India, like many developing countries is undergoing a serious population explosion. One out of every six people in the world lives in India. India’s population of more than 1 billion people is the second largest in the world. India’s population is not only large, but also growing at the rate of 1.9 percent per year. India is growing at such a rate that it has been forecasted that its population will pass that of China’s at around 2028 at about 1.7 billion and become the most populous nation on Earth.
A number of factors affect fertility rates. An Indian woman has an average of 3.6 children in her lifetime, which is significantly more than replacement-level fertility. Again, Indian births far outnumber deaths, and the population has increased dramatically as a result. Lack of proper knowledge about the various family planning contraceptives and health services for women is the principal reason of population growth. Another is a general cultural preference for sons. The educational status of women also has a significant effect on fertility. Their literacy levels in India are only about half those of men. According to World Bank studies, for every year of schooling a woman receives, her fertility rate is reduced by 10 percent. Another vital factor is that in India infant mortality rates are high. Parents prefer more children because they can’t be sure all their children will survive.
India’s overpopulation problem is the biggest reason of why India is not a developed country. Rapid population growth creates many pressures. In the last 40 years, India’s ecological systems have been severely taxed as the population has more than doubled, increasing consumption of resources. Poverty is a serious problem, and roughly four out of five of India’s poor live in rural areas. Many of these have migrated in search of economic opportunity. When they migrate it is difficult for cities to provide jobs, education, sanitation, and health services to ever-larger populations of Indian migrants.
The population problem has invited economic crisis, health and educational problems. The application of new farming practices although has already implemented in many areas of India, still we follow our age old traditional way of agriculture. Hence, if proper actions are not taken now, then the days are not so far when the population problem will be the biggest problem of India.