High population growth rate worries government
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COMMENTS 
The government says the high rate of population growth, particularly in states like Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, is a matter of “serious concern” as it is having an adverse impact on the available national resources
Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, on August 4, 2010, said that India had only 2.4% of the world’s land mass but accounted for 17% of the world’s population. “The population is still growing, but our resources are decreasing,” he added expressing concern that at current rates India’s population would not stabilise even by 2070.
“According to the Registrar General of India, the population will increase by 37 crore between 2001 and 2026 and the central and northern states will account for a 50% increase in population,” he said.
Azad told members of parliament in the Lok Sabha, who expressed concern about the country’s population stabilisation plan going haywire, that the total fertility rate (TFR) in central Indian states, including Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, was almost double that of the desired rate of 2.1. He added that TFR in the northern states -- primarily Uttar Pradesh and Bihar -- stood at an average of 3.8, which was close to twice the desired level, and called for an immediate reversal of the trend.
TFR is calculated as the average number of children a couple have in their lifetime.
The Population Stabilisation Policy introduced in 2000 under Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajyapee set a target of achieving 2.1 TFR before 2010. It was estimated that if this rate of TFR was achieved in the first decade, the country’s population would stabilise by 2045.
However, only Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Punjab, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Sikkim, Chandigarh, Pondicherry and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands have been able to achieve this TFR, he said. Three states that had slightly higher TFR, of between 2.8 and 3, were Manipur, Mizoram and Jammu and Kashmir.
Azad said: “Central India is a matter of serious concern for us. We need to change this trend. There has been no change in the TFR there… We talk about rising costs of essential commodities, inflation… all these are a direct result of increasing population and limited availability of resources in the country.”
The minister also made it plain that maintaining TFR was not the responsibility of the health ministry alone but that of every individual and government.
Southern states outshine north
The southern states have left the north far behind in achieving the target of two children per family, drawing accolades from the Lok Sabha as it debated population for the first time in 33 years and displayed rare unity on the need to stem India’s march towards becoming the most populous country in the world as has been predicted by demographers.
Ruling out forced contraception, Azad explained how the target of achieving a TFR of 2.1, which translates to two children per couple, had failed primarily due to the failure of northern states to contain average family size.
Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Punjab, West Bengal, Delhi, Chandigarh and Pondicherry have done their job well, but states like Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Rajasthan have failed miserably, Azad said.
The minister sought help from all political parties to make the family planning campaign a success, with a new population policy on the anvil. The health minister said population stabilisation should be top priority for central and state governments as unchecked population only added to poverty, unemployment and food shortages.
Source: Press Trust of India, August 5, 2010
The Hindu, August 5, 2010
The Indian Express, August 5, 2010
The Hindustan Times, August 5, 2010