Omkar Dattatray
Population explosion hogged the news headlines due to the plain speaking of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Population as the human resource is an asset for any country but it becomes a big and dangerous liability for a country when it exceeds its limits and it is truer for India. The uncontrolled population is a ticking bomb and it can explode any time if it is not controlled and it can lead to very dangerous consequences if left uncontrolled. Therefore the right and sincere steps should be taken to control the ever growing population in India. The population of India is continuing to increase at the very fast rate and the country may surpass the population of China if not controlled. Our population at present is more than 140 crore and we add more and more numbers to it every day. Right from the day of freedom of the country and even before the freedom, the population of India has been increasing at a fast rate and threatening the development of the country. All the fruits of planned economic development stand nullified and consumed by the growing number of the population. The natural and productive resources of the country are limited and the growing population eats up these scarce resources and thus keeps the country underdeveloped. Every year we are adding the population of Australia to our population and we are growing a big number of babies and all the economic, social and technological and scientific development of the country is put at naught due to the increasing number of babies which we add every day to the stock of population. The ever increasing population is becoming an obstacle and hindrance in the overall development of the country and all our efforts of progress and development vanish in the thin air because of the increasing population. The increasing population is a drain on the state exchequer and the financial resources get retarded because of the increasing population. The schooling of the growing number of the children, the health services, water for drinking and other purposes, roads and buildings, housing and electricity and above all the balanced food is not made available to the growing population and it retards our march towards economic, social, scientific and overall development. Therefore if we have to grow and develop and be counted a developing economy, we have to control the increasing population so that the country is developed to its fullest. Thus there is great and urgent need to control the population so that the fruits of the development reach to the last man in the queue and for this it is necessary to control the increasing population. On 11th July, the world including India has celebrated the world population day and on this day different programs were held across the country to celebrate this day. We have resolved to control the increasing population so that the growing population will not create obstacles to the country’s development. Shortages of various items and crisis take place in the country thanks to the faster increase in our population. The power crisis, water crisis, food shortages, fuel crisis, health crisis etc are the fallouts of the increasing population. We fail to provide world class education and schooling to our children, the best health and hygiene services, good transport and road, good housing, etc to the people because of the increasing population. Our scarce natural and national resources do not increase in accordance with the increasing population, with the result these scarce resources are drained and cannot match ever increasing demand due to fast increasing population. Thus we fail to provide the scarce resources to the economy for its development because the growing population acts as a break and obstacle to development, with the result we are still a developing economy and cannot claim to be a developed country and economy. The growing unemployment problem, the problem of inflation and rising prices, poor and unbalanced diet and lower standard of living are the consequences and off shoots of increasing population. All our individual and collective efforts of national development pale into insignificance due to the increasing population. The problem of increasing population is in news these days because of the comment of UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath who has said that the population of a certain community is increasing very fast and posing a threat of demographic change in the state and he demands that a policy and law for the control of the increasing population. He has further said that the increasing population fuels the anarchy in the country and therefore it is necessary to control the increasing population in the interest of the country. But it is most unfortunate that every time population control is made a subject of Hindu-Muslim tussle and so this time as well the subject of population control is seen through the prism of the religion. The Muslim community opposes the population control and they say that birth of children is related with the God and it is he, who makes arrangement for eating and living of the growing population. The Muslim community, by and large, is critical of the population control because they say that population is the gift of god and he alone makes all arrangements for the feeding and upkeep of the population and therefore it should not be interfered with. There is urgent need for the control of the increasing population so that the country will march on the path of development and the people will have healthy life. The population control and population policy should not be politicized and it should not be seen as a Hindu-Muslim subject. It is very disturbing that the population control is being politicized by the political satraps and political parties because in the country everything and each thing is politicized and in the same manner increasi8ng population and its control is politicized. The politicians should desist from politicking in the name of population control and let and allow the government to control the increasing population. There is need for a population policy and under this policy there should be the norm of one child and all those couples who give birth to only one child should be rewarded and encouraged and those who give birth to two or more children should be debarred from contesting any election from the local bodies to the parliament. The government should take necessary steps to control the increasing population so that it will not increase at a fast rate and does not become an impediment to national development. The family welfare and control should be exercised under the directions of the family welfare department and it should be entrusted with the duty of family welfare and family control so that there is break on the growing number of babies in the interest of the nation. The population control should not be made a subject and debate of Hindu-Muslim issue because it has to do nothing with the religion. All those who believe in the nation’s development should rise above Hindu-Muslim angle and not view the population control as Hindu-Muslim issue but let the government to control the increasing population in the national interest. A coherent population policy is the need of the hour and so government should frame a new population policy so that the control of increasing population becomes possible. The political parties and the politicians should not see the increasing population and its control as a religious issue but a national issue which concerns all of us. There is urgent and great need for the law on population control in the country. The government should hold deliberations with all the political parties about population control and table a bill in the upcoming monsoon session of the parliament and make consensus in this regard and ensure the passing of the population control act. Thus both the population policy and the population control act in the light of the population policy should be framed and the population control act should be passed in the parliament so that the population of the country is controlled in the interest of the nation. The population control Act is the prime and basic need of the country and therefore the law to control population should be passed in the parliament so that the monster of population is controlled. No forceful way should be used to control the increasing population. We have seen and experienced it during the rule of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi that force was used to control the increasing population as during those days people were by forced sterilized and this back fired. There is need for voluntary family welfare and planning. No force should be used to control the population. The population control law should be passed in the parliament with the consensus and support of all the political parties so that there is least opposition to the population control law. Population education and awareness about the benefits of population control should be given to the people through population education. The population education should be taught as a subject of study in schools, colleges and universities to impart information and awareness about the benefits of small families to the young students so that at later date they will come forward to voluntarily undergo population control. The population education is very important to impress the young couples to voluntarily accept and exercise family welfare and family control. To conclude it can be said that the increasing population is a hydra headed giant and it should be tamed to control population. All of us should cooperate with the government in the national task of controlling of the growing population so that India as well will become a developed nation in the days to come.
(The author is a Columnist and Social-Activist).
