CLASS 12 SOCIOLOGY BOOK 1

CH -2
THE DEMOGRAPHIC STRUCTURE OF THE
INDIAN SOCIETY

Renaissance 2.0: New Dawn of Learning

By: Shivang Bharadwaj
Introduction
What is Demography?

- The word ‘Demography’ comes from two Greek terms – ‘Demos’ (People)
and ‘Graphein’ (Description). It means a systematic study of the population.

- Demography studies the trends and processes associated with the

population including – changes in population size; patterns of births,
deaths, and migration; and the structure and composition of the
population, such as the relative proportions of women, men and different
age groups.

- There are two types of demography:

- Formal demography – Quantitative measurement & analysis of
population change.
- Social demography – Social, economic, and political aspects of the
population

- Demography holds special importance to sociology. Two different

processes happened to take place at roughly the same time in Europe
during the latter half of the eighteenth century – the formation of nation-
states as the principal form of political organization, and the beginnings of
the modern science of statistics.
- The modern state had begun to expand its role and functions. It had, for instance, begun to take an active interest in the development
of early forms of public health management, policing and maintenance of law and order, economic policies relating to agriculture and
industry, taxation and revenue generation and the governance of cities.

- In India, the census has been conducted 16 times till now. The first census was taken in 1881 and the last census happened in 2011. The
2021 census was delayed because of covid 19, it will now happen in 2024.

- The distinction between formal demography and a broader field of population studies (social demography)

- Formal demography is primarily concerned with the measurement and analysis of the components of population change. Its focus is on
quantitative analysis for which it has a highly developed mathematical methodology suitable for forecasting population growth and
changes in the composition of the population.

- Population studies or social demography, on the other hand, enquires into the wider causes and consequences of population
structures and change. Social demographers believe that social processes and structures regulate demographic processes; like
sociologists, they seek to trace the social reasons that account for population trends.
Theories of Population
• The Malthusian Theories of Population Growth
• Malthusian Theory was propounded by Sir Thomas Robert Malthus.
• He argued that human populations tend to grow at a much faster rate than the rate at which the means of human subsistence (especially
food, but also clothing and other agriculture-based products) can grow. Therefore humanity is condemned to live in poverty forever.
• While population rises in geometric progression (i.e., like 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 etc.), agricultural production can only grow in arithmetic
progression (i.e., like 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 etc.).
• The only way to increase prosperity is by controlling the growth of the population. He identified two ways of controlling population growth,
positive check and preventive check. Positive check: Natural disasters cause many people to die and the population is naturally
controlled. If one doesn’t take care of themselves nature will take care of them e.g. earthquakes, and tsunamis. Preventive check: Man-
made e.g. late marriage, celibacy, contraceptives etc.

• Criticism of Malthusian Theory

• Malthus’s theory was challenged by theorists who claimed that economic growth could outstrip population growth.
• The most effective refutation of his theory was provided by the historical experience of European countries.
• The pattern of population growth began to change in the latter half of the nineteenth century, and by the end of the first quarter of the
twentieth century, these changes were quite dramatic.
• Birth rates had declined, and outbreaks of epidemic diseases were being controlled.
• Malthus’s predictions were proved false because both food production and standards of living continued to rise despite the rapid growth
of the population.
• Malthus was also criticised by liberal and Marxist scholars for asserting that poverty was caused by population growth.
• An unjust social system allowed a wealthy and privileged minority to live in luxury while the vast majority of the people were forced to live
in poverty.
Theory of Demographic Transition
- Population growth is linked to overall levels of economic development and every society follows a typical pattern of development-
related population growth.
- There are three basic phases of population growth-
1. Primitive Stage - Underdeveloped countries (Africa).
2. Second Stage - Developing countries (India, Pakistan) stage of transition-» countries are moving from underdeveloped to
developed.
3. Third Stage - Developed countries (USA, UK).
- Underdeveloped Countries (stage 1)
• Birth rate is high since people are unaware of the advantages of having small families, and they are not educated.
• Death rate is also high since health and medical facilities are not available. Therefore population is low.
- Developing Countries (stage 2)
• Birth rate is high as we live in a patriarchal society where men decide how many children must be born and the male child is
preferred.
• Death rate is also low since health and medical facilities are available. Therefore population is high and results in a population
explosion.
• Demographic Dividend when the working population increases more than the non-working population.
- Developed Countries (stage 3)
• Birth rate is low, people are educated and aware and use contraceptives, and birth control is popularised.
• Death rate is also low because of the availability of health and medical facilities. Therefore population is low.
Population Explosion: When the birth rate of a country is high and the death rate is low because of the availability of health and medical
facilities. Therefore population is exploding and increasing.
Common Concepts of Population
1. Birth Rate: Number of live births per thousand population.

2. Death Rate: Number of deaths per thousand population. Also called the mortality rate.

3. Growth rate/Rate to natural increase: Difference between birth rate and death rate in an area.

4. Replacement Level: Present generation replaces the previous/older generation.

5. Zero level: The same number of people replace the same number of the older generation called stabilised level (parents replaced by 2
children).

6. Negative level: The number of people replacing the older generation is less (parents replaced by the child).

7. Fertility Rate: Number of live births per 1000 women of childbearing age (15-49 years)

8. Infant Mortality Rate: Number of infants who have died below the age of 1 per thousand live births.

9. Maternal Mortality Rate: Number of women who die during childbirth per thousand population.

10. Life expectancy Rate: The number of years that an average person is expected to live.

11. Sex Ratio: Number of females per thousand males.

12. Age structure: The structure of the population in terms of age (in India 0-15 = youth, 15-65 = Working population, above 64 years =
dependent population)

13. Dependency Ratio: The number of people who are not working and are dependent on the working population.
Size and Growth of India’s Population
- Today the population of India is very high but it has not always been high. Growth has been up and down.
Causes:
(a) Epidemics/Pandemics
(b) Natural Disasters/Famine

- Epidemics: Disease which is widespread and affects lakhs of people in a large area.

- Influenza is caused by a virus that attacks mainly the upper respiratory tract – the nose, throat and bronchi and rarely also the lungs. The genetic
makeup of influenza viruses for both major and minor genetic changes makes them immune to existing vaccines. Three times in the last century,
influenza viruses have undergone major genetic changes, resulting in global pandemics and large tolls in terms of both disease and death. The most
infamous pandemic was “The Spanish Flu” which affected large parts of the world population and is thought to have killed at least 40 million people
in 1918-19.

- It spreads very fast and is contagious because:

- Sanitation conditions were very bad.
- Medical facilities were low.
- Soldiers moved from place to place and spread it,
- Chemical explosion/fumes in the air.

- They are less common now because

- Better medical facilities.
- There are vaccinations.
- Sanitary conditions have been improved.
- Awareness of people has increased.
- In India, we still have some epidemics like covid, swine flu, chikungunya, malaria etc.

- Famine: It’s caused when there is a shortage of food supply and production. The reasons are mainly of two types:
- Natural: Excessive rainfall, no rainfall, drought.
- Manmade: Excessive use of pesticides and fertilizers, lack of transport and communication facilities, and distribution of grain by
the government are not sufficient and proper preventive methods should be taken.

- Dr Amartya Sen, “It is not necessary that famine is due to lack of food grain, but it could be due to lack of efficient distribution, failure
of entitlements and inability of people to buy or otherwise obtain food.”

- It can be controlled by
- Efficient distribution of food grains by improving transportation and community.
- Green Revolution has increased the supply of food grains despite varying amounts of rainfall.
- Medical facilities- If an area is experiencing famine, the government takes caution/ measures to see that the people are given help.
- NREGA-National Rural Employment Guarantee Act: Takes care to see that everyone is employed so that if there is a famine, they
can move somewhere else and buy food.
Declining Sex Ratio in India
- The sex ratio is an important indicator of gender balance in the population. Historically, the sex ratio has been slightly in favour of females, however, India has a
declining sex ratio for more than a century.

- Reasons for declining sex ratio:

- The mindset of the people
- Neglecting girl child
- Female foeticide/infanticide
- High maternal mortality rates (women die during childbirth)

- The child-sex ratio is still very scary as there is a drastic fall.

- Prosperous states such as Punjab and Haryana have the maximum female infanticide rate.

- Sonography: To know the sex of the child.

- The Pre-Natal-Diagnostic Technique Act/Regulation and Prevention of Misuse Act came up in 1996 and was later enforced in 2003. This does not allow
the sex of the child to be known.

Literacy
- Literacy is the ability to read or write and is a prerequisite of education, which is a combination of formal and informal education.

- The more literate the population the greater the consciousness of career options, as well as participation in the knowledge economy.

- Literacy can lead to health awareness and fuller participation in the cultural and economic well-being of the community.

- Literacy varies considerably across gender, regions and social groups. Historically, disadvantaged communities like scheduled castes and scheduled tribes
have a lower rate of literacy and rates of female literacy within these groups are even lower.

- Regional variations are still very wide, with states like Kerala approaching universal literacy, while states like Bihar lagging far behind.
Rural-Urban Differences
- It’s the mass media & communication channels that are gradually bringing in images of urban lifestyles & patterns of consumption into
the rural villages. This bridges the gap between rural & urban.

- The rapid growth in towns or cities (urbanization) has been attracting the rural population. Those who cannot find work (or sufficient
work) in the rural areas, go to the city in search of work.

- This flow of rural-to-urban migration has also been accelerated by the continuous decline of common property resources like ponds,
forests and grazing lands. Now, these resources have been turned into private property, or they are exhausted.

- The city may also be preferred for social reasons, especially the relative anonymity it offers. The fact that urban life involves interaction
with strangers can be an advantage for different reasons.

- For socially oppressed groups like SCs and STs, this may offer some partial protection from the daily humiliation, they may suffer in the
village where everyone knows their caste identity. The anonymity of the city also allows the poorer sections of the socially dominant
rural groups to engage in work which is considered of low status by some people and that they would not be able to do in the village.
National Family Planning Programme
- It was introduced with the objective of slowing down the rate & pattern of population growth, through birth-control methods and
improving public health standards. Other coercive measures were introduced during the emergency period (1975-76).

- With the coming of a new govt. the program was renamed as National Family Welfare Program with a new set of guidelines to achieve
the objectives.

Success of the National Family Planning Programme:

- The growth rate of the population was decreased

- People started appreciating small family norms

- The infant mortality rate and maternal mortality were brought down

- Life expectancy was increased

- Achieved nearly universal awareness of the need for and methods of family planning

Failures of the National Family Planning Programme:

- The growth rate still continues to be high when compared to developed nations

- The coercive family planning programme was opposed by people (Vasectomy for men & Tubectomy for women). Mostly poor and
powerless were the victims.

- Lack of availability of reliable family planning methods.

UNTIL NEXT TIME…