![]() If the Modi government can take up this cause in sync with state governments, this will significantly boost the labour participation rate of women, which is currently at a meagre 25 per cent, and lead to “double engine” growth. From a policy perspective, if there is any subsidy that deserves priority, it should be for the education of the girl child. But unless a focused and aggressive campaign is launched to educate the girl child and provide her with more than 12 years of good quality education, India’s performance in terms of the prosperity of its masses, and the human development index may not improve significantly for many more years to come. With this dismal status of women’s health and education, the future of children in India is a serious issue to ponder over.īiofortification of staples, supplying clean and safe drinking water to every household ( nal se jal) and mid-day meals are all steps in the right direction to improve the well-being of people. Moreover, 57 per cent of women in the reproductive age group of 15-49, are anaemic, as per NFHS-5 (2019-21), up from 53 per cent in NFHS-4 (2015-16). They will remain stuck in a low-level income trap. The NFHS-5 data shows that more than 35 per cent of our children below the age of five are stunted, which means their earning capacity will remain hampered throughout life. In our earlier research, based on unit-level data of NFHS, we found that women’s education is the most critical determinant of the status of malnutrition amongst children below the age of five. If one talks of the quality of education, several ASER reports point to the poor quality of education. The record on that front is not very good.Īs per the National Family Health Survey-5 (2019-21), of all the girls and women above the age of 6 years, only 16.6 per cent were educated for 12 years or more. ![]() The only way is through effective education, especially that of the girl child, open discussion and dialogue about family planning methods and conversations about the benefits of small family size in society. After Sanjay Gandhi’s forceful attempts to control population through sterilisation methods in the early 1970s, and the people’s discontent against it, no government is going to attempt it. There is no way India can impose the one-child norm that China did in 1980. Let’s get back to the population story, and try to understand what India can do at this juncture. The net result of all this is reflected in the “implicit taxation” of farmers to favour the vocal lobby of consumers, especially the urban middle class.Įxplained | UN population report explained: A look at the trends, projections and implications Market and price liberalisation in agriculture still remains a major issue, and at the drop of any hint of food price rise, the government clamps down exports, imposes stock limits on traders, suspends futures markets, and pushes other measures that strangle markets. ![]() Over a 40-year period, 1978-2018, China’s agriculture has grown at 4.5 per cent per annum while India’s agri-GDP growth ever since reforms began in 1991 has hovered at around 3 per cent per annum. India’s overall growth story – though one of reasonable success - has not been as impressive as that of China, certainly not in agriculture. ![]() Chinese population growth today is just 0.1 per cent per annum compared to India’s 1.1 per cent per annum. It is this strict control on population growth, coupled with booming growth in overall GDP over these years, that led to a rapid increase in per capita incomes. China introduced the one-child per family policy in September 1980, which lasted till early 2016. But one important policy during this period that is not talked about much was the one-child policy.
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