The Convoluted Solution of Population Control

This Blog is written By Mr. Prateek Srivastava Student of Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies, IP University.

Envision a circumstance where you're given 10 apples for 10 days to take care of yourself. It is anything but a troublesome circumstance, in as much as your body can endure one apple for consistently for 10 days. On the off chance that there are more individuals you need to impart to, the circumstance gets testing.

This is the manner by which we envision our reality to work. The apples, closely resembling the world's restricted assets, and the individuals practically equivalent to the population. The basic arrangement is essential to not add more individuals which tantamount to controlling the population. What we neglect to consider is the huge number of variables that are available close by these straightforward components. These elements make the solution considerably more tangled and convoluted.

Population Control is defined as a policy of attempting to limit the growth in numbers of a population, especially in poor or densely populated parts of the world, by programs of contraception or sterilization[1]. Many countries in their respective parliaments have tabled this

proposal and several countries have even seen a regional or nation-wide implementation as well[2]. The aftereffects of these methodologies have been repulsive and usage has seen the rise of completely new issues.

The Indian Government has tried to implement a system for controlling the population at various times.  A total of 35 private member Bills regarding population control have been introduced in Parliament since Independence[3]. Borrowing from China’s one-child norm, while conveniently ignoring its dark history[4] of brutal coercion to enforce this norm. Different Indian states have made strategies that absent the third offspring of a family from some particular points of interest. This choice has been scrutinized since it has been contended that there are better techniques to forestall the excessively assessed issue of populace blast.

In 2015, China abolished its one-child policy[5], reforming laws to encourage couples to have two children. The country is now moving towards removing birth restriction as China now faces a labor shortage and a rapidly aging population without enough caregivers, or taxpayer. This historic event should be taken as a lesson for us to understand the grave and onerous problem that population control could lead to if implemented in the wrong way.

In addition to overpopulation fears, there are also cases of prejudice against ethnic or religious minorities in China and India. Despite a lower growth rate, but a much higher population, the numerical advantage of Hindus has grown over the years, rather than the other way round. At the same time, the population growth rate of Muslims has been declining since 1971 from 30.9% during 1961-71 to 24.6% during 2001-11. A core belief of right-wing Hindu organizations: that Muslims are trying to "overtake" Hindus. This has led to discrimination and riots within the country with radical groups seeking sterilization of Muslim men to stop them from ‘overpowering’ the Hindus and protecting Hindutva.

Women, especially from the oppressed section of the society, started being discriminated against with the implementations of these policies. Evidence[6]  suggests that the two-child policy in China prompted the renunciation of spouses and female youngsters, non-enrolment of births, non-inoculation of girls, contraceptives being given to ladies despite the fact that it is simpler and more secure for men. The policy also had worrying consequences for the gender balance as a desire for male children led to reported abortions and infanticide[7].

The image of overpopulation prompting obliteration and depletion of the world's assets is so ingrained in the minds of the people that it does not take much to prepare a transparent notion that can easily take the form of bigotry, injustice, and pit one community against the other as shown by the wealthy accusing the poorer parts of society. How, then, are we doing? Is it the sole threat and what can we do to overcome it?

The rest of the blog is an attempt to try and answer these questions in a sequential manner

Contrary to the fear-mongering of the population alarmists, the world isn’t heading for a demographic catastrophe[8]. There have been various arguments that every problem in our country and for that matter, the world, is identified with constrained assets being isolated among an excess of buyers. The people of the south of the world, especially the poor families are unfairly accused of contributing to the depletion of the world’s limited resources. It can, however, be argued that overpopulation is not the sole reason and unequal division of resources is a big problem that is widely ignored[9]. It is alleged that the poorer sections add to their misery by having more children and being unable to feed them. Be that as it may, the truth is that the more hands they have the more they can contribute as labor. Unawareness is another problem. There is an unmet need of providing contraceptive devices and basic health amenities. 

The more unfortunate segment of the general public is additionally unjustifiably blamed for adding to environmental change while in all actuality analysts concluded that the wealthiest tenth of people use up about 20 times more overall energy than the bottom ten percent, no matter where they are[10]. The reason for the environmental change can be contributed to an economy backed by consuming derivatives from non-renewable resources for vitality and impractical farming. To tackle the issue, we have viable options which if implemented successfully, would achieve the goal of sustainable development An economy sponsored by sustainable assets would have various results and consequences for the atmosphere even with an enormous population.

The population growth in India is declining[11] and while we were expected to pass China in 2024[12], the year has been changed 2027[13]. This also shows that Indian fertility rates are declining quickly, and some of these estimates are being revised constantly[14], supports it.

Another opinion to ease our mind about the endlessly misrepresented overpopulation quandary is that a separated and regular developing structure that makes a mix of plant nourishment, close by unobtrusive amounts of meat, could bolster 10 billion people without developing any new regions for cultivation as per researchers[15].

The solutions to population control as well as all the related problems like climate change lie in the depths of our despair. We need to identify the key areas to work upon and address them in a holistic way i.e. considering all the factors which affect the society and not just those which we find convenient.

There should be a clear understanding that offering choices and services rather than outright state control works best. Population control by coercion has proven to be dreadful to society and the results have done more damage than benefits. A far-sighted and forward-looking National Population Policy (NPP) was introduced in 2000 when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister. The governments need to understand the grave situation and consequences of a wrong decision and derive its policies after careful and proper consideration of all the factors while keeping the lessons learned from history in the back of the mind.

Through the ongoing episode of the COVID-19, we have been familiar with the sheer power of nature and our safeguard against it. There is just enough time for us as a society to help our planet and control the issue of overpopulation before it becomes a situation out of our control. he right arrangements will help fathom a huge number of issues including environmental change, neediness, and so forth. By the 2030s, many states will begin adapting to an aging society as part of a well-studied "demographic change" cycle that sees nations shift gradually towards a stable population as fertility levels decline with the improvement of indices of social and economic growth over time. This will benefit our country majorly and with the correct push from the work done by the administrations, will help moderate the overpopulation issue. What's to come is our own for the taking. Holistic approaches, reasonable authority, and solidarity will assist us with dodging the disaster that overpopulation can become with time. It's about time we begin addressing this issue of absolute significance with proper administration.

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[1] https://www.dictionary.com/browse/population-control

[2]https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/photos/population-policies-in-10-countries-around-the-world/ss-BBPW3OD#interstitial=1

[3]https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/narendra-modi-puts-population-back-on-government-agenda/article29103319.ece

[4] Matthew Connelly has thoroughly documented this disturbing history in his 2008 book ‘Fatal Misconception’

[5] https://edition.cnn.com/2018/08/28/asia/china-family-planning-one-child-intl/index.html

[6] http://www.samawomenshealth.in/beyond-numbers-implications-of-the-two-child-norm/

[7] In 2016 there were 1.15 males for every female in China, one of the most skewed gender ratios in the world, https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2040544/chinas-demographic-time-bomb-still-ticking-worlds-most

[8] https://www.aei.org/society-and-culture/is-the-world-in-danger-from-overpopulation/

[9] Oxfam reported that India’s top 1% bag 73% of the nation’s wealth.

[10] BBC study published in the journal Nature Energy.

[11] ‘The Story of India’s Population’ (2014), confirms that “India has witnessed a steady decline in its population the growth rate over the last four decades (1971–2011).”

[12] According to the "World Population Prospects: The 2017 Revision" released by the Population Division of the United Nations' Department of Economic and Social Affairs, India is likely to surpass China's population in 2024 while in its 24th round projections, released in 2015, the UN had estimated 2022 to be that year.

[13] UN’s 2019 World Population Prospects report

[14] National Family Health Survey-4, https://www.orfonline.org/research/why-india-must-move-policy-away-from-population-control-50032/

[15] Tudge, Colin. ‘Can organic farming feed the world?’