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Why doesn’t India implement family planning?

The United Nations predicts that by 2024 India will surpass China to become the world’s most populous country, and reach 1.5 billion by 2030. India’s area is only 31% of China’s, but it has to feed a larger population than China. Why doesn’t India take measures to control the population? Aren’t they afraid of being overwhelmed by population pressure?

To figure this out, we must first understand why India has such a large population.

Cultural reasons

The poorer the country, the more common the phenomenon of early marriage and early childbearing. Hinduism also strongly advocates childbearing, so the average childbearing age in India is concentrated at 20 to 24 years old. Since India prefers sons to daughters, if the first child is a girl, the couple will continue to have children until a boy is born or they can’t afford it.

Ignorance of contraceptives

Even today, in many parts of India, condoms do not know what condoms are, and many people do not know how to use them. On the one hand, sex is a taboo topic in society. On the other hand, India worships fertility and regards contraception as a “Evil” means.

Poor families rely on children to make money
The problem of child labor in India is very serious. The only reason why children from poor families are born is to work to subsidize the family. More children means more money, and of course they work hard.

Excellent climate and geographical conditions
There are not many places in the world that are too cold and hot, and India happens to be in a temperate climate suitable for survival. The Ganges and Indus river basins are fertile and suitable for farming and are less prone to disasters, resulting in high food production and the ability to support large populations.

Improved medical conditions and lower mortality

India’s child mortality rate remains high, but the impact of high mortality on the population is offset by improved healthcare and high fertility in India.

Diversification of food sources

Although Hinduism does not advocate meat eating, it does not prohibit meat eating either. In the past, India was indeed a vegetarian country, but now the number of vegetarians in India has dropped to 20%. Only 2/3 of the high caste families still maintain the habit of vegetarianism. Most of the common people are used to chicken and lamb. Lord’s meat. More meat consumption improves the living conditions of Indians, diversifies food sources, and provides the basis for a larger population.

Democracy

India also wants to implement family planning, but it is because India is a democracy that prevents the implementation of family planning .

In a democratic society, a larger population means more votes and more power. The ethnic composition of India is complex, and the main ethnic group, the Hindustani, does not occupy the absolute majority of the total population, unlike the Han Chinese in China. The majority can only be achieved by the influence of Hinduism. On the one hand, the Hindustani people hope to maintain their advantage through high fertility rates, and on the other hand, all ethnic groups also hope to gain more benefits from the increase in their population, so all ethnic groups are opposed to family planning.

In recent years, due to the rise of China, the concept of demographic dividend has been hyped, so India also believes that the demographic dividend will happen to itself, but this does not mean that India does not want to control population growth.

Due to the impact of global warming, India’s national capital is being shaken. More and more extreme weather occurs in India, which makes India’s climate and geographical advantages disappear. This year, the problem of water shortage in India is particularly serious. More than a dozen major cities have even drained the groundwater. In the future, water shortage in India will not only affect people’s health. In normal life, it may also lead to failure of grain harvests and failures, causing a series of serious social problems.

Therefore, India is very thirsty for the Punjab Plain of Pakistan, the southern Tibet of China and the land of Myanmar. If India’s environment continues to deteriorate, India will have to plunder for survival to relieve its own pressure.

Overall fertility rates are falling across regions in India

In fact, the fertility rate in India has not been rising all the time. Due to the rapid rise in the cost of living and the improvement of women’s education, the fertility rate in developed regions and cities in India has been declining. rate on a par.

Therefore, India is also carefully weighing the impact of population control. If India’s fertility rate continues to decline, as long as it is not lower than the generational replacement rate, then India will choose not to control the population, so that India will not have to worry about the impact of aging on pensions in the future. .

However, if the food and drinking water problems caused by the environment intensify, then India will have to look at the international and domestic forms, give priority to plundering the resources of other countries, and finally consider controlling its own population if the situation is stronger than that of people.