This day, on World Population day, India’s headcount is projected at 1.40 Billion as of July 11, 2022, based on interpolation of the latest United Nations data. With the limited land area, rising environmental conditions, and scarcity of resources — the increasing population of the country can bring in a crisis that no one can even imagine.
Although fertility rates have declined from about 3.8 to 2.4 children in the last three decades, India is projected to become the world’s most populous nation by 2028. Something, which is not to be proud of for a middle-income country. The past few decades have seen significant growth in the education and health sector, however, it has brought huge disparity between the upper class and lower class or economically weaker section.
According to UNFPA India, high rate of unprotected sex, lack of education, considering sex education as a taboo, absence of awareness, and low availability of birth control methods, gender discrimination in demand for more male children, orthodox and religious beliefs have always remained high in India despite after having advancement in science and technology.
The United Nations has been analyzing and forecasting the world’s demographics for decades. Sixty-one percent of the global population lives in Asia, i.e, 4.7 billion.
According to World Population Prospects 2019, China with 1.44 billion people, and India with 1.39 billion people remain the two most populous countries of the world. Around 2027, India is projected to overtake China as the world’s most populous country, while China’s population is projected to decrease by 31.4 million, or around 2.2 percent, between 2019 and 2050.
It’s an alarm for the leaders and policy drivers to bring in some population control measures to stop the increasing weight on the country. “We urgently need to either start increasing the size of the planet or stop increasing the size of our population,” said Mokokoma Mokokoma, the author of many thought-provoking books.
In one of the most enduring works of the time, in 1798, Thomas Robert Malthus published his Essay on the Principle of Population. Malthus’s fundamental argument was that population growth will inevitably collide with diminishing returns.
Of course, there are rising concerns about the environment and the scarcity of resources were still mostly a thing of the future, however, the current increase in the number of people in India is curtailing its development and growth in every aspect of human healthy and prosperous survival. There is a list of sectors it’s affecting and will affect drastically if nothing is been done to stop this catastrophe.
Rapid population growth directly reduces per capita income growth and well-being, which tends to increase poverty. After all, per capita income equals total income divided by population.
“This year’s World Population Day falls during a milestone year when we anticipate the birth of the Earth’s eight billionth inhabitant. This is an occasion to celebrate our diversity, recognize our common humanity, and marvel at advancements in health that have extended lifespans and dramatically reduced maternal and child mortality rates,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres.“
At the same time, it is a reminder of our shared responsibility to care for our planet and a moment to reflect on where we still fall short of our commitments to one another,” he added.