Why there are so many people in India?

Now this is no secret, right? India is the world's second most populous country and that too on a fast pace to overtake China and become the world's most populous country. It already has whooping 1.2 billion living people, far ahead from 3^rd most populous United States' 350 million and extremely close to most populous China's 1.3 billion.
It is projected that by 2050 India's population will swell to an incredible 1.6 billion! An increment equal to almost twice the population of United States, which means that there will be around 400 people living in 1 kilometer square of area!

If that really happens, then India will be one of the earth's most crowded countries. A vast ocean of human beings where one can come and swim just like Uncle Scrooge did in the ocean of gold coins in Duck tales!

So why on earth there are so many people living in India? Why don't they realize that they will be crushed under there own weight of people if they don't check their population growth? What will be the future of this country which boasts of being an economic powerhouse and a world player of 21st century?

I believe this hub can discuss the above questions! I hope you all have a nice time reading this hub. Its a humble request to all to please comment their opinions, i.e,, if they like something or if they find something inappropriate. Thanks in advance!

• A brief historical note
• Let's crunch some numbers!
• Did Indians just sat aside as they exploded in numbers?
• Population and Democracy
• Does India has a long term benefit of her rising population?
• Conclusion

Before British invaded India, it was largely administered by various emperors having different ethnic backgrounds and each of them had small territories of land. Some kings like Mughals and Marathas were more powerful but there were many other smaller kingdoms as well.
When British came here they weren't at large since the start. Later after rebellions of 1857, British got the total control of the territory.

In one way Indians thank British because it were the British who made India what it is today. Because they were autocratic to every other person of subcontinent, people united to fight against a single cause. Longer the British stayed, more was the increment in unity among the people and more were the odds in favor of creation of a united South Asian country rather than small princely states.

Among the people, major communities were Hindus and Muslims. Both of them used to have hell lot of children. But at those times the infant mortality rate used to be very high and the life expectancy used to be very less. So lot of people died. Large birth rates were checked by larger death rates and hence overall population increment was kinda controlled.

When India got independent in 1947, its total population was around 350 million and life expectancy was as less as 31 years. Infant mortality rate was also very high. So it is evident that if Indian population rose, it was because of insane number of children per couple.

Indians, at that time, used to have at least 4-5 children per family and no limit for at most. A lot of children died at the time of the birth only. A lot of mothers died as well. Health facilities weren't that good. Also India was largely an agrarian country. So more number of children were seen as "more hands" contributing into the family fields and agriculture they practiced. But one bad thing happened out of all this! Indians embedded this into their traditions.
A family having 2 children was rare to see!

But then things started changing. More and more people started getting educated. They settled into cities and urban environments. There they realized that more children doesn't mean "more hands" but actually "more mouths to feed"! So urban people who worked in offices and factories started reducing their number of children. Previously they faced pressure from their family and culture but later they too adapted with the need.
Just like educated middle class, people who were farmers also came to cities like Mumbai and Delhi to work as labourers to earn a better living. But with them theory of "more hands" was still applicable! So they didn't check the population growth.

Eventually health facilities improved drastically. People started living longer lives. Infant mortality was reduced to 58 deaths per 1000 children. Life Expectancy improved to 65 years, more than double in less than 60 years.
People following "more mouths to feed" philosophy increased as well, but people following "more hands" philosophy increased like hell! That made India swell to 1.2 billion in 60 years!

Now those of you who are Indians or have been to India know that the much of India still looks like the one shown in the picture above. Now this is a democracy, right? You just can't walk up to guy and tell him that if I see a 3rd child of yours, I'll blow up your head. You can only convince people to think about themselves and their country. I will discuss this point in detail.

Initially Indians weren't really bothered by the extremely high birth rate for obvious reasons that the overall population was controlled. But once when it blew up like a volcano, people started getting worried.

Many campaigns started which aimed at educating the people about contraceptives and family planning operations. They were given free family planning operations so that more and more people use it. BUT the problem was that Indians found that offensive. Vasectomy and Tubectomy operations deeply offended many traditional Indian families. They were very resistant to it.

Other than that many poor classes really didn't care about what government or NGOs said them to do. They continued their silly ancestral trend of 5 children per family. Out of them, many lived in rural areas and some in urban areas.
I bet you all have heard about Dharavi (The slums of Mumbai portrayed in Oscar winning Slumdog Millionare!) or the slums on the outskirts of Delhi, haven't you?

They say that Dharavi is the most densely populated area on this whole planet. Also large population of India still resides impoverished in rural parts! Why won't it be? People aren't coming out to help themselves. People in urban areas have controlled their population but people in rural areas haven't.

Now saying that India can't control its population just because its a democracy doesn't make much sense. Almost all the world is democratic and 5 countries larger than India are democratic, have controlled population and have one of highest standards of living.

Now here is, I think, where culture and education comes in! The culture of countries like United States, Canada and Australia are entirely different from India's diverse culture and traditions. Also all of them have managed to educate almost 100% of their population which is not the case with India.
Every 200 km you move, you find people with different language and culture. They have different perspectives of life, different beliefs and pose stress on education differently.

But you know what, this is still not the problem! The problem is the indifference of the government!

It is often said that "India develops, when its government sleeps!". And that seems apparently true. Today India is growing at extremely high rate and that is largely due to large scale globalization and privatization of various key sectors.
Government still suffers some serious problems of corruption and indecision. Many people say India is indeed a democracy but a messy and indecisive one!

->Government hospitals that can really drive the rate of family planning operations by providing facilities at no costs still suffer some serious infrastructure problems.
->Villagers aren't educated enough and for them, the jeopardized education sector of government is responsible. The primary and secondary schools of rural areas really suck! They are technically very backward and still drenched in the evils of caste system and religious differences.

-> People in rural areas still aren't sending enough children to schools so that they can learn and ultimately uplift their living standards.

The basic reason because India is poor is the growing population of poor people at much higher rate.

Well I have heard a lot of experts saying that India has a long term benefit of its rising population as more people will contribute to the economic growth hence turning this country into an economic powerhouse. India has a large market base due to large population which attracts many multinational companies to invest here.

But I think Indians should not just jump out of joy by listening to these statements. Population growth keeps on challenging the infrastructure of the country and can't let India be a prosperous nation. We will eventually run out of land to make our house and run our business, because as the economy rises, country becomes richer and people want more lavish lifestyles.

I think India has enough population now to attract all the broad businesses around the world. She need not increase her population to do so. So all those expert statements honestly makes no sense to me.
India has apparantely very less long term benefits and all other losses due to this rising ocean of humanity!

Well having said all this I believe that people like me shouldn't just keep rising the problems without coming up with any solutions. India boasts of having largest number of graduates and post graduates as well as largest number of entrepreneurs any where in the world. But a lot of brains drain out and those who are left hardly think of working in this regard because they hardly see any profit in doing so.
Its largely because right now in current scenario its apparantely a thankless job. Very less people come up with ideas or start ups which are aimed to benefit rural India.

What government should do is to promote and fund more of these start ups and other private organisations to work for the rural area just like they did in various other sectors. For example some good private schools can provide better infrastructure and facility to rural children than government schools.
People of the country should start lifting their traditional sanctions and should realize that all this is done for their own betterment.

Anyways, still India's fertility rate has come down to 2.85 per woman. Government is trying to reduce it further to 2.1 per woman. It has its own plans and i hope it succeeds.

If somehow India manages to check its population growth and makes itself a fully prosperous country, then I think it will be the country of the century! :) :) :)
Thank you very much for standing by and reading my article.
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