Dr Shafali Gupta
Educationist
“Population growth is straining the Earth’s resources to the breaking point, and educating girls is the single most important factor in stabilizing that. That, plus helping women gain political and economic power and safeguarding their reproductive rights”. – Al Gore
11th July is observed as World population day. It is all about raising awareness of the rise in population world over. In the year 1989, the Governing Council of the United Nations Development Programs declared on this international day for the same purpose. Governments of different countries have implemented many programs. It is now critical for people to know them ,follow and make efforts in controlling the population. The current world population is at 7.8 Billion .
Overpopulation acts as a barrier for the development of a country and invites multiple problems such as unemployment, gender inequality, poverty, natural resources exhaustion, global warmimg, discrepancy in eco balance and many more. Our earth has limited natural resources and if the demand increases supply will not be sufficient.
In keeping this view we need to educate people. One must share information as much as one can. Use social media, mobiles, radio, T.V, news, seminar, discussions and many other platforms to spread awareness about the importance of family planning. Donate to some organizations also who are focused on this issue. As a responsible citizen it is a prime duty to spread government policies to the rural areas also. There is a saying also
“Where there is a will there is a way.”
In India according to the 2001 Census, Uttar Pradesh is the highest populated state with a total number of 166 million people. While on the other hand, states like Sikkim and Lakshadweep have the lowest population of 0.5 million in Sikkim and only 60000 people in the island state of Lakshadweep.
There are few characteristics of Indian populations. First is the age composition. It determines the country’s social and economic structure. The total population is broadly divided into three age groups-
Children- below 15 years
Working-age- 15- 59 years
Aged (Senior)- 59 years and above
Adolescent population-Adolescents are people between the age groups of 10-19 years and in our country. Also, about one-fifth of the population comprise adolescent individuals. They play significant role in the population of India.
Second is the Sex Ratio-Number of females for every 1000 males determines the sex ratio of population.This helps in understanding the equality of males and females in the society. India’s sex ratio has always been on the lower side. States like Kerala and Union Territory of Pondicherry have higher sex ratio than the major states.
Next comes literacy rate-The literacy rate of a country determines its economic structure and growth. Literacy, according to the 2001 Census, is the ability of a person of 7 years and above to read and write in any language. The census states the literacy rate of the population of India is almost 74.04% (2016).
Occupational structure also is one of the main characteristic of population This effects the ecomomy directly. The occupational structure is the distribution of the. Also, our occupational structure has three broad categories-Primary occupation i.e agriculture, fishing, mining, animal husbandry, forestry etc.Then Secondary occupation- manufacturing, building, construction work etc. and Tertiary occupation- communication, transportation, administration etc.
According to the census conducted by the government in India the official population of all 28 states and 7 union territories in 2011 was 1.21 billion. Its an important issue which touches everyone.Think about the world we are giving to our children, grand children as a treasure – think, think and think!
In current scenario this issue has taken a back seat. World population day is here again to remind citizens about it.
NEED OF AN HOUR IS HUM DO HUMARE DO.
