DEMOGRAPHIC EXPLOSION
India – 2012
At the end of 2011 the world population has reached 7 billion. According to the datas of UN, the birth that marked this milestone took place in India, which if will continue with the current growth rate per annum in the next 20 years will become the most populous country in the world. P.A.Sangma, past president of the Lok Sabha (the equivalent of the Chamber of Deputies), said that “the biggest problem in India is the increase of the population. With the current growth rate, in 2020, we passed the China as the number of inhabitants. For this reason, any progress we have made and we will do, will be deleted by the demographic explosion. Birth control must be the priority of priorities. Must become a movement of people and this is only possible through education”. Particularly that of women in rural areas and slums of the metropolis.
Since independence (1947) to now, the Indian population has increased by about 840 million people, equivalent to 4/5 of the population of Africa and Europe together. Marriage at a young age is rooted in Indian culture and, although in 1978 a law was enacted which established 18 years as the minimum age to marry, has been shown that 50% of marriages contracted by women were below of this range of age.
The government plans to birth control have always ignored this fundamental reality and a high number of women has a child before age 20, mostly in rural areas or in villages and poor urban areas like slums. According to official estimates, one in 5 children born in the world and this is Indian country holds the record for the highest number of babies born per minute.
According to datas of UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund), the world population will continue to grow in the coming decades to a total of 9.3 billion in 2050 and surpassing the 10 billion people in 2100. What makes this even more disturbing future projection is the fact that 90% of the population growth will occur in developing countries, which brings with it additional risks, such as increasing poverty and competition for access to scarce resources available in these countries including, mainly, health services and education.
In India, in 2011, 26 million children were born.
Nascetti Simone was born in 1978 in Italy. It is a self taught freelance photographer, interested in human rights, social issues and anthropology. He has made several reports in South America and India.
