Demographic Structure Of The Indian Society Flashcards
What you understand by the term demography
1 it is the systematic study of population
2 it has greek origin consisting of 2 word demos meaning people and graphein meaning description of people
3 it studies the trends & processes associated with population
Distinguish between formal and social demography
Explain the 2 types of demography
Formal demography
1 it measures the components of population and changes to these components
2 it focuses on quantitative analysis and makes use of highly mathematical methodology to predict growth and change in the composition of population
Social demography
1 it investigates the wider causes and consequences for population structure an change
2 it seeks to find the social reasons for population trends
Discuss the malthusian theory of population growth
1 According to him human population grows faster then human subsistence so humans will always live in poverty
2 According to him human population rises in a geometric progression while human subsistence rises in an arithmetic progression so only way to ensure prosperity is to control population
3 According to him humans have unlimited ability to voluntarily reduce population in the form of preventive checks like celibacy and positive checks like natural disasters
4 He was criticized by liberals and Marxists who believed that poverty & starvation are causes by unequal distribution of resources and not population. He was also criticized by Theorists believed that human subsistence can overtake human population
Discuss the theory of demographic transition
1st stage
Low growth rate in a underdeveloped & technologicaly backward country
Growth rate is low since both birth rates & death rates are very high and difference between them is low
2nd stage ( transitional stage )
High growth rate in a country that has began developing
Growth rate is high since death rates have been reduced
3rd stage
Low growth rate in a fully developed country
Growth rate is low since both death/birth rates have been reduced and the difference between them is low
Discuss the size & growth of Indias population
1 india is the 2nd most populated country in the world but it was not always this high during 1901-05 growth rate was 1.33% & during 1911-21 growth rate was negative because of influenza
2 growth rate increased after independence from 1961-81 to 2.2% which is one of the highest in he developing world
3 before 1931 death&birth rate were high but then death rates fell sharply because of control over famines & epidemics but birth rates fell only slightly
Explain the reasons for decline in death rates after 1921
1 control over famines
Famines were a major and recurring cause of deaths in india they were caused by high levels of poverty,malnutrition & living in an agro-climatic environment
2 control over epidemic diseases
Plague, small pox etc were major epidemic diseases that killed many people, he biggest epidemic was influenza which killed more then 125 lakh people 1918-19
3 improvement in productivity of indian agriculture
Better communication&transportation as well as better relief & preventive measures have reduced deaths caused by famines and epidemics
4 provision of transportation & communication facilities
Inadequate transportation & communication facilities as well as Inadequate efforts by the govt were some factors responsible for famines. Provisom of these resources have reduced deaths caused by famines
Describe the literacy rates found in india
Literacy varies across gender, region & social groups. Explain
1 gender
Women literacy is 22% lesser then men’s but it is rising faster then men’s because it started at a lower level
2 region
Literacy rate vary across region like kerala & bihar but this inequalities in literacy tends to reproduce inequalities across generations which is a concern
3 social groups
Historically disadvantaged groups have lower literacy rates and women even lower
Explain the factors responsible for increased migration of people from rural to urban areas
1 Decline of agriculture
Most people in rural ares are involved in agriculture which used to be the biggest contributer to gdp but now contributes only 1/4th of it since it’s economic value has decreased
2 Change in occupational structure
More and more people are getting involved in non-agricultural occupations so if they live close to their workplace they travel daily otherwise they migrate permanently
3 Impact of mass media
Mass media has brought the image of urban lifestyle and consumption patterns into rural areas which creates a desire in them to enjoy it
4 Decline in common property resources
Common property resources like ponds, forests, grazing land etc which helped people in survival have exhausted or have been turned into private properties
Explain the reasons for decline in sex ratio in india
1 Child bearing
Increased risk of death during child birth is a reason for decline in sex ratio that only affects women although it should have reduced bit it has not happened in india
2 Severe neglect of girl babies
This happens in india which leads to higher death rates in women besides this there are also sex specific abortions, female infanticide etc
3 Female infanticide
Although there are modern medical techniques to determine the sex of the baby in many parts of india babies are killed soon after birth
4 Availability of sonograms
A sonogram is a diagnostic device based on ultrasound technology which was originally used to identify disorders in the baby but now it is used to determine and selectively abort female feotuses
Explain the social reasons for preference of cities over villages
1 cities protect oppressed groups from humiliation they face in villages
2 it allows members of upper caste to engage in low status jobs which they wouldn’t be able to do in villages
Discuss the population policy of India
1 it had it broad objectives
▪︎influence pattern of population in a socially desirable manner
▪︎slow down the rate of population growth using birth control methods
▪︎improve public health
▪︎increase public awareness about population
2 it suffered a set back during national emergency when legal & parliamentary procedures were suspended and special laws & ordinances were enforced and the govt. tried to intensify the process by introducing the coercive method of mass sterilization
3 many poor & powerless people were forcefully sterilized and there was a lot of pressure on low ranked officers to bring them
4 there was widespread opposition to this and the new govt. abandoned it. It was renamed to national welfare programme which did not use coercive methods and had its own socio-demographic objectives
