Population rise amongst the poor - A report
By Dhara Kothari
India's population is not just rising only because of too many weddings or early marriages but if any person observed this in any neighbourhood of urban or rural areas, you would know that the majority of the population has risen amongst the very poor. I present two cases. Recently, i came across a couple in their early 20's, who are beggars and do odd jobs of selling on the streets. In four years of their marriage they already had four children and the wife was pregnant with the fifth. On asking them if they can feed these children, they shook their heads and then revealed that "these children are just born, then we leave them to fend for themselves when they are old enough to walk. Since, we are wandering labourers we cannot move with all of them."
This reminded me of a scene i saw at Churchgate station (Mumbai), many years back and i sorely missed having a camera with me. An old lady was sitting on a wheelchair, with a one year baby sleeping on her laps. A new born baby was straddled behind the chair in a makeshift pram and three small children aged between two and five were playing by her side. It pained me to see the way these people gave birth to these souls like litter of kittens or puppies. We cannot tell a dog to go for birth control but then come to think, can anyone tell these beggars to control? Nopes! It is easy to do a lot of social service and follow the human rights but its very sickening to see that these people without any serious care in the world they keep giving birth to babies every time they physically interact, which is pretty often, since they have no other means of spending their free time.
In rural areas, they think that they have given birth to extra hands, not realizing that these hands have a mouth to be fed. There are families who marry a number of times because it is permitted in their tribe or community and hence have many children. At times, there are no health facility and they live as they used to for many years. There has even been cases (in India) that some stanch Hindus feel that they need to compete with Kings of Mahabharat and produce at least one hundred children. Not understanding that those hundred princes would die in the battlefield, which is none today.
Education and distribution of condoms and pills make no difference to them. Just converse with them and you know that although they are humans, they actually do not have too much capacity to comprehend beyond the basic and natural thing. Besides these beggar males, sleep with any female they want and so called marriage holds no water, likewise with many females as well. This is not a social menance but this problem actually has a deep rooted anthropological problem as well.
You as a reader may not like this but the only solution to this problem is to stop the males from producing after a couple of children are born to them. This way, even though they may have hundreds of physical interactions or sleep with anyone, at least a soul is not born to be left to their own destiny. No one realizes the serious implications of so many unwanted children who have come on this planet for no fault of theirs and go to any means to just survive in this concrete jungle, be it urban or rural. For the sake of these souls, one has to think of a little harsher measures. There's no sweet pill or cure on a permanent basis.
If the hard core solution has not been found and implemented soon, there will be a crisis for which all of us will also have to face. Earth is being disrobed of its resources and all to maintain products of physical interactions between humans without adequate health check and balance. Stop these births happening and it shall be a step towards remaining in peace on this only habitable planet of ours!
