In many ways, “OVERPOPULATION” stands out as one of India’s biggest problem today. This is because, its unstoppable growth portends very important and far-reaching repercussions in the various aspects of the nation’s growth, and that warrants urgent intervention of law to control the situation. Alarm-bells have already started ringing that India’s current population of 1.38 billion, which is already second largest after China, is all set to overshoot by the year 2022 … and this would make us the world’s most populous country! This in no way is a matter of pride, but a matter of grave concern. This is being said because, over population has been found to lead to poverty, unemployment, climate change which pressure the natural resources like forest and land, and also to increase in social and religious conflicts. In fact, overpopulation can be regarded as the root cause of some of the most intractable problems in this subcontinent of India.
This, as we can see, is really a matter of grave concern. And, that is precisely the reason why there is an urgent need for India to implement the relevant laws to arrest this alarming situation. Although billed to become the world’s largest economy, the alarming rise in population and its concomitant ill-effects will certainly undermine all economic growth projections. Therefore, at this time, the country has come to a situation where there is a dire need of population control law due to the rapidly increasing population day by day. Ignoring the huge shortage of resources will prove to be our biggest mistake, because in a country like India, without law and order, it is nearly impossible to remove any mismanagement of the population. So, in view of the current population growth, it is very important to implement a population control law, and it should be such that the public can easily accept it. In other words, the law should be made in such a way that the public understands their benefits for their and their society’s general wellbeing.
True, we do have some precedents in the shape of the existing National Population Policy, especially GOI’s Family Planning Programme (1952), but there are areas and issues here that need more attention and redressal. Proper research and brainstorming can also yield some plausible solutions, which can be used to tackle this problem of overpopulation. Here, one can refer to the pros and cons of some earlier national and international initiatives in this regard – like, China’s One-Child Policy and India’s controversial Forced Sterilization Programme of 1976, to name a few – to come out with some more meaningful and viable laws.
While on this, you may also read a full article on the topic “DOES INDIA NEED POPULATION CONTROL LAW?” written by Asian Law College’s BALLB second semester student, Mr. Praveen Kumar Mishra, that was published on 14th June 2021 in India’s finest daily newspaper, The Daily Guardian.