20 December 2006

population of india .....an asset or a liability ?...!...?!!


One among the recent surveys has shown that the total population in the age group 15-25 in India is 115.5 million!!! This is one of the largest in that particular age groups in the world. China comes second but not close, being at 98.8 million. This certainly gives an unbeatable advantage to these countries , the bric countries in particular enjoy this advantage , well at least till 2050. This age group is largely non-income student group and they more or less act as consumers than contributors to the economy, but they also serve as a large talent pool which can be groomed to suit the particular trends of the global economies of today . That particular survey also projected that the average spending of the total young India is of the tune of a lakh crore rupees!!!

One of the few drawbacks of the “one child” pursued by the Chinese government is that now china is one of the most rapidly aging populations in the world. though china has managed to eliminate around 400 million childbirths by carrot or by stick one of the drawbacks is that by year 2050 china will have more retired people than income earning people. Japan faces one such consequence in near future , because of the greatly increased life expectancy after the rapid industrialization of the post war Japan .

So as the debate goes whether the population of India is a liability or an asset ….. I think its still a liability. Many people are arguing that we have a large skill force and other things, but what’s the point in having a large group of population to which we cant provide basic education or means of employment .
No one addresses these issues. I’m not talking about the large middle class population who are aggressively pursuing professional courses and moving ahead , but I’m talking about the under privileged .

If we are not able to provide them, then the consequences will be quite dire. The unemployed youth will naturally take to arms and underworld due to frustration by large if not due to greed .
Therefore we better start building the employment options and benefit by this advantage rather than neglect it and be victimized. India has to liberalize the setting up of new business ventures and encourage entrepreneurs. I also personally believe that the ultimate answer to the Kashmir issue and the north east problem is development of the regions , when the people are happy and have access to good quality of life why will they rebel …

This clearly shows because the republic of India which is the worlds 4th largest economy and has gdp of over 1 trillion $ and has a growth rate of over 9% consistently has been ranked at 122 in H.D.I by I.M.F . this shows the disparity and the need for improvement.