Earlier this week, India was declared as the most populous country in the world, ahead of China, which occupied this position for decades. This development which was not unexpected, but waiting to happen for so many years, is something both to be alarmed about as well as assessed by policy planners, taking into consideration the wide ramifications. There may be many experts who may argue that India could now take over from where China left and by offering so much work force to the world, the country was bound to progress by leaps and bounds. The opponents of this theory are of the view that India was ill-equipped for this kind of population explosion and without proper healthcare and education, there was a disaster waiting to happen.
As it is, unemployment is on the rise and there seems to be not sufficient planning to absorb the youth force into any constructive activity. The present government has done considerably well but it is not good enough to meet the various challenges that would be cropping up. The urgent need for skill development is not at par with what it has been in China, and understandably so because as a democracy, our country has always had its limitations. Using force to control the population had not worked in the 1970s when the late Sanjay Gandhi, a man far ahead of his times, attempted to bring about transformation by also stressing on the need for literacy. His programme was misunderstood and his opponents used it as an instrument to both defame him and his party. Since then, every government has treaded the path of family planning very cautiously and has realised that the best way of doing it would be to educate the masses, particularly girls, who are now making a lot of difference to our growth story. The problem that is likely to arise is that though many countries who used China as a Hub for their manufacturing given the cheap cost of labour, have decided to move out from there, it is unlikely that majority of them shall choose India as their destination or as a substitute. The bad news for us is that many who are leaving China, seem to be more content in shifting to Vietnam, Bangladesh and some other countries and find the level of skill development not adequate so far as India was concerned. This is where the government has to step in and do something which is certainly not going to be an easy task. With one election or the other always happening around the year and politicians make tall promises, the level of dissatisfaction amongst the youth, who do not have gainful employment, is growing. This resentment can take many forms and this is a very worrying scenario for the future. There were religious dimensions also that were attached to our population growth and certain groups believed that the reason for this was that the Muslims were increasing by the day and thus attempting to impact the demographics. The latest information is that this is not true and though fertility rates have decreased in many parts, the current state had nothing to do with any religion. What is also important is that politicians should stop bringing in such elements in their narrative and concentrate on how to help the existing population attain bigger goals.
Being the most populated country in the world is not an achievement unless, it can contribute to the economic growth which is an extremely difficult task. If India is young today, with more than 65 percent of its people under the age of 40 years, in another 25 years, it may also age. This ageing process would have its own ramifications unless there is a plan to help the youth achieve their goals.