India’s growing population – uttamhindu.com

United Nations According to a new report by the Population Fund, by the middle of 2023, India will become the most populous country in the world with 1429 million people. The population of China will be 1426 million. The State of the World Population report states that in terms of statistics, Hong Kong, Macau and China’s Taiwan province are not included in China’s total population figures. Although China is ahead of India on most socio-economic parameters. The life expectancy of women in India is 74 years while in China it is 82 years. Similarly, in 2023, per capita income in China is estimated to be five times that of India. But in terms of young population, India’s position is better than China. UNFPA India representative Andrea Wojnar said that with nearly 50 per cent of the country’s population below the age of 25, India has an opportunity to take advantage of this. He said that 25.4 crore population of the country is youth in the age group of 15 to 24 years.

It can be a source of innovation, fresh thinking and sustainable solutions. Wojnar said gender equality, empowerment and ensuring women and girls have rights over their bodies is essential for a sustainable future. He said that India can take economic advantage of this by investing in equal opportunities in health, education and employment for the youth. China downplayed the news of lagging behind India in terms of population and said that it still has quality human resources of more than 900 million people, who are making strong contribution to development. Wang Wenbin, spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry, said that when assessing a country’s population dividend, we should not only look at its size, but also the quality of its population. Santosh Mehrotra, visiting professor at the Center for Development Studies at the UK’s University of Bath, said China’s demographic dividend is over but it has reaped the benefits. But we are not able to do this continuously. We have made mistakes not only in economic policy but also in social policy and have neglected health and education.

The United Nations report states that the youth population is high in the total population of India. China’s statement that its demographic advantage is far from over as it has a talented labor force has fueled the debate. The United Nations Population Fund’s World Population Report 2023 states that 14 percent of China’s population is over 65 years of age. While the number of people of this age in India is only seven percent. China has 18 per cent people in the age group of 10 to 24 years, while India has 26 per cent people in this category. The report states that India has about 25.4 crore population in the age group of 15 to 24 years. For this reason, India has the largest population of youth. China’s per woman fertility rate is just 1.2 in the current calendar year, while India’s is 2. If this situation continues, it will lead to more young population in India than China in the coming years. But does the size of the young population enable India to take advantage of the demographic dividend? Experts disagree and believe that the country has an opportunity to roll back this advantage. He warned that policy measures such as labor and land reforms would have to be taken to harness this. Otherwise, problems can also arise due to the young population.

Due to the high percentage of youth in India’s growing population, India is definitely in an advantageous position, but experts believe that this advantage can be availed only if India strengthens its infrastructure in time as well as education, especially technical education. Give priority and strengthen health services.
If India does not strengthen its infrastructure in time and there is no development in the areas of employment, health etc. according to the proportion of the growing population, then the youth class which India is seeing as a profitable situation can become a curse. Every Indian has to understand that with the increasing population, the responsibility of everyone is also increasing. If the society and the government do not take the increasing population in a planned manner, then India will have to face not one but many difficulties.

– Irwin Khanna (Chief Editor, Dainik Uttam Hindu)