Overpopulation in India, Essay Example

There are many geographical, political, and cultural factors contributing to the overpopulation crisis in India. First, it is important to consider that India is a large country, covering 1.269 square miles (Sen, 2006). Since large portions of this land are exposed to ocean, the nation has a wealth of natural resources that are able to support the growing population in addition to access to trade routes to exchange these natural resources with necessities from neighboring countries. The country’s population was 1.252 billion as of 2013 and it continues to grow because the vast amount of land and its associated resources can support a greater number of people (Dreze, 2013).

In spite of the seemingly vast resources and land materials available for the Indian people, the population growth is detrimental in terms of social equality. The main problem is that wealth is not shared equally between the individuals in the country, with the northerners typically having more wealth than southerners (Pal & Gosh, 2007). Individuals in poorer areas are more likely to have larger families because they believe that having more workers will contribute to more wealth. Furthermore, Indian communities influence women to be married at an earlier age, contributing to the greater amount of children that one female is able to have in a lifetime compared to other cultures (Schoenhals, 2003). Even though having more children immediately benefits poorer families, it tends to damage them in the long run because there is less food and resources available to be dispersed to individuals in the form of aid. Individuals that live in the middle of the country tend to have the most difficult time achieving livelihood because they are further away from natural sources of food (e.g. the ocean). Thus, it is beneficial for the Indian government to address the overpopulation crisis that its citizens are facing in order to support their citizens for a longer period of time.

References

Drèze, Jean. (2013), An Uncertain Glory: India and Its Contradictions. Allen Lane.

Pal, P.; Ghosh, J. (2007). Inequality in India: A Survey of Recent Trends. Economic and Social Affairs: DESA Working Paper, 45.

Schoenhals, M. (2003). Intimate Exclusion: Race and Caste Turned Inside Out, University Press of America.

Sen, A. (2006), The Argumentative Indian: Writings on Indian History, Culture, and Identity (1st ed.). Picador.