An educated, enlightened and informed population is one of the surest ways of promoting the health of a democracy – Nelson Mandela

1. Why to Study Population?

Indian population may overtake the population of China within the next couple of decades, eventually making India the most populous nation of the world. It is in this way the population is quite often seen as a liability, a major hindrance to development and quality of life of the people. Such a large population invariably puts pressure on a country’s limited resources and is also responsible for many socio-economic problems in the country. But is it true? Let’s think and understand. Has population not been an asset, a resource for the country? Today, India is considered as a leading nation in the world in terms of human power. One of the major contributing factors for this global standing has been the young, educated and productive people of our country. They are contributing to the development of not only our country, but many of the foreign countries also. In this context, population is an asset for the economy, the greatest resource of the country rather than a liability. Let us evaluate this resource. How? It’s through the science of population, ‘Demography’.