Population in India
Short Questions
1. What is the population of India as per the 2011 census?
Answer: 121.02 crores.
2. Which country ranks first in population globally?
Answer: China.
3. What is the significance of 1921 in India’s population history?
Answer: It is known as the ‘Year of Great Divide’ due to a shift from negative to positive population growth.
4. What is the birth rate?
Answer: The number of births per 1000 people in a year.
5. What is the death rate?
Answer: The number of deaths per 1000 people in a year.
6. What is the survival rate?
Answer: The difference between birth rate and death rate.
7. When was the Family Planning Programme launched in India?
Answer: 1952.
8. What is the legal marriage age for females in India?
Answer: 18 years.
9. What is demographic dividend?
Answer: A high proportion of working-age people contributing to economic growth.
10. When is World Population Day observed?
Answer: 11th July.
Long Questions
1. Explain the Malthusian theory of population growth.
Answer: Malthusian theory, proposed by Thomas Malthus, states that population grows geometrically (2, 4, 8, 16), while food supply grows arithmetically (1, 2, 3, 4). This imbalance is corrected by preventive checks like late marriage or positive checks like natural calamities.
2. Describe the first stage of the demographic transition theory.
Answer: The first stage is characterized by high birth and death rates, leading to low population growth. It occurs in pre-industrial societies with poor medical facilities, illiteracy, and poverty. India was in this stage before 1921.
3. What are the causes of high birth rates in India?
Answer: High birth rates in India are due to illiteracy, universal marriage, low marriage age, preference for male children, joint family systems, dependence on agriculture, poverty, and lack of awareness about family planning.
4. Why has the death rate declined in India?
Answer: The death rate has declined due to improved medical facilities, reduced maternal and infant mortality, increased literacy, better nutrition, disaster management, and social reforms, which have controlled epidemics and enhanced living standards.
5. What is population explosion, and why does it occur in India?
Answer: Population explosion occurs when population growth outpaces economic development. In India, it results from a high birth rate due to illiteracy and cultural factors, combined with a low death rate due to improved healthcare.
6. Explain the objectives of the National Population Policy, 2000.
Answer: The National Population Policy, 2000 aims to provide free education up to age 14, reduce infant and maternal mortality rates, promote delayed marriage for girls, prevent communicable diseases, and achieve a stable population by 2045.
7. How does human resource contribute to economic development?
Answer: Human resources drive economic development by improving literacy, reducing birth and mortality rates, increasing productivity through education and health investments, fostering research, and ensuring political stability, thus enhancing overall societal progress.
8. What are the economic measures to control population explosion?
Answer: Economic measures include expanding the industrial sector, creating employment opportunities, removing poverty, and ensuring equitable distribution of income and wealth, which raise living standards and reduce population growth.
9. Describe the second stage of demographic transition in the context of India.
Answer: In the second stage, death rates fall rapidly due to economic development and better healthcare, but birth rates remain high, leading to population explosion. India is currently in this stage, nearing the third stage.
10. What is the role of education in controlling population growth?
Answer: Education reduces birth rates by increasing awareness about family planning, delaying marriage, and improving women’s status. It also lowers infant mortality through better childcare and promotes healthier lifestyles, contributing to population control.
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