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  • The Indian envoy in Bangladesh was summoned by the country's government over the breach in the Bangladesh mission in Agartala
  • Bank account to soon have 4 nominees each
  • TMC and SP stayed away from the INDIA bloc protest over the Adani issue in the Lok Sabha
  • Delhi HC stops the police from arresting Nadeem Khan over a viral video which the police claimed promoted 'enmity'. Court says 'India's harmony not so fragile'
  • Trafiksol asked to refund IPO money by Sebi on account of alleged fraud
  • Re goes down to 84.76 against the USD but ends flat after RBI intervenes
  • Sin goods like tobacco, cigarettes and soft drinks likely to face 35% GST in the post-compensation cess era
  • Bank credit growth slows to 11% (20.6% last year) with retail oans also showing a slowdown
  • Stock markets continue their winning streak on Tuesday: Sensex jumps 597 points to 80845 and Nifty gains 181 points to 24457
  • Asian junior hockey: Defending champions India enter the finals by beating Malaysia 3-1, to play Pakistan for the title
  • Chess World title match: Ding Liren salvages a sraw in the 7th game which he almost lost
  • Experts speculate whether Ding Liren wants the world title match against D Gukesh to go into tie-break after he let off Gukesh easily in the 5th game
  • Tata Memorial Hospital and AIIMS have severely criticized former cricketer and Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu for claiming that his wife fought back cancer with home remedies like haldi, garlic and neem. The hospitals warned the public for not going for such unproven remedies and not delaying treatment as it could prove fatal
  • 3 persons died and scores of policemen wer injured when a survey of a mosque in Sambhal near Bareilly in UP turned violent
  • Bangladesh to review power pacts with Indian companies, including those of the Adani group
D Gukesh is the new chess world champion at 18, the first teen to wear the crown. Capitalizes on an error by Ding Liren to snatch the crown by winning the final game g
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India Is The Most Populous Nation On Earth

By Our Editorial Team
First publised on 2023-04-21 08:21:45

About the Author

Sunil Garodia The India Commentary view

Estimates by the United Nations show that within three months, India is poised replace China as the most populous nation on earth. With 142.86 crore people, India will be marginally ahead of China's 142.57 crore. As China's population is growing at a rate slower than India's (in fact it declined by 0.02% in 2022-23), India is likely to remain on top in population numbers for a long time.

But there is no need to be alarmed about this. Statistics point out that India's population is growing at just 2% which is below the replacement level of 2.1%. If this growth rate does not increase, population will stabilize in a few years and then the start declining. India has been one country which has succeeded in controlling population growth through persuasion, education and to a lesser extent, through empowering women, except for a brief period during the Emergency when forced sterilization was adopted. There is no need to introduce restrictive measures like two-child families for availing welfare schemes or government jobs as China's experience shows these can backfire.

India must instead focus on maximizing the demographic dividend as the percentage of working-age population is high. Nearly 67 percent of the population is in the 15-64 age group. For instance, the participation of women in the workforce was low at 32% in 2005. It declined every year thereafter and post-Covid, it has slid to an alarming 19% in 2021. This has to be reversed. India must educate its youth, skill them and provide them job opportunities. That will propel economic growth.  

Instead of government initiative, as some states have done, to control population through coercive methods, India should focus on educating the girl-child, empowering women and creating opportunities for their increased participation in the workforce. Also, states like UP, Bihar, Jharkhand and Meghalaya which still have a growth rate higher than the national average must work diligently to reduce it. Further, India must invest heavily in healthcare infrastructure as a healthy - both physically and mentally - population can contribute better towards building the nation.

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