More Than One Billion Indians: a Gigantic Problem or a Sea of Opportunities

If the 2011 census is to be believed the current population of India is around 1. 21 billion plus or minus a few millions and we all know to which side the scale is going to tip. The Indian population is varied not only on the lines of religion, region but also on the basis of thought process. While on one hand we are facing the problem of land acquisition from the poorest of poor farmers, on the other hand luxury car maker brand Mercedes has shown a sales growth of 67 percent. The huge population of India provides a large service sector which plays a crucial role in developing the economy of a nation. Moreover, 30% of the population is between the ages of 10-24 years which clearly shows the amount of untapped energy that India has. If used and guides correctly this can be used to boost our industrial and structural sectors. The brain drain that India has suffered since last two decades clearly shows that Indians have huge potential and they are just looking for the right niche to develop themselves. Indians have raised themselves from all walks of life and made a mark in fields from astronomy to yoga. On the other hand, the resources that the country has are limited and therefore a burgeoning population restricts the per capita availability. We have seen an increase in the crime rate due to the unavailability of even the most basic amenities. The government has clearly hit the mark by creating employment opportunities for the rural masses through programs such as NREGA, NRLM, etc. But even creating such employment opportunities costs the government a lot of money and resources. The glass can be half empty or half full. We may say we have more than a billion mouths to feed but we forget that we also have more than 2 billion hands to make such a humongous task possible.