Imagine surviving on 50 rupees a day for a month that will count up to 1500 rupees per month with a family of 5 people. Seems impossible, right? There are millions of these people who have to survive like this in India. Rag pickers and beggars often come across on the streets asking for ‘5 rupees, 10 rupees so that they can buy a packet of biscuit’. Why their needs just end up on food? Because they are not even able to fulfil their basic needs like food, shelter, clothing etc. This is the condition that is referred to as poverty. According to a world bank report, the people who live on $1.90 or less for a day are referred to as poor. Before the pandemic, the number of poor people in India was about 60 Million, but the pandemic has made it worse; the number is more than double that is 134 Million presently.

United Nations Sustainable development goal is to eradicate poverty in all its forms by 2030, but how? Poverty exists not only on a capital basis, but there are other forms of poverty that are concerned, like implementing national protection systems and all measures, equal rights to economic resources for men and women, poor and vulnerable, to protect them from natural shocks like disasters and personal health issues.

One major development issue is faced by India is the population explosion that hinders achieving these goals.

For, e.g., let’s think of a family ‘A’ consisting of one male, one female and 5 children, and the other family ‘B’ consisting of one male, one female, and 1 child, and they both earn Rs. 5000 per month, which family will live more sufficiently? Which family will able to educate their child more appropriately? This is very obvious to answer, the family with fewer children, i.e., family ‘B’, will have more access to resources, these examples clearly clarifies the fact that the growth rate of the population in India retards the growth rate of our economy and to a point, less the people, more a good distribution of resources to everyone in the country.

Adding more to it, how actually population explosion is an issue?

“Population growth, poverty, degradation of natural resources often fuel one another.” said Professor Sir Partha Das Gupta, economist, Population Matters patrons.

Increasing population growth decreases per capita incomebecause it is equal to total income divided by population, which in turn lowers the living standards and increase poverty. More population will call for more resources, and everyone is well-versed with the fact that earth is a finite place and cannot fulfil endless needs. The exploding population will make resources more over-priced to grant, which will, beyond any doubt, will burgeoning poverty in the country, and the condition of poorpeople will become more worse. Due to the high population, employment will become more competitive, which is already competitive; things will only exacerbate if the population increases at the present rate. Because with caste and religion becoming genetic and inheriting, there is one more burden that has become genetic, i.e., poverty. All these facts and figures contribute that the population explosion is a real problem that needs to be tackled as soon as possible; otherwise, it will be analarming issue for the whole nation.

Now all that has been described above are the problems, but do they have practical solutions?

Clearly, population explosion is an effect of the fertility rate, the average fertility rate per women in India is 2.2, which is nearing the replacement fertility rate; that is, if the fertility rate is 2.1birth per women, then the new generation will exactly be able to replace their parents, and this will lead to population stabilization. The state of Bihar has the highest recorded fertility rate of 3 in India. How the population stabilization can be achieved as soon as possible? The answer is by investing in education and healthcare in India. By increasing awareness among males and females about modern contraceptive methods like the rhythm method and the TwoDay method, the idea here is not to mix abortion and overpopulation but prevent birth voluntarily.

Many people in villages and small towns in India keep on reproducing to get a baby boy born; these people are needed to be educated through regular campaigns and motivating them that even if a girl child is raised and educated correctly, it is enough for their family and society. Encouraging people in India about adoption so that rather than increasing birth rates, they can raise an already born child who needs parents, this will not only help that particular child, but the moral values of the whole nation will come to the upliftment, and by these small social steps, India will have a significant change sooner. Many states in India practice early marriages, which leads to increase teenage pregnancies and an increase in fertility rates. This needs to be taught to those families that rather than early marriage, educating them will be a better option, and making them set out to the world will be a better experience in raising her.

These solutions may seem small and require some patience, but small changes get added up and bring a significant difference. Population explosion is an obstacle to achieve UN SDG to end poverty by 2030, but human collectiveness and support will make it easier to accomplish; as Leo Tolstoy said, “The sole meaning of life is to serve humanity” and it explains well that by serving each other for the country’s development and by respecting nature will only benefit to the folks of the nation.