OdishaPlus Bureau
World Population Day is observed on 11th of June to understand the importance and urgency of the growing population. It was initiated in the year 1987 by then-Governing council of the United Nations Development Programme to sort the issues and come up with development plans.
The shame to use protection has helped us reach 133.92 crore. With the land size being 3.287 million km², the population doesn’t surely call for a celebration. We are way too many people , living on a restricted land and fighting for limited resources. If this isn’t bothersome then what is?
Although it is commendable that with the development in medicines and health system, the natality rate has increased significantly while the mortality rate has gone down, the other reasons contributing to the population explosion need to be exposed and paralyzed.
Parents should be the first one to impart sex education in the family. Sadly, it’s them who happen to be the barrier between their child and reality. While the sole purpose of parents in getting their children married is not just to bring them a partner but to continue the lineage of their family, it is ironical that they refuse to talk about it. Children when not made aware about the consequences, have the anxiety to explore their bodies and often end up being victim of their own desire.
Society on the other hand adds most to the tragedy where buying a pack of condom is looked down upon whereas walking out with a pack of under-nourished kids seems totally acceptable. Also, the pursuit of bearing a male child has landed couples with too many mouths to feed. Male domination knows no height either where consent is regarded as worthless and opinion as offence. The whole bandwagon of tormenting their women with vengeance and seeking as much pleasure as they can is sickening but prevalent.
The impact of population explosion affects every individual and the nation as a whole. Unemployment is one of the major hindrance in the development of India. The economy is negatively impacted as the demand for consumption exceeds the production or resource limit. This further leads to poverty which is the cause as well as the effect of population growth. Poorer people generally have bigger families due to lack of education and awareness.
We are only one billion less than China’s population. Size wise on the map, India is three times smaller than that of China; yet by 2022 India is expected to overtake China’s population. Canada, despite being the second largest country by area, is sparsely populated. Canada is the best choice for people of North, Specially Punjab, in terms of job opportunity and other facilities. Canada contains India’s tenth largest diaspora.
China isn’t the biggest in terms of land size but the growing population hasn’t disturbed the country’s economy. Canada with large area and less people is welcoming to the migrants. Hence, maintaining the economy wisely. On the contrary, India is neither blessed with abundant land that would accommodate the vast population nor the major population is yet educated to carry out the development smoothly. Yet the guts to continue breeding mindlessly is noteworthy.
“Being home to almost 17 percent of world population and worsening water woes, India is in the major crisis in the coming days. Not only the government but the citizens need to act fast. With such a rising population, it is ironical that sex education is still a taboo in India”, opined Ruby Nanda, faculty, KIIT School of Mass Communication.
Sex education is the most significant factor necessary to lead a secure life and combat population explosion. Family planning helps people have the desired number of children, which as a result improves the health of mothers and contributes to the nation’s social and economic development.
While the government needs to take effective steps to spread awareness and promote usage of protection, it asks TV channels not to air advertisements selling or promoting condom; claiming it to be “indecent especially for children” that could create “unhealthy practices” among them. The High Court too refuses to intervene in the ban. Even the Ads produced neither contradict such opinion as theses ads seem to pay more heed to arouse people than to actually educate them.
“Population explosion is the biggest concern for Indians. The medical department has also come up with exceptionally efficient steps to overcome the stress but it cannot be successful unless the communicators such as parents, teachers and media do their duties rightly”, says Dr. Bibekananda Das, Medicine and Diabetes Specialist.
We want a society that focuses on constructive delivery of such issues and their solution rather than trying to wrap itself with hypocrisy or the terror of shame.
This year, let’s not blindly celebrate the day but actually wake up from the orthodox thoughts and understand the seriousness caused by the growing population and its impact on our nation so that we all can take collective as well as individual steps to counter such a havoc for the society.