The revelations made by the latest UNFPA report are a very good reason why the government and indeed informed sections of society must sit up and take notice. Population-wise, in a country of slightly more than 54,000 square miles we now have 16.44crore (or close to 161 million) people. It is clearly a stunning discovery, coming at a time when we thought population growth had tapered off and the nation could now go ahead in identifying the various ways by which the quality of life could be improved. Our surprise comes in knowing that where the census of 2001 spoke of the population being 12.43crore, this jump by 4crore in just a decade is an unmistakable sign of how and where the national effort toward family planning and population control may have gone awry. The prospect of further rise in another decade or two at the current unbridled rate is simply a nightmare.

The effects of such a steep rise in population on food security reflects the dilemma we are now confronted with. Over these past many years the country has done rather well for itself where food production is concerned. But that cannot be a reason for complacency any more, now that this arithmetic on population is before us. And it will not just be food that could be outstripped by a growing population. An equally important question is one of living space for such a huge population in a country already beginning to feel the decline in land, arable or otherwise. When agricultural land mutates into habitations, it is not a pretty picture. A third problem arising out of this growth relates to the employment that needs to be provided to those being born.

It is foolhardy to suggest, in a blaze of patriotic fervour, that after all we have 32crore hands to make a difference. We must get down to the hard realities. That will happen through prioritising human resources development in the country. Focusing on education, especially in the rural regions, and thereby emphasising the need for family planning, is once more an urgent requirement. The focus must especially be on women, whose contributions to the national economy have in recent times been remarkable. It is through them, through their education and employment, that we can expect to tackle the scourge of population growth. Alongside that, there is a grave need for a development of skilled manpower that we can export in the times immediately ahead.

All said and done, however, it is a serious, focused programme of population control we must go back to if we are to avert the looming danger. Through the 1980s and well into the 1990s, it was a tapering off of population figures that impressed us. If that was the case then, where did things begin to go wrong again? We have to find that out and promptly move to revitalise our entire approach to family planning with all the modern methods in hand.