NEW DELHI: Even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day address, stressed on the importance of population control and compared it to an act of patriotism, the United Nations said India will be the most populous state by 2027.
The United Nations, however, in its population projection for India, has predicted that the rate of growth for India will do down in the forthcoming years. The body said there will be a decline in population from 2060 onwards.
Experts said the decline will mainly be witnessed due to low total fertility rate (TFR) in the southern states. The TFR of southern states —Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu — is 1.8 while that of the northern states such as Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh is 2.3.
“By the time the decline of the population starts in India, we would have reached a point of no return. Also, the general living conditions of people are better off south of the Vindhyas as compared to those living north of the Vindhyas. So, the explosion really would be a result of the uncontrolled population of the northern states,” research at the Institute of Population Studies said.
Moreover, experts feel that the implementation of population control measures is an uphill task in a complex society like India.
