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Impact of Population on Bihar's Poverty By
It is not an irony that in the State of Bihar, the poor have more children than the rich. But it is not with Bihar alone. It is also not only with India but almost all the third world countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America that have unchangeable population.
Even after 50 years of planned development more than half of the population of Bihar are classified as poor. What is more disgusting is that as according to All India Statistical Data 1999-2000, 54.63% of total population of Bihar survive in absolute poverty i.e., they are living below poverty line. It means, they do not even receive the minimum basic needs of livelihood. Malthus, an economist, propounded the "Theory of Population" which entails to population growth in geometrical progression (1, 2, 4, 8…) while the means of substance grow only in arithmetic progression(1, 2, 3, 4…). This formulation traced the poverty of the masses and its sufferings. Malthus expresses that there is only one way of overcoming this disparity to keep the population growth rate at zero. Bihar, of course, is one of the states, having fastest total fertility rate in India.(see the table below):- Population Profile Of States With Greater Than Or Equal To Total Fertility Rate(TFR) State Population size (in millions) as on 1st March 1999 Percent of Total Population TFR 1997 Orissa 35.5 3.6 Gujrat 47.6 4.8 3.0 Assam 25.6 2.6 3.2 Harayana 19.5 2.0 3.4 Dadar & Nagar Haveli 0.2 0.02 3.5 Tripura 0.3 3.9 Meghalaya 2.4 0.2 4.8 Madhya Pradesh 78.3 8.0 4.0 Rajasthan 52.6 5.4 4.2 Bihar 98.1 10.0 4.4 Uttar Pradesh 166.4 17.0 4.8 Source: Yojana P-69, August 2000 According to census of 1991, Bihar has 10.2% of India's total population though it covers only 5.71% of country's area and produces only 8% of the total production of national foodgrains. The share of rural population is 86.5% and of urban population is 13.5%. If urbanisation is a factor of diminishing poverty, it lies much behind. If the urban population of Bihar is compared since 1971 it increases only 3.5% in 20 years. The figures below shows the same:-
As poverty of masses is attributed to the rapid population growth without understanding the political economy context in the same way the deteriorating employment situation in Bihar as explained as a consequence of rapid population growth by Prof.P H Prasad of A N Sinha Institute of Social Sciences in his seminar paper "Poverty, Unemployment And Non-Development In India". Percent Of Total Population Of Bihar Employed
It is amply clear that growth of unemployment has exceeded with the increase in population. Draft Bali Declaration on Population and sustainable Development admits the complex inter-relationship between rapid population growth and poverty. It observes that population growthrates are faster in the least developed countries and areas where poverty is severe. Position of Bihar : Population Below Povertyline 1971-80
Courtesy: S Mehta &H S Mehta"Political Economy Of Population Growth" in quarterly journal of The Indian Institute Of Public Administration:xxxviii:3:381"
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