India is country which is diverse in its ethnic, linguistic, cultural and religious characteristics, there are around 1.7 billion people in our country which makes us the second-most populous nation after China, nonetheless, it won't be long that we will conquer China and become the most crowded country on the planet.

The greater part of us is currently mindful that our population is growing expeditiously and we are in a phase where we need to control it. Our Hon'ble Prime Minister himself talked upon this point in his Independence Day speech and advised us to have a deeper thinking in family planning. There was a time where we were the first country in the world to ever adopt a policy for population growth. Now the time has come to adopt it once again.

Why Population Growth Is A Problem For Us? / Why We Need To Control It?

Excessive population is not only going to impact human life but also is going to impact environment, economy and etc. Some have been pointed down below:

Poverty:

India is a country where endless pattern of populace blast and neediness goes on. Here a portion of population still lives with earning which is below $1 and millions of youngsters still don't have a job. It's undeniably true that individuals who are not able to meet there ends usually have higher number of children in their family so that they can have more earning hands with them. The infant mortality rate in underprivileged family is high because they are unable to benefit themselves legitimate clinical and food assets.

This would mean these families are in a cycle of producing more children by knowing the fact that many of them would not survive. The outcome is that it is producing lot of stress in population size prompting an increment. The major problem of no jobs and lack of resources will increase with each birth which would ultimately mean increase in the poverty.

Unemployment:

India is developing country, here we have limited number of jobs available for each individual. Due to the increasing number of people the competition in the market is increasing even for the most menial jobs. In this pandemic time a lot of people have lost their jobs. According to Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, unemployment rate in urban area stands at 10.07% and in rural area it is 8.75%. With increasing population, the rate of unemployment is bound to be to rise even more.

We in our real life at many instances have seen people with the Bachelors and Master's degree are still sitting at home as they are unable to find jobs. This would eventually encourage such youngsters to find job outside India which would mean migration to developed countries.

Food Resources:

Every single asset on this planet is restricted in amount. India is in a developing state and being an exceptionally crowded nation would imply that food here would be produced in enormous amounts however this isn't correct. As indicated by Global Hunger Index 2020 India stands at 94th position among 107 countries much behind Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Nepal.

Moreover, the estimates given by the Food and Agriculture Organization of United Nations in The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World, 2020 report show that around 14% of the population in India is undernourished. Also, 51.4% of women in conceptive age between 15 to 49 years are anaemic. This information positively shows that lack of healthy sustenance actually is an extraordinary issue in our country.

If you walk on the streets in India, you could see children fight with each other for a piece of food, this might be shocking for a couple of us, but it is a daily survival task for most people. This takes us back to the question that assuming we permit the population still to build, then we are permitting natural selection in our country.

Religious and Cultural constraints:

India's way of life runs exceptionally profound and far back ever. Because of the expanding populace, the educational facilities are extremely scant. Also, a great deal of families leans toward having a boy instead of a girl. Thus, a ton of families have a greater number of kids than they really need or can bear, bringing about an increase in poverty, the absence of assets, and in particular, an expanding populace.

Another one of India's cultural norms is for girls to get married at an early age. In most parts of the country, families prefer to get their girls married at the age of 14 or 15. Despite the fact child marriage is illegal in India, the lifestyle and general public surrounding the girls in India doesn't allow them to go against such choices made by their families. For some giving a girl in marriage is not by decision, yet rather out by impulse.

The poor financial status of tribal villagers is ascribed to one of the essential elements liable for child marriage in India. Because of the youthful ages of these girls, they have a greater ability to bear children, that is, since they start bearing children at a very young age, they can have more children throughout their lifetime.

This results in an overall increase in the global fertility rate. Since these girls get married at a very young age, they don't have the chance to get education. Consequently, they stay ignorant and show similar standards to their own children, and the practice goes on from one age to the next.

Population polices in India after Independence:

In 1951 India turned into the first among the developing countries to come up with a state sponsored family planning programme. The Planning Commission which was set up in 1950 and was given the undertaking to choose the shapes of the family planning programme.

In 1952, a populace strategy board of trustees was comprised. This panel had suggested setting up of a Family Planning Research and Programmes Committee. Be that as it may, the approaches outlined in 1951-52 were specially appointed in nature and were fundamentally founded on restraint. So, it was not effective.

Camp Approach:
The Fourth Five Year Plan (1966-74) saw a huge shift with the government receiving a forceful objective-based methodology to battle the quickly rising population. Denoting the start of the state-sponsored family planning strategy's advancement into a powerful, practically mechanical program we see today. While the State at first saw financial and social improvement as the best contraceptive and the biggest bulwark against rapid population growth the Indira Gandhi government-regulated an extreme shift to one side, and the quest for a more perpetual strategy for populace control: sterilization.

By the year 1976-77 the programme gained momentum and a lot of people were being forcefully sterilized especially men. Millions of people were sterilized in India under these coercive and intense measures during, before, and after the Emergency Period. To put it into perspective, it is assessed that more than 6 million individuals were sterilized in 1976 alone more than the number of people sterilized by Nazi Germany before 1939.

Because of this political and regulatory push, the quantity of sterilizations rose from 1.3 million out of 1974-75 to 2.6 million of every 1975-76 and afterward shot up to 8.1 million out of 1976-77, a level which has not been reached since.

Problems:

• There was a decline in IUD cases, along with a drop in using conventional contraceptives i.e., condoms- from 83.5 % to 74.9%. This shows how forced sterilisation programme assumed control over the whole family planning programme, subsequently basically falling flat as an all-adjusted methodology during the Emergency.
• The raids carried for sterilisation mostly targeted vulnerable segment of the general public.
• The manner in which the sterilizations were performed was rushed, amateurish, perilous, and unsanitary. It had undying effect on the public impression of family planning practices in India. The shaky strategies used to accomplish absurd sterilization quotas discoloured the public's view of health workers.

National Population Policy 2000:

Adopted by the government on 15th February, 2000. This policy had three objectives:
Immediate Objective:
Address the unmet needs for contraception, health care infrastructure, and personnel health care. Also, to provide integrated service delivery for basic reproductive and child health care;

Medium Term Objective:
To bring Total Fertility Rate to replacements levels by 2010;

Long Term Objective:
To achieve stable population by 2045.

Problems:

• Policy had the tight viewpoint as it gave a lot of significance to contraception and sterilisation rather than basic prerequisite for population control i.e., poverty alleviation, improving standards of living, and spread of education.
• Policy was not plugged and neglected to produce mass help for populace control.
• We have inadequate framework attributable to absence of prepared staff, absence of sufficient fitness among the staff, and restricted use or abuse of the hardware.

Population Regulation Bill, 2019:

The private member bill was introduced by MP Rakesh Sinha in the Upper House of parliament. The proposed bill states that induvial with multiple children (more than two) will get less government services. This incorporates cash and restricted advantages under the public distribution system, in any event, for those at the lower part of India's financial layers.

It likewise suggests that those with multiple children be precluded from election to public office. New government workers should consent to not have multiple kids. The Bill advantages admittance to state funded training, medical care offices, and protection to families with less than two children.

The bill likewise proposes for the incorporation of new provision in- Article 47A (Duty of the State to promote small family norm) Part IV of the Constitution which manages the Directive Principles of the State Policy.

Problems:

• Could create disparity in the childbirth ratio, as in India people still desire a male child over female child which might lead to social instability.
• Problems like gender imbalance, undocumented children, etc. might be experienced

Uttar Pradesh Population (Control, Stabilization and Welfare) Bill, 2021:

The bill targets advancing two child policy and states that individuals disregarding it in the state will be suspended from challenging nearby bodies' surveys, going after government positions, or getting any sort of sponsorship.

Additionally, there would be endeavours to balance out the populace by giving open answers for impotency or reproduction and diminishing death paces of infant and moms. The strategy is additionally prone to make courses of action to deal with the old, alongside giving better administration, wellbeing, and nourishment to youths between the age gathering of 11 and 19 years.

Problem

• Available data on fertility levels suggests that the brunt of these reformatory estimates will be borne by the oppressed.
• Clause 4 to 7 will go against women as the burden of sterilization for incentives will be loaded on them. As indicated by a report distributed by the National Health Mission, between 2017-18, 93.1% of the sterilizations performed in India were on women.
• Denial of ration under PDS could amount to a violation of the Food Security Act.

Recommendation and Solution
Social Measures:

1. Minimum age of Marriage:
   In India minimum age for marriage is 21 years for men and 18 years for women has been fixed by law. As fertility depends on the age of marriage, this law ought to be immovably executed and individuals ought to likewise be made aware of this through publicity.
    
2. Raising the Status of Women:
   There is still victimization of ladies. Thus, women should be offered opportunities to develop socially and monetarily. Free tutoring should be given to them.
    
3. Spread of Education:
   The spread of education changes the viewpoint of individuals. The informed men like to defer marriage and embrace little family standards. Instructed ladies are wellbeing cognizant and avoid progressive pregnancies and in this manner help in cutting down the pace of birth.
    
4. Adoption:
   Some parents do not have any child, in spite of expensive clinical treatment. It is fitting that they ought to embrace orphan kids.
    
5. Social Security:
   An ever-increasing number of individuals ought to be covered under government-backed retirement plans. In this way, they don't depend on others if there should be an occurrence of old age, affliction, joblessness, etc.

Economic Measures:

1. Greater work openings:
   The first and foremost measure is to raise the employment avenues in rural as well as urban areas.
    
2. Improvement of Horticulture and Industry:
   If farming and industry are appropriately grown, huge number of individuals will get work. At the point when their pay is expanded, they would work on their way of life and embrace little family standards.
    
3. Way of life:
   Improved standard of living acts as a deterrent to the large family norm. To keep up with their better quality of living, individuals like to have a little family.
    
4. Urbanization:
   It is on record that individuals in metropolitan regions have a low rate of birth than those living in country regions.

Other Measures

1. Late Marriage:
   This will reduce the period of reproduction among the females cutting down the rate of birth.
    
2. Family Planning:
   This strategy infers family by decision and not by some coincidence. By applying preventive measures, individuals can direct the rate of birth. The accomplishment of this technique relies upon the accessibility of modest contraceptive devices for birth control.
    
3. Exposure:
   The correspondence media like television, radio, and paper are the acceptable way to proliferate the advantages of the arranged family to the clueless and ignorant individuals particularly in the provincial and in reverse spaces of the country.

Suggested Articles on Population Control:

1. Reproductive Rights for Women in India
2. Population Control Bill: A Problem Or A Solution?
3. Uttar Pradesh Population Control Bill, 2021
4. UP Population Control Bill: A Step Towards The Goal
5. The Need For Population Control Legislation
6. Consequences of Over-population in India
7. Need of Two Child Policy in India