After reading this article you will learn about the two main factors that are responsible for rate of growth of population:- 1. Birth Rate 2. Death Rate.
1. Birth Rate:
Fertility depends on:
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(i) Age at which females marry,
(ii) Duration of the period of fertile union, and
(iii) The rapidity with which they build their families.
In India, mean age at marriage has been low as compared to other countries of the world. Child marriage is declining which is proved by the fact that whereas 27 per cent of girls below the age of 14 years were married during 1891-1901 decade, only 6.6 per-cent in the age group 10-14 were married in 1981. Mean age at marriage for females was 12.5 years in 1891, it improved to 15.6 in 1951.
During the last 30 years, the mean age at marriage of females improved to 18.3 years in 1981. As against it, mean age at marriage of males has improved to 15.6 in 1951. Social awares and spread of education can help to raise the mean age at marriage in the future.
Raising the age of marriage is, however, likely to be more difficult because in many rural areas there is a feeling of insecurity about an unmarried girl of marriageable age. Mean age at marriage is highest among Christian, followed by Sikhs, Muslims and Hindus. It is common knowledge that higher age at marriage tends to reduce fertility and lowers birth rate.
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Average number of children born alive to an Indian woman showed a decline with an increase in the age at marriage. For women, married at ‘below 18 years’, the average number of children born alive was 5.6 in 1972, for women married between 18-20 years of age it was 4.8 and 4.2 for women married at ages 20 years and above.
Fertility seems to have a strong correlation with the educational level of the mother. Surveys reveal that the average number of children born alive to a woman was 5.0 whereas those who got education up to matriculation or university gave birth on an average to 4.9 and 2.0 children respectively.
2. Death Rate:
In the advanced countries of the world in the beginning of the 19th century, death rate ranged between 35-50 per thousand. It has now come down to 7-8 per thousand.
This steep fall in death rate is the result of provision of better diet, pure drinking water, improved hospital facilities, better sanitation and last but not the least, the control by wonder medicines of several epidemic and other diseases which took a heavy toll of human life.
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Another important factor contributing to low death rate is the decline in infant mortality. The infant mortality rate which stood at 218 per thousand in 1916-20 had come down in 1989 to 58 per thousand for urban areas and 98 per thousand for rural areas.
The principal causes of infant mortality are: malnutrition, pneumonia, and diarrhea, infectious and parasitic diseases. Infant mortality shows a tendency to increase when maternity takes place repeatedly and in quick succession. All these causes are being remedied.
Mortality among females of reproductive ages is also high. It ranges between 300-400 per 1,000 women of ages 15-45. Inadequate prenatal and post-natal care which is the result of poverty and absence of hospital facilities is largely responsible for this. With improvements in diet, hospital and midwifery facilities, it is reasonable to expect that infant and maternal mortalities will register a further decline.
Fevers (including malaria) cholera, small-pox, plague, dysentery and diarrhoea, respiratory diseases, etc., also account for a large number of deaths. Out of these small-pox, plague and cholera have been, by and large, eradicated. With the growth of medical facilities and improvement in living standards, it is hoped that crude death rate will decline considerably.
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Thus over the last 5 decades, both birth and death rates have been declining, but the death rate declined at a faster rate. Death rate has already reached a very low ebb and whatever the level of the health facilities, it cannot fall below 7-8 per thousand. The future growth of India’s population shall, therefore, be mainly dependent on the level of the birth rate.
Population growth and Health and Medical Service in India: Health, as defined by the World Health Organisation is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. It is an important aspect of the quality of human life, which can be improved by the provision of efficient medical services.
One of the indicators of the coverage of the population by health and medical services is the ratio between those services and the population. The Health Survey and Planning Committee (Mudaliar Committee) had recommended that there should be one doctor for a population of 3,500 and one hospital bed for a population of 1,000. Inter-State variations are quite glaring.
If the higher limit of 3,500 is taken as the norm, it can be seen that only in very few states there is one doctor for 3,500 or less population.
The Union Territories of Chandigarh (1:1,530) and Pondicherry (1:1,252) appear to be somewhat better in this respect. This is clearly because a majority of the doctors in India prefer to practice in urban areas. The impressive doctor-population ratios in Maharashtra and West Bengal may be the result of a heavy concentration of doctors in Bombay and Calcutta respectively.
In the 1981 census, it was found that the general literacy rate in India was 36.17 per cent. Not much progress has been achieved in the field of literacy, despite the efforts made for adult education and the Directive Principles of the Indian Constitution that there should be free and compulsory education for all children below the age of 14. The problems posed by rural illiteracy and female illiteracy are even worse.
The rapidly increasing population places heavy obstacles in the path of educational planning. It may be observed that though the rate of literacy has increased from 29.95 in 1971 to 36.17 in 1981, excluding the States of Assam and Jammu and Kashmir, the absolute number of illiterate persons, for the country excluding these two States has increased from 37.2 million in 1971 to 44.6 million in 1981.
In India, despite the substantial progress which has been achieved in the expansion of educational facilities, the targets laid down for elementary education have not been fulfilled. It may be observed from 1950-51 to 1984-85, there has been progressive improvement in the enrolment of children in the age group 6-14 in Classes I to VIII. The ogress in the enrolment of girls in schools, however, has not been very satisfactory.