CAUSES OF POPULATION GROWTH There are a number of factors that have led population growth.

Some of these fac tors include food security, advanced health care, better sanitation which has le ad to fewer diseases, and improved living standards and fertility. In the 1800s, the world had about one billion people but as of 2009, the world population has reached about seven billion. The growth rate of population is a function of migration, birth rate and death r ate in a country. The change in population caused by net migration as a proporti on of total population of the country is almost insignificant and, therefore, ca n be easily ignored. That leaves us with birth rate and death rate. The differen ce between the birth rate and the death rate measures the growth rate of populat ion. The high population growth rates are due to high birth rate and fast declin ing death rates due to better sanitation and health facilities. However, the cap acities to absorb increasing manpower are much weaker. Furthermore, the process of economic development tends to be more capital intensive under modern technolo gical 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 urg ency for speedy achievement of demographic transition from high birth rate to lo w birth rate resulting in lower population growth. CAUSES OF POPULATION EXPLOSION HIGH BIRTH RATE: Some of the socio-cultural causes responsible for high birth rate in India. Marr iage is also a religious duty and practice of early marriage system is still now in India. More than 80% of girls are married during the fertile period of 15 to 20 years of age and give birth a number of children. POLYGAMY: Some people in India prefer to have more than one wife and such polygamy system give birth more children. PREFERENCE FOR A MALE CHILD: Every family in India prefers a male child. There are some religious rites which can be preferred by a male child. So the parents in spite of number of girl chi ld they wait for a male child. WIDOW MARRIAGE: The widow marriage system in modern society helps in the growth of population. ECONOMIC CAUSES: POVERTY: 40% of the populations in India are below the poverty line and they consider chi ldren as their asset and they earn at a very low age and bring wages. It helps i n the rapid population growth. ILLITERACY: In India 39.4 percent of women is literate and 63.9 percent of men are literate. So illiteracy combined with poverty, ignorance and superstitions, the people do not know the use of contraceptives help in the rapid population growth. LACK OF BIRTH CONTROL DEVICES: The birth control devices are not sufficient and not given in the right time cau ses of decline death rateCONTROL OF FAMINE S AND EPIDEMICS: Adequate transport and communicational facilities are made. There is development in medicines and surgical operation. So the epidemics like plague, cholera, mal aria, influenza, has been checked and it checked the death rate. AVAILABILITY OF MEDICAL FACILITIES: Medical facilities and public health services help in the decline of death rate. Drinking water supply and drainage facilities have control epidemics. In the ru ral areas the medical clinics, hospitals have opened and medical facilities are provided to all which reduced death rates. MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH SERVICE: Care has taken for the health of the pregnant and nursing mothers, new born babi es, and arrangement have been made for the safe delivery of the babies and so de

ath rate has reduced. The death rate of pregnant women and new born babies has declined. ? REMEDIAL MEASURES TO CHECK THE POPULATION: The marriage age has increased for boys and girls by law. Early marriage system has abolished. There is encouragement for family planning programmes and use of contraceptives. Birth rate has checked by different methods. There is spread of education emphasis for one or two children, improvement of the status of women, population awareness programmes and adequate supply of oral contraceptives and e ncouragement for sterilization operation has helped in the reduction of populati on growth. Effects of the rapid population growth in India they are: Providing employment to growing population: This is so because in develo ping economies majority of the population is illiterate. The burden of school ag e population has already shown signs of becoming unbearable. The proportion of c hildren in schools is increasing fast and, vast numbers are still not covered. T he absolute number or illiterate persons increases every year. This is only an i ndication of the wastage of human resources for want of appropriate development opportunities. Problem of utilisation of manpower: Better educated manpower aspires for occupations of greater prestige, which are opened up by the new development eff orts. Because of its capital intensive nature, the ability, of the new economy f or employment generation becomes restricted. Simultaneously, it renders many of the old occupations out of day and redundant. As a result, under-employment and unemployment, including unemployment of educated persons, increases. There is th us wastage of even developed human capital. Over-strained infrastructure: Facilities such as housing, transportation , health care, and education become inadequate. The worst symptoms of congestion in every aspect of living conditions are manifested in the urban areas. In coun tries such as India, a situation of "over urbanisation" prevails which puts unbe arable strain on urban amenities. Overcrowded houses, slums and unsanitary local ities, traffic congestion and crowded hospitals have become common features in t he developing countries. Pressure on land and other renewable natural resources: Common propertie s such as forest and water are over-exploited. This results in deforestation and desertification with permanent damage to the renewable resources. Increased cost of production : Human ingenuity and technological advance ment makes it possible to increase production of goods and services. But, it mus t be kept in mind that, the cost of production of the basic necessities of life, such as food, increases when the population is growing fast and worse lands are brought into cultivation with costly irrigation etc. Inequitable distribution of income: Both at the international and nation al levels income disparities increase. The increase in gross national product (G NP) is greatly reduced in per capita terms on account of the rapidly growing pop ulation. In the face of a rapidly growing population, the major concern of a dev eloping country tends to be focused more on economic growth as such.