall fail in every field. We shall fail to provide new mouths food, clothing, shelter, education, and other basic needs of life. The government should give incentives and popularise means to check the increase in population. Otherwise, it will be too late.

130 Words