Population

Demographic transition explains a form of relationship between population and economic development. In the western countries it has been found that they have moved from a condition of high birth and death rates, to a condition of low birth and death rates which led to a slow rate of growth of population. This demographic change is known as 'Demographic Transition'. in other words, demographic transition describes the passage through which countries move from high birth and death rates to low ones. This has been the experience of countries going through a process of modernizing economic and social development.

The growth rate of population is a function of migration, birth rate and death rate in a country. The change in population caused by net migration as a proportion of total population of the country is almost insignificant and, therefore, can be easily ignored. That leaves us with birth rate and death rate. The difference between the birth rate and the death rate measures the growth rate of population. The high population growth rates are due to high birth rate and fast declining death rates due to better sanitation and health facilities. However, the capacities to absorb increasing manpower are much weaker. Furthermore, the process of economic development tends to be more capital intensive under modern technological conditions, and hence, has less potential of employment generation in the short run. Since the total size of the population is already large, there is urgency for speedy achievement of demographic transition from high birth rate to low birth rate resulting in lower population growth.

Let us list effects of the rapid population growth in India . They are:

Providing employment to growing population: This is so because in developing economies majority of the population is illiterate. The burden of school age population has already shown signs of becoming unbearable. The proportion of children in schools is increasing fast and, vast numbers...