MP Raina Ratnakar
India has come a long way since the days of independence and we are celebrating seventy-five years of independence with great zeal and fervor. India’s achievements are many, including a strong democracy, strong roots of secularism, higher education, nuclear power, stunning economic growth, and the revival of many aspects of traditional wisdom and knowledge. Despite all these achievements, several formidable challenges remain: population explosion, widespread poverty, illiteracy especially among women, ruptures and divisions based on region, religion, language and gender threatening the social fabric, urban congestion, injured and critical ecosystems power and energy situation.
There is a need for all citizens of the country to celebrate what India has achieved in 75 years, but it also becomes necessary for all of us to get a glimpse of our country’s greatest challenge which is the population explosion. How did this challenge arise and the means to deal with it? If this population explosion is not checked by positive policies, we will face catastrophe in the next decade. On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of India’s Independence, all Indian citizens should be led to reflect on this sensitive and highly strategic issue of the country.
This challenge must be met at different levels and also by different means. We should understand that the right and scientific education which was supposed to be given to many well-meaning sects of society has not been properly given especially to almost all those women who are the real force in making families, prosperous society and nation on one side on the one hand and on the other hand they have been fed a bad upbringing making them believe that they are only there to produce children and propagate the race and that also when it is well understood that a fair and scientific education can empower women and that through empowerment women can take control of their lives. We failed to give the right science education to these girls at a young age. Undoubtedly, girls’ education is seen as the key factor in improving family health, reducing infant mortality and changing reproductive behavior. Educated women have increased confidence and self-esteem and they stand up for themselves. They want fewer children and seek the best possible education and health care for themselves and their children. The subject in which women have a central role must be dealt with judiciously by communicating the sufferings of the illiterate and uneducated women of India who, for one reason or another, have been considered as a machine to produce children. Not only that, but by giving most of them an unfair, unsuitable and unscientific upbringing, these innocent and uneducated women are also made to believe that they have taken birth to deceive the husband and produce children only.
Many of these women, who even come from an urban background and are somehow literate, have also been deprived of a scientific and justifiable education. Educating women in this way results in improved income and economic development as well as a better quality of life, including a healthier, better nourished and better educated family and society. A good education empowers women by giving them greater autonomy in all areas of life. This education is also important for all kinds of demographic behaviors, affecting health, sexual behavior, contraception and fertility. In almost every context, regardless of region, culture, and level of development, a good education definitely translates into fewer children. Education acts as a stimulant in the empowerment of women and their reproductive behavior. Education definitely gives women the feeling that they are not a machine to bear and raise a large number of children. In the relationship between education, fertility and number of children, certain aspects of empowerment and autonomy are important and are certainly developed by the right type of education. The occasion of 75 years of India’s independence celebration is the right time to meet this challenge head-on to raise awareness and shape policies that will curb this explosion to make the life of every citizen of the country livable.
The population explosion in our country has highlighted the need to tackle these fundamental problems and that too as soon as possible to multiply our festivities. Examining the education given to certain sects of society is the main challenge to the nation. There is an urgent need to give a good scientific education to all these children from an early age so that they are able to imbibe the nuances of a right scientific attitude towards life from their first years of life to make it the most much of their future life. .
There is considerable evidence regarding female education, fertility, age of marriage and number of children that if and when the right scientific education and scientific attitude are developed in children in their early years of life , the life of these women changes completely and these women become an asset for the nation and the country . Undoubtedly, by making improvements in education and changes in the education system, we are sure to empower our women in other areas of life, such as improving their exposure to information , decision-making, control of resources and trust in the treatment of the husband and other family members and also the outside world that most of them lack? Consequences of scientific education have developed changes in women for reproductive behavior and number of children? Because it raises the age of marriage? Because it increases the practice of contraception? Because it reduces women’s preferences for a large number of children? To what extent is the psyche of women affected by an inappropriate and undesirable upbringing? To what extent are women influenced by a justifiable, acceptable and scientific education which leads to having fewer children and ensuring them a good quality of life and the best possible education? What are the critical pathways that influence the relationship between women’s education and fertility? All of this has to be understood by introspecting and then giving it systematic practical form. The results are also worth noting from time to time.
Unambiguous and qualified support is needed for the widely held belief that reduced fertility is one of the consequences of improving women’s education and resulting changes in empowerment and self-reliance. women. The support will certainly be unambiguous because almost in all social backgrounds, regardless of region, culture or level of development, the most educated women certainly have fewer children than less educated or poorly educated women. Support will be nuanced as factors such as the overall level of socio-economic development and the position of women in traditional kinship structures complicate general assumptions about the interrelationships between education, fertility and women’s empowerment.
If, as a nation, we do not curb population growth and sensitize women as soon as possible, we will face multiple challenges with regard to hunger, poverty, water scarcity, scarcity of medical facilities, environmental degradation and political instability.