Does a huge population make India a sea of opportunities?
Does a huge population make India a sea of opportunities?
Introduction
India has a population of over 1.2 billion people. It has one of the largest young working populations in the world. It will soon cross China as the country with the biggest employable population in the world. As the third largest economy in Asia, India has a lot of challenges to face ahead.
While experts and investors continue to examine the viability of the Indian growth story, the biggest concern for the detractors is whether India’s massive population will be able to gain access to literacy and training to increase employability and economic growth. A large population has no value if India’s citizens still have to struggle to get access to education and social welfare benefits. A huge population does not make India a sea of opportunities unless steps are taken to ensure that we have a high literacy rate and sufficient employment for our youth.
Viewpoint
• The demographic dividend that India is currently credited with may not lead to a bright future for the country. Our literacy rate is 74.04% as per the provisional data provided by the 2011 census. According to many estimates, Asian economic powers such as China have literacy rates of over 90%. Indian citizens will not be able to gain access to opportunities unless they are able to acquire basic education.
An illiterate population will also provide greater potential for social unrest and unemployed youth will be more likely to engage in criminal activities. This can harm the potential of India to attract investors.
• Another reason why a huge population does not make India a sea of opportunities is because there are huge issues such as lack of social welfare and sanitation for the teeming masses. Many Indian villagers do not even have access to healthcare facilities.
A large population becomes more of a burden rather than a blessing because there are not enough resources to meet the needs of the people. Rather than generating jobs and making India a global superpower, many regional and national leaders are not allowing industries to expand their businesses. In such a scenario, India’s citizens are not going to be able to earn enough income to support their families.
• A low income also means that Indians will not be able to buy goods. This will harm the manufacturing sector and lower the chances of growth in the economy. Domestic as well as multinational companies are looking to expand their services in the Indian market because of the vast amount of consumers.
However, if retail giants are unable to employ local workforce because of lack of skills, they will not be able to increase the income levels and spur a demand for their products. This can become a vicious cycle. A massive population is detrimental to national interests.
• Indian youth are facing stiff competition in the job market. With the change in the economic climate, there are many cases where youngsters who are well educated are unable to find jobs. On the other hand, rural youth are facing another hurdle.
They are not qualified enough to work at high levels in the corporate sector. India has a huge population and the majority of it comprises of young people between the ages of 15 and 35. If adequate employment is not generated for them, India’s immense population will become an even bigger drawback.
Conclusion
A huge population does not necessarily translate into investment opportunities. It is the aim of the government to provide for the needs of the masses, but sometimes the efforts can fall short of the desired result. This is why India’s rising population does not represent an infinite pool of opportunities.
There are limitations on the growth possible in India on account of the massive corruption and poverty that plague the world’s largest democracy.
Discussion
- RE: Does a huge population make India a sea of opportunities? -Deepa Kaushik (05/03/14)
- It would have been an appreciable matter if India could have converted its manpower to a sea of opportunities. Alas! We have not realised the importance of our manpower. That is the main reason we see the huge population as a havoc.
Utilizing the people for different set of work as per their capability would have added to the economic development of the nation. This would have reduced many concerns prevailing today viz. illiteracy, ignorance, poverty, hygiene issues and lot more. With such a huge mass, if the communication to the mass is done through a group of people who in turn forward that to another sect, this would very easily abolish the hygiene and ignorance issues.
Indian just needs an employment to keep their open mind busy towards a allocated work. Such a busy mind can reduce many crimes as people will have something productive to focus on. Our government definitely need to search employment opportunities for the masses. People should also realise the value of work more to the money. We should learn to respect any sort of work and try to provide the best output to it, rather than emphasizing our ego and relentlessly avoiding the upcoming opportunities.
- Does a huge population make India a sea of opportunities? -Farhana Afreen (04/03/14)
Does huge population make India a sea of opportunities?
Though India’s growing population has been a matter of concern in all debates and has been considered a drawback for the development of the nation, there are certain views to prove them wrong. India’s growing population can make the nation a sea of opportunities since it would ensure the following things:
- a greater domestic market
- attracting investors and international companies
- motivating investment in knowledge
- implementing newer ideas which perk up production
- growing the process of do-and-learn due to pressures of increased production amount
- additional workers
- additional young people enlivening the economy
- bigger consumption driving manufacturing and services
- greater than before national savings
- a big indigenous market for successful new products
- less cost in production per unit with increase of volume
The biggest benefit to the growing population of the nation is its young population. The average age of India's population as a whole is 28, appreciably lower than that of regional aristocracy like China and Japan, at 37.6 and 44.4, respectively, as surveyed by the global market research firm, Euromonitor. A young workforce is beneficial in many ways especially for their hard work and innovative minds that increases the production of any company. It also proves that our country is able to improve power technology and boost efficiency.
A certain report claims that India's workforce, those between 15 and 64, is likely to increase from almost 64 percent of its population in 2009 to 67 percent in 2020. At the same time, China's is likely to start dwindling from 2014 which shall lead to a fall in a labour by 2050. Along with the expansion ion working age, savings increase and that becomes a source of funding for investment. This will undoubtedly benefit a country in terms of competitiveness as other countries age.
According to International Monetary Fund’s statement in 2011 – “India's demographic dividend, the window of opportunity that a large workforce creates to strengthen an economy, could add 2 percentage points to the country's annual growth rate over the next two decades.” While development in India has been dawdling this year, the economy has on average grown close to 8 percent yearly over the last five years, credited in large part by this demographic dividend.
A growing workforce is a pro for both the industrial and services sectors in India. Businesses have entrance to people that are youthful and fit in the flesh, for it means less cost pressures, particularly on the wage, because of the accessibility of strugglers. India's young population is also benefitting to India's expenditure explosion.
Between 2006 and 2011, consumer making expenditures in the country almost went to double, from $549 billion to $1.06 trillion.
There are 200 million people between the age of 18 and 25 in India, and manufacturers of fashion wear to motorcycles and other such products are all intended towards this age group. Younger consumers are spending far more than the other age groups hence adding to the development of manufacturers and industries. India’s young population can be a benefit to the nation only if educational and employment facilities are improved for them.
