More Of Us And 1.4 Billion More Questions

Who is us? India went past China to become the world’s most populous country, with 1.4 billion people. In this issue, we analyse whether this is a boon or a bane. The problem is that India’s family planning programmes have always put pressure on women, not men. Can this change with a proper publicity strategy? A growing population will also put more pressure on key resources, but will it add to the unemployment problem or will it be an explosion of the workforce? Is it also an explosion of identities? What about ageing? Because people are living longer, how are they placed in the spectrum of development and young people, and what about their welfare?