Page 22 - DECO303_INDIAN_ECONOMY_ENGLISH

Unit 2: Structure of Indian Economy

(b) The growth of population has developed a severe shortage of food grains for which the Notes
country was forced to import foodgrains externally.
(c) Rising population with growing children raises the number of unproductive population
in the country.
(d) Increasing population worsens the unemployment problem which is discovered in an
under-developed country such as India.
(e) The volume of investment declines as an increasing population raises the volume of
consumption in our country.

(f) A rising population decreases the quality of life of the masses and makes them less effective.
(g) Rising population in rural areas results in subdivision as well as fragmentation of land
and decreases productivity in the agricultural sector.

Population-growth Pattern

The pattern of India’s population-growth can be segregated into three durations over the previous
century from the analytical viewpoint, the points of division being 1921 as well as 1951.
The development of population during initial two decades was lower than 16 million persons
causing a less than 0.2 per cent growth rate annually. The purposes for this slow growth can be
discovered from a high death rate caused because of natural calamities, epidemics and absence
of medical facilities.
The year 1921 is considered by the Census Commission, as the year of ‘Great Divide’. From this
year, the death rate decreased considerably because of introduction of better medical amenities
in the country whereas the birth rate did not depict any tendency to fall. The net raise in
population from 1921 to 1951 was 110 million persons.

After 1951, the population increased in the country at a very shocking speed. It almost doubled
itself from 348 million in 1948 to 685 million in 1981. The population increased up to 845 million
in 1991 and 1,027 million in 2001. The population of India on 1st March 2011 was 1,210 million.
India added 185 million roughly to its population since 2001, a little lesser than the population
of Brazil.
The previous two decades have been facing a decline in both birth rate and death rate in
comparison to the earlier years. If this trend persists, the anticipated growth rate of population
will be lower than 2% per annum.

Density of Population

As per 2001 census, the average density of population per sq. km in India was 324 persons as
against 267 in 1991. But according to 2011 census the density of population is 382. It is greatest in
Delhi, i.e. 11,320; the State of Arunachal Pradesh has the least low record of population density
having merely 17 per square kilometre. Among the States that have recorded important decline
in growth rate are Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, West Bengal, Gujarat, Goa and Kerala. The six most
populous States – U.P., Bihar, M.P., West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, explain for
60.9% of the country’s population in 2011 census.
You must note that the records disclose the fact that males comprise 628.8 billion of the population
while their female counterparts comprise 591.4 million of the population of India as well as 50%
of the population of India comprises people within the age of 25 years and 65% comprises
people below the age of 35 years. It has also been observed that India comprises 17.31% of the

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