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Home upsc-notes General Studies – 1 Human & Economic Geography

POPULATION IN INDIA

POPULATION IN INDIA
POPULATION IN INDIA
INTRODUCTION:

The most important resource to a nation is its people.

The current population of India is at 138.26 crores (2020)
(2020), according to UN data.
Population of India is equivalent to 17.7% of the total world population. India
ranks number 2 in the list of countries (and dependencies) by population.
According to estimates in a recently released United Nations report
report, India is
expected to add 273 million people by the year 2050.
More often, it is argued that such a large population invariably puts pressure on its
limited resources and is also responsible for many socio-economic problems in
the country.
Decadal Growth rate of Population in India between 2001-2011 was 17.64%. It
decreased from 21.54% during 1991-2001.
India’s population is larger than the total population of North America, South
America and Australia put together.
The individual states of India have population comparative to the population of many
countries.

IMPORTANT DEFINITIONS

Term Explanation
Crude Birth Rate The annual number of live births per 1,000 people.

The annual number of live births per 1,000 women of childbearing age
General Fertility
(often taken to be from 15 to 49 years, but sometimes from 15 to 44).
Rate

The annual number of live births per 1,000 women in particular age
Age-Speci`c
groups (usually 15-19, 20-24 and so on).
Fertility Rates

Crude Death Rate The annual number of deaths per 1,000 people
Infant Mortality The annual number of deaths of children of age less than 1-year-old per
Rate 1,000 live births.
The number of years which an individual at a given age can expect to live
at present mortality levels.
Life Expectancy
Life expectancy of India is 69.16 years (2017)

The number of live births per woman completing her reproductive life, if
her childbearing at each age reflected the current age-specific fertility
Total Fertility rates.
Rate (TFR)

Gross Reproduction The number of daughters who would be born to a woman completing her
Rate reproductive life at current age-specific fertility rates
Net Reproduction The number of daughters who would be born to a woman according to
Rate current age-specific fertility and mortality rates.

Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) is defined as the number of maternal

Maternal deaths per 100,000 live births due to pregnancy or termination of
pregnancy, regardless of the site or duration of pregnancy.
Mortality Rate
(MMR)

A population pyramid, also called an “age-gender-pyramid”, is a

graphical illustration that shows the distribution of various age groups in
Population
a population (typically that of a country or region of the world), which
pyramid
forms the shape of a pyramid when the population is growing.

The number of females per thousand males is referred to as sex ratio.

Sex ratio

Number child deaths under the age of 5

Child mortality rate
years per 1000 live births. It’s ~50 in 2016.. SDG Target 2030 –
(CMR)
11

Measure of the number of dependents aged zero to 14 and over the age
Dependency ratio of 65, compared with the total population aged 15 to 64.

Defined to be that period of time in a nation’s demographic evolution

Demographic when the proportion of population of working age group is particularly
window prominent.

The economic growth potential that can result from shifts in a

population’s age structure, mainly when the share of the working-age
population (15 to 64) is larger than the non-working-age share of the
Demographic population (14 and younger, and 65 and older)”.

dividend

IMPORTANT DEFINITIONS
India has a highly uneven pattern of population distribution.
The percentage shares of population of the states and Union Territories in the
country show that Uttar Pradesh has the highest population followed by
Maharashtra, Bihar and West Bengal.
P., Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh along with Tamil Nadu, Madhya
Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Gujarat, (10 states) together account for about
76 per cent of the total population of the country.
Some states like UP, Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh etc. are very
densely populated. While States like Arunachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and UT like
Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh have very less population density.
The national population density is 382 persons per square kilometer
kilometer. But the
population is unevenly distributed.
There has been a steady increase of more than 200 persons per sq km over
the last 50 years, as the density of population increased from 117 persons/ sq
km in 1951 to 382 persons/sq km in 2011.
Population density is low
ow in mountainous and desert areas like in Ladakh,
western Rajasthan etc.
Such an uneven spatial distribution of population in India suggests a close
relationship between population and physical, socioeconomic and
historical factors.
The density of population is crude measure to study the population
pressure on land
land.
To get a better insight into the human-land ratio in terms of pressure of population
on total cultivable land, the physiological and the agricultural densities should be
found out which are signi`cant for a country like India having a large agricultural
population.

Factors influencing the distribution of population distribution in India.

Physical Factors
Historical Factors
Socio-economic Factors

PHYSICAL FACTORS

CLIMATE

Regions with harsh climate are sparsely populated.

Example
Example: Western Rajasthan has low density of population owing to the arid
climate.
Example
Example: Coastal areas from Gujarat to West Bengal are densely populated due to
moderate climate.

TERRAIN

People avoid rugged and harsh terrains. Plain areas with minimal relief are favored
by the people for settlements.
Example
Example: North Indian Plains, deltas and Coastal Plains have higher proportion of
population than the plateaus and hills of southern and central Indian States &
Himalayan States.

AVAILABILITY OF WATER

River plains, coastal areas and areas around lakes and ponds are densely populated.
Example
Example: Development of irrigation canal (Indira Gandhi Canal) in western
Rajasthan have resulted in greater density of population in the region.

AVAILABILITY OF MINERAL RESOURCES

Mineral wealth of a region attracts settlers.

Example
Example: In spite of rugged terrain, large number of people reside in mineral rich
plateaus of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Odisha.

SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS

AVAILABILITY OF FERTILE FARMLANDS

One reason for high population density in the North Indian plains is presence of large
tracts of fertile plains where subsistence agriculture can feed a large population.

DEVELOPED TRANSPORT SYSTEM

Development of transport facilities is easier over plains.

Limited scope for transportation in hilly regions deters large population density in
these areas.

INDUSTRIALISATION & URBANISATION

Development of industries and the resultant urbanization also encourages the

concentration of population and migration from rural areas.
Thus, highly urbanized and industrialized regions have high population density.
Example
Example: urban regions of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Pune, Ahmedabad,
Chennai and Jaipur have high concentration of population due to industrial
development and urbanisation drawing a large number of rural- urban migrants.

HISTORICAL FACTORS
It is observed that the regions falling in the river plains and coastal areas of
India have remained the regions of larger population concentration.
Even though the uses of natural resources like land and water in these regions have
shown the sign of degradation, the concentration of population remains high
because of an early history of human settlement and development of transport
network.

GROWTH OF POPULATION
Growth of population is the change in the number of people living in a
particular area between two points of time. Its rate is expressed in
percentage
percentage.
The growth rate of population in India over the last one century has been caused by
annual birth rate and death rate and rate of migration and thereby shows different
trends.

The Natural The difference between the crude birth rates and death rates between two
Growth Rate: points of time is known as the natural growth rate.
The Induced It is explained by the volume of inward and outward movement of people in
Growth Rate: any given area.

There are four distinct phases of growth identi`ed within the last century:

The period from 1901-1921 is referred to as a period of stagnant or stationary

phase of growth of India’s population, since in this period growth rate was
extremely low, even recording a negative growth rate during 1911-1921.

Phase Ø Both the birth rate and death rate were high keeping the rate of increase low.
I
Ø Poor health and medical services, illiteracy of people at large and inelcient
distribution system of food and other basic necessities were largely
responsible for a high birth and death rates in this period.

The decades 1921-1951 are referred to as the period of steady population growth.
1921 is the considered as the year of Demographic divide, as the growth rate has
changed from being zero to substantially positive.

Ø An overall improvement in health and sanitation throughout the country

brought down the mortality rate.

Ø The crude birth rate remained high in this period leading to higher growth
Phase rate than the previous phase.
II

The decades 1951-1981 are referred to as the period of population explosion in

India, which was caused by a rapid fall in the mortality rate but a high fertility rate of
population in the country.

Ø Developmental activities were introduced through a centralized planning

process and economy started showing up, ensuring the improvement of living
condition of people at large.

Ø Increased international migration bringing in Tibetans, Bangladeshis,

Nepalis and even people from Pakistan contributed to the high growth rate.

Phase
III

In the post 1981 till present, the growth rate of country’s population though remained
high, has started slowing down gradually.

Ø A downward trend of crude birth rate is held responsible for such a

population growth.

Ø This was, in turn, affected by an increase in the mean age at marriage,

improved quality of life particularly education of females in the country.
Phase
IV

REGIONAL VARIATION IN POPULATION GROWTH

The States like Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha,
Puducherry, and Goa show a low rate of growth not exceeding 20 per cent over
the decade. (1991-2001)
During 2001-2011, the growth rates of almost all States and Union Territories have
registered a lower `gure compared to the previous decade.
The percentage decadal growth rates of the six most populous States, namely, Uttar
Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh
have all fallen during 2001-2011 compared to 1991-2001.

· The States like Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra

Pradesh, Odisha, Puducherry, and Goa show a low rate
of growth not exceeding 20 per cent over the
decade.

· Kerala registered the lowest growth rate (9.4)

not only in this group of states but also in the
country as a whole.
STATES WITH
LOW GROWTH · Nagaland experienced decline in
RATES population.

· A continuous belt of states from west to east in the

north-west, north, and north central parts of the
country has relatively high growth rate than the
southern states.

· It is in this belt comprising Gujarat, Maharashtra,

Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh,
STATES WITH Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Sikkim, Assam,
HIGH GROWTH West Bengal, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, and Jharkhand,
RATES the growth rate on the average remained 20-
25 per cent.

CAUSES OF DECLINING GROWTH RATE

In 1952
1952, India was the `rst country in the world to launch a national
programme
programme, emphasizing family planning to the extent necessary for reducing birth
rates to stabilize the population at a level consistent with the requirement of national
economy.
Increased awareness and standard of living with emphasis on education has
certainly helped in declining the population growth rate.
Different population policies aiming at population development rather than
punitive action has helped India to reduce its growth rate.

DEMOGRAPHIC TRANSITION
Demographic transition theory (DTT) can be used to describe and predict the
future population of any area.
The theory tells us that population of any region changes from high births and high
deaths to low births and low deaths as society progresses from rural agrarian and
illiterate to urban industrial and literate society. These changes occur in stages
which are collectively known as the demographic cycle cycle.
The `rst stage has high fertility and high mortality because people reproduce
more to compensate for the deaths due to epidemics and variable food supply. The
population growth is slow and most of the people are engaged in agriculture where
large families are an asset. Life expectancy is low low, people are mostly illiterate and
have low levels of technology
technology. Two hundred years ago all the countries of the
world were in this stage.
Fertility remains high in the beginning of second stage but it declines with
time. This is accompanied by reduced mortality rate. Improvements in sanitation
and health conditions lead to decline in mortality. Because of this gap the net
addition to population is high.
In the last stage
stage, both fertility and mortality decline considerably
considerably. The
population is either stable or grows slowly. The population becomes urbanised
urbanised,
literate and has high technical know- how aand deliberately controls the
family sizesize.
This shows that human beings are extremely nexible and are able to adjust their
fertility.
In the present day, different countries are at different stages of demographic
transition.

Demographic Transition Theory

Fig: Demographic Transition Theory

New National Population Policy (2000):

The national population policy (NPP) alrms the commitment of government
towards voluntary consent of citizens, while availing of reproductive health care
services.
The new national population policy (NPP) provides a policy frame work to meet
the reproductive and child health needs of the people of India for the next 10
years.
To achieve zero growth rate of population by 2045
2045.

Affordable
Available
Accessible

To reduce infant mortality rate below 30 per thousand live birth by 2010.
To reduce birth rate to 21 per thousand by 2010
To reduce total fertility rate to 1 by 2010
It is estimated that the population of India will be 126.4 crore by 2016.
A National Commission on Population Under the chairmanship of Prime
Minister
Minister, all CMs, selected union ministers, NGO & experts to oversee the
implementation. (Although appears defunct body).
Population Stabilization Fund (2005 2005): An autonomous body, chaired by Health
Minister, for awareness generation, community participation, mobilising `scal
donations etc. Known for 2 schemes:

1. Prerna Scheme (for encouraging delayed marriage, childbirth and spacing.

ASHA workers will give counselling to couples, provide contraceptives etc)
2. Santushti Scheme (Public Private Partnership for sterilization services)

Critical Assessment of India’s Population Policy

India’s national population policies have failed to achieve their objectives as we
remain world’s second largest populated country. The population of India in 1951 was
35 crore
crore, but by 2011, it had increased to 121 crore
crore. There have been few
shortcomings.

1. The NPP have a narrow perspective

perspective, give much importance to contraception
and sterilisation
sterilisation. The basic prerequisite of meaningfully controlling population
include poverty alleviation, improving the standards of living and the spread
of education.
2. On national scale the policy was not publicised and failed to generate mass
support in favour of population control.
3. We have insulcient infrastructure owing to the lack of trained staff, lack of
adequate aptitude among the staff and limited use or misuse of the equipment for
population control resulted in failure of the policy.

The use of coercion during the Emergency (1976-77) caused a serious

resentment among the masses. This made the very NPP itself.

Empowerment
Awareness
Education

IMPLICATIONS OF POPULATION GROWTH

India is not growing uniformly
uniformly. The latest National Family Health Survey (NFHS)
indicates that the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) varies signi`cantly across various wealth
Groups:
The poorest wealth quintile has a TFR of 3.2 children per woman.
The second lowest wealth quintile has a TFR of 2.5 children per woman.
The richest wealth quintile has a TFR of 1.5 children per woman.
This shows that population growth is more concentrated in economically
weaker sections of society.
Population growth acts as a hurdle in addressing effectively the problem of
poverty, hunger and malnutrition and also in providing the better quality of health
and education.
SDGs 1, 2, 3 and 4 (Goal 1: No Poverty, Goal 2: Zero Hunger, Goal 3: Good Health
and Well-being, Goal 4: Quality Education) are going to be affected adversely
because of India’s existing pattern of growth in the population.
Presently, India is producing around 25 million job seekers in the country country,
however, the country is able to provide jobs only to 7 million
million. This gap of 18
million is increasing the burden of unemployment and underemployment in the
country, turning a demographic dividend into a demographic disaster.
India’s population growth is not sustainable. India is only about 35-40% of China’s
landmass.
In the 19th century, when Europe had a demographic explosion, it had occupied
America, Australia etc. India does not have another landmass to occupy and the
available landmass cannot take this population growth.

POPULATION COMPOSITION
Rural – Urban Composition

According to The World BankBank, urban population in India is 34% of total population
The 2018 Revision of World Urbanization Prospects, released by the UN Department
of Economic and Social Affairs,, projects India’s urban population to rise to
52.8% in 2050.
India has 640,867 villages according to the Census 2011 out of which 597,608
(93.2 per cent) are inhabited.
A thorough examination of the pattern of distribution of rural population of India
reveals that both at intra-State and inter- State levels, the relative degree of
urbanization and extent of rural-urban migration regulate the concentration
of rural population.
The distribution of rural population is not uniform throughout the country.
The states like Bihar and Sikkim have very high percentage of rural population.
The states of Goa and Maharashtra have only little over half of their total
population residing in villages.

Rural-Urban Composition, Census 2011

The rural-urban migration is conspicuous in the case of urban areas along the main
road links and railroads in the North Indian Plains, the industrial areas around
Kolkata, Mumbai, Bengaluru – Mysuru, Madurai – Coimbatore, Ahmedabad
– Surat, Delhi – Kanpur and Ludhiana – Jalandhar

Linguistic Composition:

India is a land of linguistic diversity. According to Registrar General and Census

Commissioner of India the number of raw returns of mother tongues has totaled
19,569 in the report of the 2011 census.
However, 71 per cent of the population in the country have one of the 22
scheduled languages as their mother tongue.
Among the scheduled languages, the speakers of Hindi have the highest
percentage.
The smallest language groups are Kashmiri and Sanskrit speakers.
It is noticed that the linguistic regions in the country do not maintain a sharp
and distinct boundary.

Religious Composition
Composition:

The Religious Composition renects the distribution of total population by six major
religious communities, namely, Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain.

Religion Regions
They are distributed as a major group in many states except
the bordering districts; hill States of north-east and in
Hindus
scattered areas of the Deccan Plateau and Ganga Plain.
They form a majority in Kashmir valley and Lakshadweep
and are concentrated in Jammu & Kashmir, certain districts
Muslims of West Bengal and Kerala, many districts of Uttar Pradesh, in
and around Delhi and in Lakshadweep.

Their population is concentrated along the Western coast

around b, Kerala and also in the hill states of Meghalaya,
Mizoram, Nagaland, Chota-Nagpur area and Hills of
Christians Manipur.

Sikhs are mostly concentrated in a relatively small area of the

country, particularly in the states of Punjab, Haryana and
Sikhs
Delhi.

They are concentrated in the urban areas of Rajasthan,

Jains Gujarat and Maharashtra.

They concentrated mostly in Maharashtra. The other areas

where Buddhist are in the majority are Sikkim, Arunachal
Pradesh, Ladakh in Jammu & Kashmir, Tripura, and Lahul and
Buddhists Spiti in Himachal Pradesh.

Occupational Composition

According to the economic status the population of India is divided into three
groups:
 groups:
Main workers
workers: Main Worker is a person who works for at least 183 days (or six
months) in a year.
Marginal workers
workers: Marginal Worker is a person who works for less than 183 days
(or six months) in a year.
Non-workers
Non-workers: They belong to an unemployed bunch of the population.
In India, the proportion of workers (both main and marginal) is only 37.5% (Periodic
Labour Force Survey 2018- 19) leaving a vast majority of about 60% as non-
workers.
It varies from about 39.6 in Goa to about 49.9% in Daman and Diu.
This indicates an economic status in which there is a larger proportion of
dependent population, further indicating possible existence of large number of
unemployed or under employed people.
In the context of a country like India, the work participation rate tends to be
higher in the areas of lower levels of economic development since number of
manual workers are needed to perform the subsistence or near subsistence
economic activities.
As far as the occupation of country’s male and female population is concerned,
male workers out-number female workers in all the three sectors that is
primary, secondary and tertiary.
The number of female workers is relatively high in primary sector, though in
recent years there has been some improvement in work participation of women in
secondary and tertiary sectors.
It is important to note that the proportion of workers in agricultural sector in
India has shown a decline over the last few decades (58.2% in 2001 to 54.6%
in 2011). Consequently, the participation rate in secondary and tertiary sector has
registered an increase.

Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR): LFPR is defined as the percentage of persons in the
labour force (i.e. working or seeking or available for work) in the population.

Female Labour Force Participation Rate Rate: It is the share of working-age women who
report either being employed, or being available for work.

Worker Population Ratio (WPR): WPR is de`ned as the percentage of employed

persons in the population.

Sex Ratio

The number of females per thousand males is referred to as sex ratio.

According to the 2011 census, the sex ratio in India is 940 which was 933 in 2001.
Kerala is the only state where the number of females is more than that of males. It
has sex ratio of 1084
1084.
Haryana lies at the bottom with 879 females per thousand males.
Among UTs, Puducherry has the highest (1037) sex ratio and Daman Diu has
the lowest (618).
Three major states, i.e., J&K, Bihar and Gujarat have shown decline in the sex ratio as
compared to census 2001.

Child Sex Ratio

Ratio:

The Child Sex Ratio in India is de`ned as the number of females per thousand
males in the age group of 0–6 years in the human population.
According to Census 2011, Child Sex Ratio in India is 918 which is lowest
since Independence.
Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Mizoram, and Andaman
and Nicobar Islands are observing an increasing trend in the Child Sex Ratio.

TRIBES & RACIAL GROUPS

In India, tribal population makes up for 8.6% of the total population and is found
in all the states and UTs except Punjab and Haryana.
Most of the tribes in India are concentrated in Central India, North eastern India
and South Indian hills.
Tribal communities in India are often identi`ed by some speci`c signs such as
primitive traits, distinctive culture, geographical isolation, shyness to
contact with the community at large, and backwardness.
Along with these, some tribal groups have some speci`c features such as:
Dependency on hunting, gathering for food,
Having primitive level of technology,
Zero or negative growth of population,
Extremely low level of literacy.

PARTICULARLY VULNERABLE TRIBAL

GROUPS
In 1973, the Dhebar Commission created Primitive Tribal Groups (PTGs) as a
separate category, who are less developed among the tribal groups. In 2006
2006, the
Government of India renamed the PTGs as PVTGs.
In this context, in 1975
1975, the Government of India initiated to identify the most
vulnerable tribal groups as a separate category called PVTGs and declared
52 such groups, while in 1993 an additional 23 groups were added to the category,
making it a total of 75 PVTGs out of 705 Scheduled Tribes.
PVTGs are more vulnerable among the tribal groups groups. Due to this factor, more
developed and assertive tribal groups take a major chunk of the tribal development
funds because of which PVTGs need more funds directed for their development.
PVTGs have some basic characteristics –
they are mostly homogenous
homogenous, with a small declining or stagnant population
population,
they are relatively physically isolated,
absence of written language,
pre agricultural level of technology and a slower rate of change etc.
Among the 75 listed PVTG’s the highest number are found in Odisha.

Tribe Description
Limbu · Sikkim & Darjeeling Hill area
· Found in Mikir Hills of Assam

· Also known as Arleng

Karbi (Mikir)
· Racially they belong to the Mongoloid group and linguistically
they belong to Tibeto-Burman group.

· Niyamgiri Hills in Odisha

Dongria Kondh · PVTG

· Reside in bauxite rich region – connicts with mining companies.

Bonda · Odisha
· Madhya Pradesh

Gonds, Korku · Celebrate Hari Jiroti, a festival for planting fruit bearing trees at
beginning of rains.

· Changlang Plateauin Ladakh

Chang Pa
· Traditional producer of Pashmina wool
wool.

Shompen · One of the two mongoloid tribes that live in Nicobar Islands, others
being Nicobarese.
· Uttar Pradesh & Madhya Pradesh

Agariya · Also known as Lohar as they were involved in mining and

smelting iron during the British Raj.

Agaria · Group of salt pan workers in Gujarat.

Todas · Nilgiri area in Tamil Nadu • PVTG

Konyak · Nagaland
Lotha · Nagaland
· Sikkim
Lepcha
· Important part of Kanchendzonga Biosphere Reserve

Misting · Majuli Island, Assam

Onge · Sentinel Islands, A&N

WOMEN EMPOWERMENT AND POPULATION GROWTH:

Women are at times `nancially weak to pay for needed family planning and health
services. Access to and control over productive resources will result in increased
voice, agency and meaningful participation in decision-making at all levels from
family planning to the time of conceiving.
The failure of family planning is directly related to large-scale illiteracy that
also contributes to the early age of marriage, low status of women, high child-
mortality rate etc. They are least aware of the various ways to control population,
usage of contraceptives and birth control measures.
Uneducated families cannot grasp the issues and problems caused by the
increasing population rate. Education has a transformative impact on girls.
Educated girls tend to work more, earn more, expand their horizons, marry
and start having children later with fewer children.
Fertility rates are high because of misinformation about side-effects of
contraceptives, lack of knowledge about the bene`ts of small families, and
religious or male opposition to contraception.
Any woman with multiple children spends most of her life as a mother and
wife
wife. She cannot play any meaningful role in her community and society until she is
able to limit her family to a proper size. Family planning will not only improve
family welfare but also contribute to achieving social prosperity and
personal happiness.
It is also crucial to sensitize men and boys at a young age, so they become an
integral part in bringing about a transformation of women empowerment in Indian
society. When men start respecting women and accepting them as equals, a lot of
gender-based inequalities will reduce considerably.

DEMOGRAPHIC DIVIDEND
According to United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), demographic dividend
means, “the economic growth potential that can result from shifts in a population’s
age structure, mainly when the share of the working-age population (15 to 64) is
larger than the non-working-age share of the population (14 and younger, and 65 and
older)”.
India has 5% of its population in the age group of 15-59 years which is ever
increasing and will be at the peak around 2036 when it will reach approximately 65%.

Challenges Associated with Demographic Dividend

Asymmetric demography
demography: The growth in the working-age ratio is likely to be
concentrated in some of India’s poorest states and the demographic dividend will be
fully realized only if India is able to create gainful employment opportunities for this
working-age population.

Lack of skills
skills: Most of the new jobs that will be created in the future will be highly
skilled and lack of skill in Indian workforce is a major challenge. India may not be
able to take advantage of the opportunities, due to a low human capital base and
lack of skills.
Low human development parameters: India ranks 130 out of 189 countries in
UNDP’s Human Development Index, which is alarming. Therefore, health and
education parameters need to be improved substantially to make the Indian
workforce elcient and skilled.
Informal nature of economy in India is another hurdle in reaping the bene`ts of
demographic transition in India.
Jobless growth
growth– There is mounting concern that future growth could turn out to be
jobless due to de-industrialization, de-globalization, the fourth industrial revolution
and technological progress. As per the NSSO Periodic Labor Force Survey 2017-18,
India’s labor force participation rate for the age-group 15-59 years is
around 53%, that is, around half of the working age population is jobless.

What needs to be done?

Building human capital:

capital:Investing in people through healthcare, quality
education, jobs and skills helps build human capital, which is key to supporting
economic growth, ending extreme poverty, and creating a more inclusive society.
Skill development
developmentto increase employability of young population. India’s labour
force needs to be empowered with the right skills for the modern economy.
Government has established the National Skill Development Corporation
(NSDC) with the overall target of skilling/ up skilling 500 million people in India by
2022.
Education:
Education:Enhancing educational levels by properly investing in primary, secondary
and higher education. India, which has almost 41% of population below the age of 20
years, can reap the demographic dividend only if with a better education system.
Also, academic-industry collaboration is necessary to synchronise modern
industry demands and learning levels in academics. Establishment of Higher
Education Finance Agency (HEFA) is a welcome step in this direction.
Health:
Health:Improvement in healthcare infrastructure would ensure higher number of
productive days for young labour force, thus increasing the productivity of the
economy.
Success of schemes like Ayushman Bharat and National Health Protection
scheme (NHPS) is necessary. Also, nutrition level in women and children needs
special care with effective implementation of Integrated Child Development
(ICDS) programme.
Job Creation:
Creation:The nation needs to create ten million jobs per year to absorb the
addition of young people into the workforce. Promoting businesses’ interests and
entrepreneurship would help in job creation to provide employment to the large
labour force.
India’s improved ranking in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index Indexis
a good sign.
Schemes like Start-up India
Indiaand Make in India, if implemented properly, would
bring the desired result in the near future.
Urbanisation:
Urbanisation:The large young and working population in the years to come will
migrate to urban areas within their own and other States, leading to rapid and large-
scale increase in urban population. How these migrating people can have access to
basic amenities, health and social services in urban areas need to be the focus of
urban policy planning.

Suggestive measures for population control

Measures for population control

1. Social Measures
2. Economic Measure
3. Other Measures

SOCIAL MEASURES:
1. Minimum age of Marriage à In India minimum age for marriage is 21 years for
men and 18 years for women has been `xed by law. As fertility depends on the age
of marriage, this law should be `rmly implemented and people should also be made
aware of this through publicity.
2. Raising the Status of Women à There is still discrimination to the women. So
women should be given opportunities to develop socially and economically. Free
education should be given to them.
3. Spread of Education à The spread of education changes the outlook of people.
The educated men prefer to delay marriage and adopt small family norms. Educated
women are health conscious and avoid frequent pregnancies and thus help in
lowering birth rate.
4. Adoption à Some parents do not have any child, despite costly medical treatment. It
is advisable that they should adopt orphan children.
5. Change in Social Outlook à Marriage should no longer be considered a social
binding. Issueless women should not be looked down upon.
u. Social Security à More and more people should be covered under-social security
schemes. So that they do not depend upon others in the event of old age, sickness,
unemployment etc..

ECONOMIC MEASURES:
1. More employment opportunities à The `rst and foremost measure is to raise the
employment avenues in rural as well as urban areas. (Generally in rural areas there is
disguised unemployment).
2. Development of Agriculture and Industry à If agriculture and industry are
properly developed, large number of people will get employment. When their income
is increased they would improve their standard of living and adopt small family
norms.
3. Standard of Living à Improved standard of living acts as a deterrent to large family
norm. In order to maintain their higher standard of living, people prefer to have a
small family.
4. Urbanisation à It is on record that people in urban areas have low birth rate than
those living in rural areas.

OTHER MEASURES:
1. Late Marriage à This will reduce the period of reproduction among the females
bringing down the birth rate.
2. Family Planning à This method implies family by choice and not by chance. By
applying preventive measures, people can regulate birth rate. The success of this
method depends on the availability of cheap contraceptive devices for birth control.
3. Publicity à The communication media like TV, radio and newspaper are the good
means to propagate the bene`ts of the planned family to the uneducated and
illiterate people especially in the rural and backward areas of the country.
4. Incentives à The govt. can give various types of incentives to the people to adopt
birth control measures. Monetary incentives and other facilities like leave and
promotion can be extended to the working class which adopts small family norms.
5. Employment to Woman à The female labour force participation has had a decadal
fall from 36.7 per cent in 2005 to 26 per cent in 2018
2018, with 95% (195 million)
women employed in the unorganised sector according to a report by Deloitte.
Access to quality education, reducing the digital divide, mentoring adolescent girls
on vocational training and apprenticeship avenues can build a strong linkage
towards considering technology linked training and employment options.

Mission Parivar Vikas

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has launched “Mission Parivar
Vikas” in 145 high focus districts having the highest total fertility rates in the
country.
The main objective of ‘Mission Parivar Vikas’ will be to accelerate access to high
quality family planning choices based on information, reliable services and
supplies within a rights-based framework.
These 145 districts are in the seven high focus, high TFR states of Uttar
Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh Pradesh, Chhattisgarh
Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and
Assam that constitute 44% of the country’s population.
The key strategic focus of this initiative will be on improving access to
contraceptives through delivering assured services, dovetailing with new
promotional schemes, ensuring commodity security, building capacity (service
providers), creating an enabling environment along with close monitoring and
implementation.

THE POPULATION PYRAMID (THE AGE-SEX PYRAMID)

The age-sex structure of a population refers to the number of females and males in
different age groups.
A population pyramid is used to show the age-sex structure of the population. The
shape of the population pyramid renects the characteristics of the population.
The male and female populations are broken down into 5-year age groups
represented as horizontal bars along the vertical axis, with the youngest age groups
at the bottom and the oldest at the top.

The shape of the population pyramid gradually evolves over time based on fertility,
mortality, and international migration trends.

Fig: THE POPULATION PYRAMID (THE AGE-SEX PYRAMID)

Expanding Population

The age-sex pyramid in such a case is a triangular-shaped pyramid with a wide

base and is typical of less developed countries.
These have larger populations in lower age groups due to high birth rates.

Constant Population

Here, the age-sex pyramid is bell-shaped and tapered towards the top.
This shows birth and death rates are almost equal leading to a near-constant
population
population.

Declining Population

This pyramid has a narrow base and a tapered top showing low birth and death
rates.
The population growth in developed countries is usually zero or negative
negative.

MALTHUS’ THEORY OF POPULATION GROWTH

Malthus contended that the world’s population was growing more rapidly than
the available food supply
supply.
He argued that the food supply increases in an arithmetic progression (1, 2, 3, 4,
and so on), whereas the population expands by a geometric progression (1, 2,
4, 8, and so on).
According to him, the population could increase by multiples, doubling every
twenty-`ve years
years. The gap between the food supply and the population will
continue to grow over time. Even though the food supply will increase, it would be
insulcient to meet the needs of an expanding population. Moreover, famine and
other natural calamities cause widespread sufferings and increase the death
rate
rate, which is nature’s check against the population
population.
Unfortunately, humanity has only a limited ability to voluntarily reduce the growth of
its population (through ‘preventive checks’ such as postponing marriage or
practicing sexual abstinence or celibacy). Malthus believed ‘positive checks’ to
population growth in the form of famines and diseases.
Nature has its own ways of keeping a check on the increasing population. It brings
the population level to the level of the available food supply. The positive checks
include famines, earthquakes, noods, epidemics, wars, etc. When humans
fail to control excessive population growth, nature plays its role.

MARX’S RESPONSE TO MALTHUS’ THESIS

Karl Marx went one step further and argued that starvation was caused by the
unequal distribution of wealth and its accumulation by capitalists. It has
nothing to do with the population
population.
The population is dependent on economic and social organization
organization. The
problems of overpopulation and limits to resources, as enunciated by Malthus, are
inherent and inevitable features associated with the capitalist system of
production.
He does not believe in natural laws controlling the population. According to him,
capitalism created population growth in order to create a vast pool of
cheap labor.

SOME REPORTS
State of World Population 2019
2019:

It is released by United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)

India accounts for over one-sixth of the world’s population in 2019 (1.37 billion
out of 7.71 billion).
It has grown at a rate (2% 2% per year between 2010 and 2019 2019) that is just over the
world growth rate (1.2%1.2%).
India’s life expectancy at birth is lower than the world’s (69
69 years to 72
72).
It scores higher than the global average in terms of access to healthcare during
childbirth, and also has a much lower adolescent birth rate.
India’s maternal mortality ratio in 2015 was 174 deaths per lakh live births (down
from 448 in 1994) while the global MMR in 2015 was 216.
India’s fertility rate in 2019 is 2.3 births per woman, compared to 2.5 worldwide.

World Population Prospects 2019:

The United Nations released the ‘World Population Projections 2019′ report.
India is projected to surpass China as the world’s most populous country in the
next 8 years i.e. by around 2027.
India is expected to add nearly 273 million people between 2019 and 2050.
It will remain the most populated country through the end of the current century.
Together, the population of India and Nigeria (projected to grow by 200 million) could
account for 23% of the global population increase to 2050.
Over-65 population – In India, children under age `ve still outnumber the over-65
population.
But the over-65 population is projected to overtake the under-`ve group between
2025 and 2030.
By 2050
2050, persons over age 65 will make up about one-seventh of India’s population.
By then, the 15-24 years age group in India (13.8%), too, will outnumber the over-65
group (13.6%).
So, children under age `ve are projected to constitute less than 6% of India’s
population in 2050, as compared to 7% globally.

NITI Aayog to draft roadmap for achieving population stabilization

NITI Aayog is organising a National Consultation titled “Realizing the vision of
population stabilization: leaving no one behind”.
The working paper is expected to address key gaps in India’s family planning
programmes
programmes.
It will offer constructive recommendations to address regional disparities in
outcomes by focusing on adolescents and youths, inter-departmental convergence,
demand generation, access to contraceptive services and quality of care.
The recommendations from the consultation will contribute to a NITI Aayog working
paper to help achieve India’s vision of attaining population stabilization.

Key recommendations expected to emerge from the meeting are as follows:

Increasing the basket of contraceptive choices

choices, with greater focus on spacing
methods and helping women make informed choices about delaying pregnancy and
spacing between children.
Addressing social determinants of health such as age at marriage and sex-
selective practices.
Strengthening quality of care, including counseling services, managing side
effects and family planning support.
Increasing budgetary allocations for family planning, to align with the unmet
needs of India’s young people who constitute nearly 30 per cent of our population
Addressing existing socio-cultural barriers towards contraception by investing
extensively in innovative behaviour-change communication strategies.
Treating population stabilization and family planning as a national priority
priority,
fostering inter-departmental convergence and ensuring multisectoral participation
and integration.

Why such move?

India, with a current population size of 1.37 billion, has the second largest
population in the world.
Family planning is considered universally as the smartest development
investment
investment.
For India to realize its sustainable development goals and economic
aspirations
aspirations, it is important to ensure that people have informed access to
contraception and quality family planning services.
India is also at a stage where birth rates are falling but the population
continues to grow due to the fact that more than 30 % of the population is
young and in the reproductive age group.
Nearly 30 million currently married women in the age group of 15-49 years within
this critical cohort have unmet needs in family planning.
This limits their ability to delay or avoid pregnancy by not having access or the
agency to use contraception.

JANSANKHYA STHIRATA KOSH (JSK)

Jansankhya Sthirata Kosh (JSK) an autonomous body under Ministry of Health
and Family Welfare, implemented the following schemes:
Prerna Scheme (for delaying marriage, childbirth and spacing),
Santushti Scheme (Public Private Partnership for sterilization services), and
National Helpline (for information on family planning).
Jansankhya Sthirata Kosh (JSK) is a registered society of the Ministry of Health
and Family Welfare started with a Rs 100 crore grant from government.
The society was established with the objective of highlighting the need for
population stabilization. Its accounts can be audited by the CAG.
The “Jansankhya Sthirata Kosh” (JSK) (National Population Stabilisation Fund) has
been registered as an autonomous Society established under the Societies
Registration Act of 1860.
JSK has to promote and undertake activities aimed at achieving population
stabilisation at a level consistent with the needs of sustainable economic growth,
social development and environment protection, by 2045.

United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)

It is a subsidiary organ of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and
works as a sexual and reproductive health agency.
It was established as a trust fund in 1967
1967and began operations in 1969.
In 1987, it was olcially renamed the United Nations Population Fund but the original
abbreviation, ‘UNFPA’
UNFPA’for the United Nations Fund for Population Activities was
retained.
The UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC
ECOSOC) establishes its mandate.
UNFPA is not supported by the UN budget budget, instead, it is entirely supported by
voluntary contributions of donor governments, intergovernmental organizations, the
private sector, foundations and individuals.
UNFPA works directly to tackletackleon health (SDG3), education (SDG4) and gender
equality (SDG5).
India can achieve a number of SDGs if it links them with family planning.

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Updated on October 24, 2022

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