Awareness, Family Planning Key to Addressing Population Rise

Delhi: A mother of three children, 32-year-old Ankita Verma lies helpless on a bed of a government clinic. She aborted her fourth this week and has now come to get herself sterilised. When NDTV asked her if she ever told her husband about not wanting any more children, she says, "I did, but he beat me every time I said so."

Her husband has eloped with another woman, putting the economic burden on her to raise the three children, working as a domestic help. Ankita's case underscores the problem of unplanned pregnancies that result from a lack of education, and family planning.

"Population can be controlled with proper family planning and giving women sexual rights. We need to give our women sexual rights which they have not got in the last 65 years and incentive to have lesser children," says Sreedharan Nair of the Family Planning Association of India.

A recent UN report has projected that India would surpass China to become the world's most populous country in seven years. Lack of general awareness and family planning options, emphasis on only women for family planning, and higher life expectancy have added to India's rising population.

"India's population is projected to continue growing for several decades to 1.5 billion in 2030 and 1.7 billion in 2050, while the population of China is expected to remain fairly constant until the 2030s, after which it is expected to slightly decrease," reads a report from the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

India's increasing population will also put a greater stress on its resources. The problem of family planning has been further deepened as many states often divert its finances from health to other areas, according to family planning experts.