Plentiful is prosperity. Isn’t that what is commonly understood? Then why is large population a negative? So many helping hands, forging a golden future with young, creative, innovative minds at the helm, should just be a cake walk. Only it isn’t. India’s Human Development Index published in 2017 shows, for the first time in the 25 years of HDI inception, a fall in rank from 130 to 131 and a static 0.624 HDI value over two time periods. There are three kinds of lies, you say—black, white and statistics. True, statistics can be manipulated.  But, you are witness to the callous political resolve to protect precious lives—because lives are no longer precious when they are aplenty. Look around you – sex selective abortions, poor quality of food and poor nutrition, inadequate public healthcare system, low levels of skill and employability, low learning outcomes in public schooling, the scenario is dismal. The rot is redeemable—I am not totally without hope. There are glittering examples around the nation that light up now and then. Quality healthcare, affordable and timely, along with quality education with quantifiable learning outcomes, are the two pillars that can swerve the nation around in less than a decade. The demographic dividend of a young rising population is then achieved. This is all I demand from the leaders of my nation. You should too.

The Population issue is simple and succinct, with issues ranging from fertility decline, to regional disparities and migration along societal lines. Another section talks about beating pollution, in the backdrop of the June 5 World Environment Day. The section may lead you to ask two primary questions, the first is what is single use plastic, wherein the UN provides no definitive outline and two, is pollution a panacea for over-population?
Read on. Read on.