THE BIHAR TIMES
A Passage to Bihar

 

Impact of Population on Bihar's Poverty

By
Pankaj
Advocate, Patna High Court

 

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:-

Year

Urban Population
(in percent)

1971

10

1981

12.46

1991

13.5

Courtesy: Census reports

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
In Organised Sector

Census year

Public sector

Private sector

Total

1971

5.9

3.7

9.6

1981

6.4

3.1

9.5

1991

6.2

2.5

8.7

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

Sl no.

States

Population below povertyline

Population growth
(in percent)

1

Punjab

15

23

2

Harayana

25

28.04

3

Kerala

47

19

4

Tamil Nadu

52

17.23

5

W.Bengal

53

22.96

6

Bihar

57

23.90

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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