PROJECTIONS OF FUTURE POPULATION
It is almost impossible to predict the future population with great accuracy. Population projections require an exact understanding of the present day processes and intelligent understanding of future possibilities ( Box 6.2 ). United Nations estimates show that by the year 2050 India will be the most populous country of the world and its population will be larger than that of China ( Box 6.3 ). This will affect international relations as well as India 's place in globalization.
BOX 6.2 : UNCERTAIN FUTURE
Many people who mark dire predictions about the ecological future do so out of genuine concern; others seem to be doing no more than cashing in on the public's seemingly inexhaustible appetite for nightmares. There are opposing ‘no-problem' or ‘the market will adjust' schools whose optimism cannot be shared either. It is more honest to admit that we do not know what the future holds; that it will be good or bad depending on some things that are within human control and others that are not. The business of the academic observer is to point to the areas where action is most needed and also – and this is one of our self-confessed aims – to create a climate of opinion for balanced judgement about future development.
From: Cassen (1978). |
MIGRATION AS A BURNING ISSUE
Indian population has become mobile. As per the Registrar General India out of the1.02 billion people in the country, 307 million (or 30%) were reported as migrants by place of birth data in 2001 census. This proportion in case of India (excluding J&K) is slightly more than what was reported in 1991 (27.4%). Thus there has been a steady increase in the number of migrants in the country, whereas in 1961 there were about 144 million migrants by place of birth, in 2001 Census, it was 307 million. With time migration is going to become a burning issue with ethnic conflicts between migrants and natives being reported from several parts of the country. |
