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Growth of Population and Development: Arguments in Favour and Against

Opinions on the relationship between population growth and development vary, leading to optimistic and
pessimistic views. In this discussion, we will explore key arguments supporting and opposing the notion that
rapid population growth poses a significant developmental problem.

Population Growth is not a Real Problem

i. The Problem is Not Population Growth but 'Some Other Issue'
(a) Underdevelopment: Some argue that underdevelopment, not population growth, is the real problem.
Strategies promoting higher living standards and greater freedom, when pursued correctly, can naturally
regulate population growth.
(b) World Resource Depletion and Environmental Destruction: Developed nations, consuming a
disproportionate share of global resources, should focus on reducing consumption instead of pressuring
developing countries to limit their population. The root cause is seen as the affluent lifestyle and
consumption habits of rich nations.
(c) Population Distribution: Rather than the sheer number of people, the spatial distribution of the
population is emphasized. Efforts should target reducing rural-urban migration and achieving a more
rational distribution of the population in relation to available resources.
(d) Subordination of Women: Women's economic empowerment is viewed as a solution. Improving
women's health, education, and economic opportunities is believed to lead to smaller families and lower
population growth.

ii. A Deliberately Created False Issue

This argument suggests that concerns about population growth in rich nations are attempts to hinder the
development of poorer nations for self-interest. Population control programs imposed by developed nations are
seen as potentially racist or genocidal.

iii. Growth is a Desirable Phenomenon

Economically, larger populations in developing countries are considered beneficial for stimulating economic
development. They provide consumer demand, economies of scale, and a low-cost labor supply. Other non-
economic arguments include the need for population growth to protect border regions, preserve diverse family
size preferences, and maintain military and political power.

Population Growth is a Real Problem

Extreme views attribute global economic and social issues to excessive population growth. Unrestrained
population increase is seen as the primary cause of poverty, environmental degradation, and various social
problems.

Empirical Arguments in Support of Negative Consequences of Population Growth

Research suggests that population growth negatively impacts economic development by hampering sectors
such as education, health, environment, food, and overall economic growth.
i. Increasing Poverty: Rapid population growth disproportionately affects the poor, leading to increased
poverty due to cuts in government programs, environmental damage, and job losses.
ii. Retarding Economic Growth: Evidence indicates that rapid population growth hampers per capita
income growth, especially in already poor and agrarian-based economies.
iii. Problems of Food Scarcity and Security: Population growth challenges providing sufficient and quality
food to developing countries, requiring innovation in agricultural technologies.
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iv. Education: Large families and low income limit access to education, particularly for female children,
affecting the quality of education and human capital development.
v. Health: High fertility rates harm maternal and child health, increasing health risks for both pregnant
mothers and newborns.
vi. Environmental Degradation: Population growth contributes to environmental degradation through
deforestation, desertification, soil erosion, and pollution.
In conclusion, the debate on population growth and development involves complex arguments, reflecting
diverse perspectives on the issue.

Chronic malnutrition
 Chronic malnutrition, also known as chronic under nutrition, is a condition characterized by long-
term deficiencies in essential nutrients, vitamins, and minerals in an individual's diet. This
condition often occurs when a person's intake of necessary nutrients consistently falls below the
body's requirements for growth, development, and overall health.
 Chronic malnutrition is particularly concerning in children, as it can lead to stunted growth and
impaired cognitive development. It can also weaken the immune system, making individuals more
susceptible to infections and other health problems. In adults, chronic malnutrition can result in reduced
productivity, increased vulnerability to diseases, and negative impacts on overall well-being.
Social determinants of malnutrition refer to the broader social, economic, and cultural factors that
influence an individual's nutritional status. These determinants play a significant role in shaping access to
nutritious food, healthcare, and overall well-being. Some key social determinants of malnutrition
include:
 Income and Poverty: Low income limits the ability to afford nutritious foods, leading to inadequate
dietary intake and increased vulnerability to malnutrition. Having less nutritious food and poor
dietary choice is sometimes related to culture of poverty.
 Education: Limited education can result in a lack of knowledge about proper nutrition, feeding
practices, and health-seeking behaviours. Here lack of informational capital transforms into
nutritional deficiency.
 Gender Inequality: Women and girls often have restricted access to food and resources as a
manifestation of patriarchal control on entitlement over food impacting their nutritional status.
Gender norms can influence dietary choices and distribution within households.
 Social Inequities: Discrimination based on caste, ethnicity, race, or other social factors can result in
differential access to resources and nutrition-related services.
 Access to Clean Water and Sanitation: Poor sanitation and lack of clean water can contribute to
infections and diseases that further compromise nutritional health.
 Healthcare Services: Limited access to healthcare, especially in rural areas, can result in inadequate
prenatal and postnatal care, affecting maternal and child nutrition. Here sometimes lack of efficiency of
legal bureaucratic structure to provide efficient water supply can be seen of reasons. The social
contract is not uphold by legal rational authority in real sense.
 Food Environment: Availability of affordable and nutritious foods within communities plays a crucial
role in shaping dietary choices.
 Cultural Practices: Cultural beliefs and traditions can influence dietary habits, food choices, and
feeding practices, impacting nutritional intake. Some cultures even resist vaccines and fortified
foods., Another aspect of Culturally rooted norms where are burdened with fasting and duty bound
to have meal in last are also some factors which causes malnutrition in females.
 Migration and Urbanization: Rapid urbanization and migration can disrupt traditional food systems
and dietary patterns.
 Food Security: The ability to consistently access sufficient, safe, and nutritious food is a fundamental
determinant of nutritional status.
 Employment Opportunities: Unemployment or underemployment can hinder the ability to afford and
access nutritious foods.
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 Policy and Government Initiatives: Government policies related to agriculture, nutrition, and
healthcare can significantly impact access to nutritious food and healthcare services. Government push
to GREEN REVOLUTION has impacted the dietary habits of people. Millets, pulses etc. have been
replaced by rice and wheat and food pallet has become homogenous and less nutritious.
Solution of malnutrition :
There can be three approaches to tackle issue of malnutrition
1. Behavioral Approach: this approach focus on the idea that individual choices and behavior in terms of
lifestyle and diet have greatest impact on their health. Hence according to this approach focus should be
on
o Nutrition Education: Raise awareness about the importance of a balanced diet and the nutritional
needs of different age groups and Educate caregivers, parents, and communities on preparing
nutritious meals using locally available ingredients.
o Breastfeeding Promotion:
 Encourage exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life and continued breastfeeding alongside
complementary foods.
 Offer support and facilities for breastfeeding mothers in workplaces, communities, and healthcare settings.
The network of grass root workers like ASHA workers and Aaganwadi workers can play the part of
mobilising the motivation and reduce informational deficiency. This can nudge behavioural changes in
people.

2. Neo materialist approach: According to this approach malnutrition can be linked to economic factors
and to wider social structure. And intervention on these levels can help us to solve the problem.
1. Access to Nutritious Food:
 Improve agricultural productivity and diversify crops to ensure a steady supply of nutritious foods.
 Promote home gardening and community farming to increase access to fresh fruits and vegetables.
 Support local food markets to provide affordable and varied food options

2. Supplementation and Fortification:

 Provide vitamin and mineral supplements to populations at risk of deficiencies, such as pregnant women
and children.
 Fortify staple foods like flour, salt, and cooking oil with essential nutrients

3. Healthcare Services:
 Strengthen healthcare systems to ensure early detection and treatment of malnutrition-related illnesses.
 Provide access to prenatal care, postnatal care, and child health services.

4. Clean Water and Sanitation:

 Improve access to clean drinking water and sanitation facilities to prevent waterborne diseases that
exacerbate malnutrition.

3. Psycho social approach: according to this approach apart from economic and social structures , the stress
of living in unequal society and being aware about impacts the nutritional and health prospects of
individual.

1. Social Safety Nets:

 Implement programs that provide direct food assistance or cash transfers to vulnerable populations.
 Establish school feeding programs to ensure children receive nutritious meals during school hours.

2. Empowerment of Women:
 Empower women through education and economic opportunities, as their well-being is closely linked to
family nutrition.
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3. Community Engagement: Involve local communities in designing and implementing solutions, ensuring
culturally relevant and sustainable interventions.

Conclusion
India is witnessing its demographic dividend and malnutrition hampers its prospects og growth. To tackle the
issue of malnutrition an combined tailored method based on all three approaches will help in long run. Parsons
idea of sick role which focus on both rights and obligations of malnourished people can guide the policy
measures.. Parsons highlighted the social nature of illness and how it affects individuals' behavior and
interactions within a society. The sick role involves both rights and obligations, creating a framework
for understanding how society responds to illness. This perspective underscores the interplay between
health, social expectations, and medical intervention, shedding light on the complexities of health-
related experiences.

SICK ROLE: TALCOT PARSONS

Talcott Parsons: the sick role In The Social System, Talcott Parsons put forward one of the most famous
concepts in the sociology of health and illness: the sick role. Instead of accepting the idea of sickness as a
biological concept, Parsons suggested that it was a social concept, so being ill meant acting in different, deviant
ways compared to the norm. Being sick was therefore a form of social role, with people acting in particular
ways according to the culture of society. In modern Western societies, this involves four elements, two of which
are rights and two of which are obligations.

The rights of the sick role

1. The sick person has the right to be exempted from normal social obligations, such as attending
employment, or fully engaging in family activities. However, the extent to which the person can take on the
sick role and so avoid normal duties depends upon the seriousness of the illness and other people's acceptance
that they are genuinely ill
2. The sick role is something that the person can do nothing about and for which they should not be
blamed - they therefore have the right to be 'looked after' by others. The sick role effectively absolves the
person from any blame for their social deviance.

Obligations of the sick role As well as these two rights, there are two related obligations:
1. The sick person must accept that the situation they are in is undesirable and that they should seek
to get well as soon as possible.
2. The sick person must seek professional help and cooperate with the medical profession to get
better.

Reverse migration
Migration refers to the change in one’s place of residence, whether temporary or permanent, and is a
human response to various social, cultural, political, economic, and environmental conditions. Reverse
migration, on the other hand, is the movement of people from a place of employment to their native homes,
often due to changes in socio-cultural and economic environments. In the Indian context, reverse migration
gained significant attention during the COVID-19 pandemic, as it led to large-scale migration of migrant
workers back to their villages.

Features
 Temporary Nature: Reverse migration is often temporary, with migrants returning to their home
regions during periods of economic downturn or crisis and then re-migrating when conditions improve.
 Usually associated with marginalised people: these reverse migrants usually belong to marginalised
sections with low skilled or unskilled, usually consisting of underclass with low bargaining power.
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 Urban to Rural: In the Indian context, reverse migration often involves movement from urban to
rural areas.
 Associated with lesser opportunities in urban areas: This type of reverse migration is also observed
in other scenarios such as Push back migration. Ashish Bose in his study found that due
to unemployment, marginal employment in urban areas act as a deterrent for rural population to
find jobs in urban areas.
 Elite reverse migration : Many successful entrepreneurs and professionals returned from foreign
countries to contribute to the growth of the Indian economy and society in the wake of the Global
financial crisis of 2008, and the rise of white nationalism in Europe and America.

Causes
 Economic Factors: Economic downturns or lack of job opportunities in host regions can prompt
reverse migration. The COVID-19 pandemic, for example, led to widespread job losses, prompting
many migrants to return to their home regions.
 Sociological Factors : COVID-19 pandemic revealed the weak financial status of migrant workers,
who have no or very little savings and job security. They preferred to return to their villages due to
insecurity for life and livelihood, as well as the unsympathetic and unhelpful attitude of the urban
middle class where they work.
 Work from Home System: The reach of information technology and the internet in rural areas and
tier 2 cities has led to urban dwellers migrating to their villages or towns, which is also a form of
reverse migration.
 Political instability and political mobilisation: sometimes political instability and political
mobilisation against migrants like son of soil movements causes reverse migration.
 Lack of collective solidarity and sense of anomie: sometimes reverse migration resulted from the lack
of belongingness and loss of identity resulting into alienation. Whereby returning to native
place leads to collective effervescence and exhilaration.
 Development and opportunities in native area: Positive Rural Transformations and Opportunities
in Native Regions: The allure of favourable rural developments has the potential to draw
migrants back to their home areas. The implementation of initiatives like the National Rural
Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) in India, which guarantees rural employment, stands out as a
key catalyst in this regard.
 Work from home: companies have also given option of Work from home which has also led to
migration to native places.

Consequences
 Economic Implications: The reverse migration during the COVID-19 pandemic affected the recovery of
economic activity in cities after the lifting of lockdown, as many migrant workers returned to their
native villages, affecting the labor force and economic growth.
 Social Implications:
o Reverse migration can strengthen family and community ties, as individuals return to their
hometowns and reconnect with their roots. This can contribute to social cohesion and
community development.
o Returning to their villages, migrant workers faced problems in commuting and quarantine. Some of
these workers found jobs in MGNREGA work and some in local industries, while others faced
issues in family relations and domestic violence.

 Policy Implications: The condition of migrant workers during the COVID-19 pandemic revealed that
workers are inadequately protected by social security measures. Provisions of medical insurance
and unemployment or layoff benefits measures need to be universalized.
 Cultural Syncretism: Reverse migrants bring elements of urban culture into rural
environments. This infusion of urban influences has resulted in a fusion of urban and rural
cultures in villages, particularly evident in states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in India.
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Conclusion
Reverse migration in India is a complex phenomenon with significant economic, social, and development
implications. It requires careful management and policy responses to mitigate its negative impacts and
harness its potential benefits. In the post-COVID economy, the Indian government needs to collectively
forge strategies to enable the reverse migration of informal migrant workers and smooth their
reintegration, focusing on their economic and social well-being