MONDAY, MAY 06, 2024
Most reactions to his statements have leaned towards stating that the animals have equal rights over the Earth just as Humans do. Some have also drawn attention towards the fact that the country's population in the last 75 years has grown by 3.5 fold. Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address to the citizens on the country's Independence Day through Man Ki Baat had thrown light on the various issues and two of the most important matters were preference to national security and the control over fast rising population. While pointing towards this rise, the PM stated that having a small family is the new mantra of patriotism.
This rampant growth which will overtake China soon will potentially hamper its development as a nation. Needless to say that the Indians will have to face problems over employment, foodgrains and drinking water in the near future if we are not facing it already. India's population in 1951 was 36 crore which is closing in on the 140 crore. On 11 July, 1987 the world population stood at 500 crore, a number that has gone into billions today. This alarming rise in the population has led to many countries taking measures to gain control over it. The already existing problems such as lack of availability of natural resources, high rate of unemployment, inflation, urban settlements etc are becoming more aggressive with each passing day. If India were to keep climbing up the ranks in the list of developed countries in order to become a major economy then there is no other option than to stress on controlling our population.
This calls for a need of joint, concerted efforts through administrative measures, social institutions and the people. In our country, 41% of people are aged 20 or below and the world average is 24 years. The Indian population constitutes 17.5% of the world population which makes it obvious that we are in grave need of urbanisation and expansion of urban settlements. Humans are taking away the rightful space of wild animals is the tone one can notice among environmentalists.
The common narrative is that the humans encroaching over forested areas has led to wild animals making their way to the human habitation in search of food. This will likely lead for the issue of population control to be taken seriously at government and social level. It is high time to think about the future generations as small families will not only benefit people but the country as whole. It is due to the smaller families the development gets a boost. Society too needs to recognise its responsibility and need to seriously think about family planning. Society has to get rid of the age-old patriarchal mentality that a son is a must and daughter is not.
It is indeed each and every individual's duty to see that the individual behaviour will not add to the problems of the nation. To everyone who is adamant of wanting a son to light their funeral pyre needs to remember the former foreign affairs minister late Sushma Swaraj whose final rites were performed by her only daughter. There are many such examples. In recent times, surprisingly there has been a rise in the incidents of opting to go to fertility centres as well as contacting the so called wizards in order to conceive a male child. Not only are these methods unreliable but they also cost a fortune and not to mention, may lead people wandering into dangerous territories. Instead of struggling to this extent, there is a need for awareness regarding adopting souls who are also seeking parental love and a secured home. By adopting, not only one will fulfil its wish to become a parent but will also provide a secured feeling to the unfortunate souls.
The Government also needs to make the adoption process more people-friendly and less time consuming. Gaining control over rising population is not the sole responsibility of the government but in fact, the onus is more on the society. It is crucial to understand and accept that population control and safeguarding wildlife are inter-linked parallely with each other.
