For how long are we going to take the size of population into account in the distribution of the number of law makers in states? An area is sized down to various parts or constituencies when its population becomes too thick. Because of this basis the state of Uttar Pradesh with the total area of 2, 43, 286 sq.km has 80 Lok Sabha MPs while the seven states of the Northeast—Nagaland, Manipur, Meghalaya, Assam, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram whose total area is 2, 55, 657 sq. km—are represented by just 24 Lok Sabha MPs.Now, find out the justification for the fact that total amount of MPs’ Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) of 80 MPs is utilized in the smaller Uttar Pradesh when the same scheme of 24 MPs are spent in the bigger region of the Northeast. There may not be a better factor to encourage the population race than this basis.
The other two bigger factors, according to the studies which reports were made public in newspapers, are:
(1) The birth rate is still higher than the death rate. India is successful in declining the death rates but the same cannot be said for birth rates.
(2) The fertility rate due to the population policies and other measures has been falling but even then it is much higher compared to other countries.
Early marriage and universal marriage system, poverty and illiteracy, age old cultural norm and illegal migration are other factors for the fast growth rate of population in India, according to the studies.
It is 1.27 billion (127, 42, 39, 769) and counting. That is the total population of India. We are going to surpass China (1.39 billion) in 35 years time “if current growth rates continue,” according to the Jansankhya Sthirata Kosh or National Population Stabilisation Fund (NPSF), an autonomous body under the Union Health Ministry as revealed on World Population Day (July 11). There have been other studies which have projected that India’s population will surpass China by 2025.
Now, India’s population constitutes 17.25% of global population. Just little over 4 years ago (2011 census) the population of India was 1.21 billion. The NPSF report also said that the population of our country is equal to the combined population of USA, Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Japan. The NPSF data further said that the population of Uttar Pradesh is almost that of Brazil, the fifth most populous country in the world.
Now, given this bleak scenario the policy makers of India should be bold enough to employ radical measures to arrest the rapid growth of the population.
