World Population Day which is observed on July 11 every year to focus on the urgency and importance of population issues has got extra relevance for India since it is the second most populous country as of now. Like each year, the day had been observed all throughout the country to propagate a strong message or rather a caveat that we are already passing through a phase of population explosion and if the current rate of progress is not reduced, the resultant socio-economic dilemmas will be too hard to overcome. But the way the population graph is heading northwards, it is evident that the current UN report which predicts that the day is not far when India will earn the ‘reputation’ of being the most populous country in world, is coming to be true.

Currently with 1.37 billion people India has long been the second-most populous country and according to UN Population Report of 2019, it will surpass China as the world’s most populous country within eight years from now, at around 2027. Furthermore, nearly 273 million people will be added to India’s population between 2019 and 2050 making it almost impossible for any other nation including China to catch up! The report also adds that world's population is expected to increase by two billion in next 30 years from the current 7.7 billion to 9.7 billion in 2050 and it is clear that India will be the biggest contributor followed by Nigeria, Pakistan and a few others from Asia and Africa. If the last two censuses of 2001 and 2011 are compared, it will be found that it was really an ‘enviable’ rate of 17.7% resulting in an addition of 181.5 million people over these decades. It will also be hard to comprehend that India has actually doubled in size in just 40 years and that too in spite of all the awareness campaigns, plans & schemes related to population control. Many social scientists might argue that population is also a human resource for any nation. But in Indian context from an overall and general point of view, it is undeniable that an ever bulging population has been a real detrimental factor in the efforts to eradicate poverty, achieve greater equality, combat hunger & malnutrition and strengthen the coverage and quality of health & education systems.

There are plenty of family planning measures at play pursued by governmental as well as non-governmental agencies throughout  the nook and corner of the country. But unless there is development of sensibility and responsibility to the issue, nothing really better seems to happen and after 2027 India will emerge as the permanent topper of the world population graph. 

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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