More than a billion Indians

By Jatin Grover, EVERY ONE youth campaigner from Vinod Gupta School of Management, IIT Kharagpur

I am an Indian. But at the same time, I can be a male Hindu of Pakistan origin, a citizen of USA, working as a photographer, interested in poetry, a supporter of gay rights, follower of extra terrestrial objects wanting to have a conversation with them in a language predominantly French. All these identities can have their own relevance. For example, at the time of dinner, country of my origin is not relevant. What matters is whether I am vegetarian or a non-vegetarian. But what will happen if my identities start overlapping? What will happen if my choice of food is seen through the prism of religion? What will happen if my support for Gay rights is rejected for my being a Pakistani origin? And what will happen if these multiple identities are multiplied over a billion people?

The answer to all these questions is a gigantic problem which India is facing today. Heterodoxy has always been the most striking feature of our country. Any attempt to homogenize our society has been thwarted. Plurality and tolerance has allowed diverse cultures, religions and traditions to co-exist peacefully in the past. But now the equations are changing. Parochialism and sectarian mindset is making its way in the civil society. And this is not despite the billion people but because of it. Every group is trying to become a dominant force not because of its ideologies but because of its size. Everybody living in the illusion of identity feels neglected and wants to fight for its rights.

Root cause of every evil present in the society lies somewhere in the size of billion plus people. India has one of the highest food stocks in its warehouses in the world but is also home to 20% malnourished children of the world (worse than the Sub-Saharan Africa). Why? Because it is almost impossible to take food to everyone in a country of billion people. More than 50% adults in this country are illiterate because it is almost impossible to give education to everyone in a country of billion people. India is home to one of the highest ethnical and sectarian violence in the world not because of its heterogeneity but because of its sheer size. China has done better than India in almost every parameter of GDP or Human Development or Happiness Index in past 2 decades because it has tried to solve the root cause of every problem, that is, population growth.

This gigantic problem has a very simple solution - education. Education not only means a technical training of Science and Mathematics, but understanding the perspective of life. Education makes people empowered and helps them take informed decisions which are beneficial to the sustenance of a society. In 1990s when China launched its one couple- one child program it had the national fertility rate of 3.0 comparable to Kerela at that time. And today both have their fertility rates under 2. One followed a draconian path of autocracy and other followed the path of education and empowerment. Population of any country is an asset which has to be nurtured but when it grows out of proportion, the problems can become gigantic and costs too high.