Population & migration

Problems Related To Population Growth in India Problems Related To Population Growth in India Changes in population can either be acurse or a boon in different countries depending on their settings. For example, population growth in developing countries like India is considered a curse whereas in developed countries such as Italy and Spain it would be considered as a blessing because their economies are greatly industrialized surpassing the current population’s capacity to provide required work force. Developing countries are characterized by limited opportunities and resources whereby increase in population stretches the capacities of the available resources to sufficiently suffice the needs of the population (Gupta, 2010). Population increase/explosion in developing countries contributes to problems such as malnutrition and poverty but does not have much negative effects in developed countries as they are well endowed with several resources. On the other hand, population decrease in developing countries can be seen as a blessing as it would boost the capacity of available limited resources and opportunities to cater for the needs of the population, but in highly industrialized countries it will be seen as a curse because of shrinking available workforce. This paper investigates problems of population explosion in India suggesting ways that can be used to control it.
According to Webster’s dictionary, population is defined as the whole number of inhabitants or people in a given country whereas population explosion is pyramiding of numbers of a natural population. Population change is mainly influenced by death rate, birth rate and migration. Increase in birth rate and migration increase population whereas increase in death rate reduces population. Thus, population is calculated by subtracting a sum of deaths and emigration from a sum of births and immigration. Effects of population growth in India include increased environmental population, increased unemployment and illiteracy levels and increased depletion of resources.
Increased environment pollution has resulted from increased establishment of more factories to satisfy the needs of the people in the country. When the fossil fuels are burnt to generate energy required by the increased factories, green house gases such as carbon dioxide and sulphur dioxide are emitted into the atmosphere contributing to air pollution and global warming. Also, the factories discharge their industrial wastes into rivers. Equally, the increasing numbers of people exert pressure on the available natural resources; water resources are over-utilized, forest cover cleared for settlement and provision of wood fuel. These activities contribute to both air and water degradation in the country and beyond.
Population explosion stretches the available opportunities beyond their capacities to sustain the population. People experience unemployment (Gupta, Bongaarts and Cleland, 2011), shortage of food and income generating opportunities (Basu and Das, 2011). The population become poorer leaving it with insufficient resources for pursuing education explaining the increased illiteracy levels. Also, the people fail to obtain basic needs such as food leading to malnutrition. Either the people have no resources to help them obtain food or have the necessary resources but cannot find adequate and quality food.
There are several ways that the government of India can use to control population growth and its effects on the country. They include introduction and sustenance of birth control measures, passing laws limiting migration numbers and practicing educational programs about population growth and its effects (Jagannadha, 2001). Birth control measures will reduce the number of the births in the country. Anti-migration laws will prevent infiltration of foreigners into the country while education programs about population growth and its effects will convince the people to adopt control measures (Changu, 2009).
References
Basu, P. R. and Das, S. (2011). Population Growth Socio-economic and Quality of Life in Birbhum District West Bengal India. Current research Journal of Social Sciences, 3(5): 412-418.
Changu, S. (2009). Progress in Literacy and Elementary Education: The Study of Himachal Pradesh Kerala and Mizoram. Social Change, 39(2): 216-238.
Gupta, M. D., Bongaarts, J. And Cleland, J. (2011). Population Poverty and sustainable Development: A Review of the Evidence. Policy Research Working Paper 5719, Washington DC, World Bank.
Gupta, R. (2010). How Many is To Many: Population Explosion Vs Sustainable Development. Retrieved from; http://www. teriin. org/themes/wpd/pdf/TG-Cover_story. pdf.
Jagannadha, A. R. (2001). A Holistic Approach to Population Control in India. Journal of Bioscience, 26(4): 421-423.