Campus Journalist 
Why do we observe World Population Day?
World population day is an annual observance which occurs on 11th of July. This day seeks to focus attention on the urgency and importance of population issues. This day was observed in the year 1989 for the first time. This day is to make people aware of the increasing population issues. Every year, UN has a different theme for this day. For instance, in 2018 the theme was “Family planning and human rights”.
Population of India in as calculated in 2019 is 13 millions 5 crores 4 lakhs 38 thousand ninety eight. The population is increasing at alarming rate and therefore India stands at second position for the most populous country in the world.
Now let’s talk about our city- Bhopal
Currently the population of Bhopal is twenty three lakhs thirty three thousand hundred and six. The population has grown by 224,619 since 2015, which represents 2.56% annual change. The population growth in the recent years has been double digits. The possible reasons can be migration of people from nearby states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh for job opportunities. This growth rate will increase as Bhopal is the city of greenery and people are more likely to migrate here. Bhopal is the 17th most populous city in the country. It also has higher population of males than females.
Do the people of rural area keep the same perspective?
One of our reporter spoke to the people of slum. They have a different ideology towards over population. They said that we want more children as they will get us the daily bread in future. They consider “more children means more money”. They consider more children as their old pension. Women told us that they need more sons as in future they don’t have to work. “Feeling of dependence on God” is another term we found people saying. Women said that all this is God’s will, so we all depend upon him. Early marriage, universal marriage and child marriage also contribute to the problem. Indians consider marriage as social obligation and almost all marriageable person are in married state. Long-life bachelorship is looked down upon. Particularly, for women marriage is almost an inescapable obligation. Further, the number of children born per couple is also large.
Therefore it is important to follow the motto “child by choice and not by chance” or “child by desire and not by accident”.
There should be some policies made by the government to teach rural area people and remove such virtual thoughts from their mind and tell them the effects of over population.