A Fool’s Paradise:

Demographic Dividend.

How I hate the term.

To the uninitiated, this term was lapped up by politicians, economists and probably all rights based NGOs when they realised long ago that India can never be able to control the country’s population from growing despite setting goals. Taking advantage of the media brouhaha about the shining status of our country, they happily threw sand into people’s eyes by explaining how we are a nation of ‘young workforce’ who will lead the country to be the next superpower.
And we as a nation of gullible or rather hopeful lot, believed every word of it and happily added numbers to that ‘young workforce’.

If it were a country where all systems worked well, the rise in population could still work out to its advantage. However this is India, where most systems have failed, more than half its 1.2 billion population lives in rural areas and around 40% of its people are still poor, farmers who produce food for us are left with no food for themselves, children are still uneducated and grossly malnourished, youths have next to no option for any skill development or jobs, women are still not economically independent and old people have no safety net to live the rest of their lives with dignity. Now imagine adding more people to such a scenario.

Demographics in India is like walking on a knife’s edge...it’s just a matter of time when one slips and gets bloodied.  Anybody who doesn’t see it still, is living in a fool’s paradise. I do not understand the complexities of politics and economy, but as a worried citizen I feel that things will not improve unless we bring in drastic reduction in population growth, change in the way the country is governed and save whatever natural resources is left in this country. 

Our country’s wealth is limited and natural resources finite. The only person who seems to have understood this and its repercussions was Sanjay Gandhi. And perhaps we missed a great opportunity with him of setting things straight for this country.

There! Dear all (human) rights based NGOs, misguiding politicians and optimistic citizens, I have said it aloud and in the open.

Let the brickbats begin.