Overpopulation has increased during the last three decades in India. In one hand, it is easy to distinguish the difficulties in cultural and religious beliefs, lack of education, crime, and poverty that this country is facing because of its population growth. On the other hand, a particular phenomenon is taking place with professionals and entrepreneurs mostly put into the category called “brain gain” 1 (in the following shortly: ‘Elite Indians’2) that once left their home country to seek better opportunities abroad, and now are reentering their home countries, most of the time, with a profitable amount of money to invest as self-employees (Hunger, 2007). Fortunately, reforms were implemented in the economic system to increase international investment in this nation since the 1990’s (Hunger, 2007). In this respect, it is reasonable to consider that Elite Indians can facilitate a great contribution to the population growth control by keeping a constant dialogue with their political leaders. I have found that overpopulation can be balanced by facilitating education to inhabitants, especially those living in rural areas. Moreover, I want to discuss the commitment Elite Indians need to put into practice to generate balance in overpopulation and its subsequent internal problems.
According to Asher (2008) the most common problems associated with overpopulation, not only in India but also any other LDC in the world, are basically the following: 1) inadequate fresh water for drinking water; 2) increasing levels of air pollution, water pollution, soil contamination and noise pollution; 3) global warming; 4) illegal (and legal) immigration to developed countries; 5) high infant and child mortality caused by poverty 6) starvation and malnutrition; 7) low life expectancy in countries with fastest growing populations; 8) unhygienic living; 9) elevated crime rate due to drug cartels; 10) over-utilization of infrastructure, such as mass transit, highways, and public health systems. Obviously, all the problems mentioned above are the ones that India is facing nowadays. It is their resposability as a nation to get rid of those misconceived problems. How? Very well planned/creative solutions and commitment.
Elite Indians can facilitate a great contribution to the population growth control by keeping a constant dialogue with their political leaders. Fortunately, the way to get a rapid economic growth in India was conceived by political leaders who decided to make reforms in the economic system to generate international confidence among future investors as it was mentioned before. In his ‘brain gain” hypothesis, Hunger (2002) considered that professionals and entrepreneurs that once lived in MDCs “are able to play an important role in the development process of their home country through return migration and/or transnational networks” Of course, this particular group of people is now helping to improve the economy of their nation because they got experience in developed countries where higher quality standards are implemented in any job. Fortunately, Elite Indians started to believe in the incentives that the government promised to them (Hunger, 2002 p. 2). Nowadays, those incentives have flourished, and India is now working hard to get a better ranking in the world’s economy. It was not an easy task, but if the Elite Indians and the rest of inhabitants in this country keep on searching for agreements with the political parties, they could get better results by fighting against the 60% of poor people that are observing the prosperity of the middle and high class (BBC News, 2007).
Elite Indians should look for leading roles in the political parties. In this country, people are conscious about the shameless corruption in which they are immersed. In a survey related to this topic “Some three out of four Indian respondents, on the question of the degree to which their government is fighting corruption. The
answers gathered stated that the government was either "not effective," "does not fight at all" or "actually encourages" corruption.” Obviously, this social problem harms the possible advances in the country. For this reason, Indians who have had the opportunity to lived and studied in developed countries need to raise their voices to clean the corruption by actively participating in the decision-making process of their nation. Complex? Of course! but if they do not participate in the construction of a better nation... who else is going to do it for them?
In my country, El Salvador, the civil war ended up with the peace agreement signed in Mexico on January 16, 1992. Countries like Costa Rica, Brazil, France, and the United States contributed as witnesses to establish transparency in those agreements. Of course, we are still struggling with our own social problems but I can assure that nowadays the rate of corruption has been declined substantially, and our people have the power to participate in a democratic atmosphere. So, by keeping that particular example in mind , it is the time for Elite Indians to also look for international help in order to truly heal their nation of corruption in order to pay better attention to poverty, and as a consequence, its rapid population growth.
I have found that overpopulation can be balanced by facilitating education to inhabitants, especially those living in rural areas. D.Smith(2005) stated that “without education there is no hope”. UNESCO claimed that 7.2 million children are “out of school” in India (InfoChange India News, 2008). This number is going to be the equivalent of illiterates that are going to maintain a chain of ignorance. There will be no hope for better citizens and inevitable overpopulated land that sooner or later is going to collapse. In this concern, Elite Indians need to give suggestions on how to make reforms in their education system. A close review needs to be implemented for the current programs that governmental schools are using to identify the weaknesses and in this way, they can start working on reforms to improve the entire education system. The international community can also facilitate or share an important contribution in this process. Of course, this is an investment that needs to be discussed not only with the people involved in this important area, but also with the “Elite Indians” who once were immersed in MDC’s academic systems. They now are conscious of the huge differences and the benefits of having education with the updated trends in pedagogy, the helpful technology in the classrooms, and the great possibility of making students becoming critical thinkers through appropriate instruction. “Elite Indians” should facilitate contributions from their own experiences while studying abroad. Unfortunately, LDC’s are not familiar with critical thinking instruction. If this model is implemented in India, clear results are going to be perceived soon.
It is known that education is the key to solve any social problem in the world. If “Elite Indians” once doubted about the help of the government to start their investments, now it is the time to ask their political parties to invest more money in education (only 3% of their annual investment (Satya, 2008)) and believe that sooner or later, immediate alternatives to improve their education system are going to be perceived.
There are different alternatives to improving education. One of those alternatives was implemented in Bangladesh. A similar project like the one called "Village Computer and Internet Program (VCIP)” (Alam, 2000), could reduce overpopulation in rural areas. The VCIP project intends to reduce the isolation and ignorance of villages that are immersed in poverty by facilitating “communication services that promote and support peoples including producers, researchers, educators, planners, students, designers, news media, social activists and entrepreneurs for improving their knowledge and lives by accessing to the national and global information” (Alam, 2000). This “dream” project will allow inhabitants to look for alternatives and hope to improve the ordinary way of living. Definitely, this project requires, time, money and commitment, but that alternative is just one out of thousand projects that can easily be designed by “Elite Indians”. In addition, rural areas in India are generally full of people that have never seen a computer, or simply have troubles to go to school. In this concern, A. Shah (2007, para. 2) stated that:
Spatial inequality is one of the important features of poverty in India. Not only that there are significant inter-regional variations, but a large number of spatial poverty traps are either remote, low potential or marginal, less favored or weakly integrated. In fact, these characteristics often overlay each other. The multiple and mutually reinforcing disadvantages or deprivation faced by most people in these areas lead to poverty and the reproduction of that poverty. This is manifested by the persistently high poverty incidence in these regions both in absolute and comparative levels.
By keeping that description in mind, it is possible to perceive the lack of enthusiasm these inhabitants would have while trying to learn new things. As a consequence, creative and innovative efforts should be considered to avoid withdrawals. According to the BBC News (2007) Indians are gaining prestigious job positions in hi-tech industries because of their outstanding academic preparation and skills. Unfortunately, these excellent people represent just a low percentage of the whole population. However, with this potential human resource, projects like the one mentioned above could contribute to slowing down population growth. In other word, more educated people equal less ignorance and less poverty. If there is less poverty, there will be more conscious people to think about the number of children that they need to bear and the population growth will decrease. In the end, what is the best solution?
Undoubtedly, the commitment of “Elite Indians” could provide important contributions to slowing down population growth and its subsequent internal problems. Fortunately, India has gained a reputation all over the world because of its experts in technology. Unfortunately, that knowledge is concentrated in working for international enterprises only. In this respect, there must be a transition in which the tag of “low labor costs” (Hunger, 2002) would be changed into an “MDC”. If a real commitment is put into practice, India would have, at least, an equal opportunity to succeed. Also, all these professionals could greatly contribute in this nation by lecturing at conferences concerning overpopulation in order to let the population be conscious about the problem, to start thinking about practical solutions, and to work on significant results.
It is difficult to think about practical solutions by considering the commitment of "Elite Indians" and inhabitants of a nation. In the case of India, internal problems like corruption, poverty, hunger, crime, illiteracy (all of them closely related to overpopulation) seem to have no end. However, it is important to consider the Great Depression in 1929 to determine why these countries now have stability in their economies? In this perspective, we need to pay close attention to the reaction and courage of their inhabitants, because in the end, commitment is the only the key to solving problems that seem to be impossible to solve at the moment, but with persistence everything can be solved no matter its complexity.
Moreover, alliances with NGOs should be considered to create practical workshops to train teachers, farmers, and adults in rural areas. This strategy would let inhabitants to be connected and conscious about their important roles they need to assume in their society.
Finally, it is amazing how India in gaining economic prosperity. However, this rapid economic growth is being obscured by the multiple social problems. I believe “Elite Indians” need to create a revolution of opportunities for everybody. Otherwise, this nation will always be immersed in poverty, illiteracy, corruption, etc. and of course explosion in its population growth.
REFERENCE
Alam, T. (2000) Village Computer and Internet Program: Grameen Communications. Retrieved February 20th, 2009 from http://www.cityshelter.org/08_itc/ex/10_itc_ex.htm#top
Asher (2008). What are consequences of over population in India? Retrieved February 25th,
2009 from http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070622032136AAvx833
BBC NEWS (2007, January). Key facts: India rising. Retrieved on January 29th, 2009, from http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/6257057.stm
Brown, B (2008). Will Growth Slow Corruption In India? Retrieved February 25th, 2009 from http://www.forbes.com/2007/08/15/wipro-tata-corruption-ent-law-cx_kw_0814whartonindia.html
Hunger, U. (2002). The “Brain Gain” Hypothesis: Third-World Elites in Industrialized Countries and Socioeconomic Development in their Home Country. The Center for Comparative Immigration Studies. University of California, San Diego.
Satya (2008). Education in India. Retrieved February 25th, 2009 from
http://prayatna.typepad.com/education/
Shah, A. (2007). Patterns, processes of reproduction, and Policy Imperatives for Poverty in Remote Rural Areas: A Case Study Southern Orissa in India. Retrieved February 23rd, 2009 from http://www.odi.org.uk/resources/details.asp?id=2672&title=poverty-remote-rural-areas-india-pattern-processes-reproduction-policy-imperatives
Smith, D. (2005). 'Without education there's no hope. Without books there's no education'. Retrieved February 20th, 2009 from http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2005/nov/27/davidsmith.theobserver.
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