DNA Edit: China trumped - Drastic steps are needed to curb India’s population

There is one area where India is certain to overtake China — population. By 2027, India will be the world’s most populous country.

According to a UN report, it is expected to add nearly 273 million people between 2019 and 2050. The silver lining — if it can be called that — is that the 2017 world population report released by the UN two years ago, had estimated that the population of India will surpass China by around 2024.

Now, that target has been pushed forward by three years. China, with 1.43 billion people in 2019, and India with 1.37 billion, have long been the two most populous nations of the world, comprising 19 and 18% respectively of the total global population. After this re-ordering between 2019 and 2050, the ranking of the two largest countries is projected to be preserved through the end of the century, when India could remain the world’s most populous country with nearly 1.5 billion inhabitants, followed by China with just under 1.1 billion.

Clearly, population explosion is not merely a problem in India, it has now reached menacing proportions. The country’s population was around 361 million during the 1951 Census and reached the 1.21 billion-mark during the 2011 Census. As with most developing countries, India has all the three main characteristics associated with population explosion: increased birth rate, decreased infant mortality rate and improved life expectancy.

But, there are other factors that are disturbing. Among them, the choleric refusal of more than half of the population to use birth control measures like condoms, has meant that there is really no check on the birth rate.

In India, with a backward economy and little scope for fruitful employment, millions find no work to do. The unemployed, without an ensured living, are left frustrated and demoralised, losing their faith in life itself.