Not an achievement to celebrate!

UN observed World Population Day on 11^th July as usual. Looking at the UN data, it appears that the population dynamics are changing. India has surpassed China in population. India’s population is estimated to be 146.39 crore (1.4639 billion) as of April 2025, according to a UN report. The report also notes that India’s total fertility rate has fallen below the replacement level, and the population is expected to reach 170 crores before starting to decline in about 40 years. It is good that the population growth rate will slow down in the next 40 years. It is very much needed. But what is the guarantee for the same? It took hundreds of thousands of years for the world population to grow to 1 billion, then in just another 200 years or so, it grew sevenfold. In 2011, the global population reached the 7 billion mark, it stands at almost 7.9 billion in 2021, and it’s expected to grow to around 8.5 billion in 2030, 9.7 billion in 2050, and 10.9 billion in 2100. This dramatic growth has been driven largely by increasing numbers of people surviving to reproductive age, and has been accompanied by major changes in fertility rates, increasing urbanization, and accelerating migration. These trends will have far-reaching implications for generations to come. Moreover, the resources needed to sustain the population growth are inadequate. A comparable nation, China, with 2.5 times the land mass, has been able to manage its population control. In India, we do not seem to have taken any adequate steps to control the growth rate. We find that every city is becoming congested, day by day. The supply of resources is not commensurate with the population. Our resources are depleting on one hand, and on the other hand, more consumption is taking place due to population growth. Apart from this, every city is overcrowded, leading to traffic congestion. Further, cheating and corruption are offshoots of such a demand and supply gap. We are also forced to take substandard quality materials, both in terms of food and consumer goods.  In my opinion, the spurt in population numbers has resulted in environmental degradation directly and indirectly. India’s population is a serious cause for concern. Small family norms must be publicized again, and sincere efforts to educate the people to adopt small family norms as were vigorously practiced in 70s and 80s.