QUES . “Empowering women is the key to control population growth.” Discuss. UPSC 2019 GS MAINS PAPER 1. 150 words. 10 Marks
HINTS:
India is the most populous country in the world with one-sixth of the world’s population. According to UN estimates, India overtook China in having the largest population in the world with a population of 1,425,775,850 at the end of April 2023.
High population growth puts pressure on resources, push people into poverty, leads to poor development of children and make government unable to provide good welfare measures for all
population.
How empowerment of women is key to control population?
֍ Education of women will lead to smaller and healthier families as they understand that poverty cannot be solved by more hands, instead is exacerbated by more children. Women making their own reproductive choices lead to smaller families and thus reduce population.
֍ Empowering women through education delays the marriage age which controls population growth. National Family Health Survey data shows that investing in the education of girls has led to a reduction in fertility rates.
֍ Improving health by educated and assertive women leads to reduction in Infant Mortality Rate and Child Mortality Rate helping the society transition into fourth stage of demographic transition
֍ Son preference and son meta preference can be addressed by true empowerment of women by addressing entrenched patriarchy. If we can stop women from preferring male children, this will automatically reduce son meta preference and this population growth.
֍ Higher status of women in society will reduce desire for son thus limiting no of children in the family.
֍ Social capital of women can be used as a tool in population policy to improve its success rate.
֍ Empowered and educated women who are participating in labor force leads to increased age of marriage and thus reduced overall fertility.
֍ Empowered women have better awareness and usage of contraceptives which leads to reduced accidental pregnancies.
To empower women with regard to family size, focus must be on:
▪ Ensuring awareness about family planning
▪ Educating women about contraceptives
▪ Ensuring women are aware of their rights
▪ Promoting PCPNDT act and national population policy with women as major instruments
Thus, empowering women is the long lasting solution for population control. Government steps
like cash benefit transfer for completing education by girls, advocating for delay in the marriage and abolition of child marriage are aimed towards achieving it. Population control is important to eradicate poverty and achieve sustainable development in India and this has to happen with women on board.
