Population Problem Of Bangladesh

Population Problem Of Bangladesh

The socio-economic development of a country entirely depends on its development. When the population is under control, it is regarded as a boon. But when a country can not provide its entire people basic requirements of life then it is considered a curse for the country. This situation is called population problem. Bangladesh is greatly suffering from this problem.

Bangladesh, an alluvial basin with a humid climate, now is beset with many problems in the way to her development. Population explosion is the major issue working as a great hindrance to her prosperity. It is the burning question of the day.

The total land area of Bangladesh is 55,598 square miles. According to the census Reports of 1981, the total population of our country stood at 8,71,20,000 and in 1974 the figure was 7,14,79,071. According to the estimation in 2014, the present population of Bangladesh is approximately over 16 crores. Density of population per square kilometer is 1203. The quantity of land per head is 0.38 acre only and annual per capita income is US$1190 only. The latest growth rate is 1.6%. Present birth rate 21.61 per thousand and death rate 5.64 per thousand. If this alarming growth rate continues, the population of Bangladesh will be double. According to the population, Bangladesh stands 8^th in the world and second in the Muslim Countries. Because of this serious problem the development of this country is being obstacle.

Population problem like many other countries is the number one problem of Bangladesh. Indeed the development of this country is crippled by this problem. It has disabled to a great extent the wheel of development, progress, place and economy. The menace that is horrifying the nation now is the population erosion.

Illiteracy is the prime cause of over population. Being  illiterate, they do not have any idea about the consequence of over population. Moreover, ours is a sub-tropical country. So the moderate climate is responsible for high fertility rate. Besides most of the people is religious minded. And they do believe that God has sent them to earth and he will provide them food. Family planning is a sin to them. So they never hesitate to give birth to many children. Various social and religious superstations are responsible for over population.

Many people of this country still think that girls are of no use. So they want sons and for more sons they take more children. Because of this attitude they don’t get proper status of the society.

At the same time poverty is another prime factor of rapid growth of population. The poor and illiterate people do not have any clear concept about the method of family planning or the benefit of planned family. Thus they get married at an early age or keep two or three wives at a time.

Another cause of population explosion is geographical condition. This means, our country lies in the temperate zone and as a result, every year tropical storms, cyclones, famine, flood, drought are the common phenomenon here. All these are causes of population explosion in our country.

In proportion to our land, we are one of the most thickly populated countries of the world. We are astonished to believe that on an average more than one thousand people live in each square km. Consequently it creates various problems whose effects are really frustrating. The major problems are food problem, educational problem and health problem. Most of the people live under poverty level and suffer from malnutrition. Moreover our environment is badly affected due to this over population.

Besides we have to depend on foreign loan and aid to feed too many mouths. As they do not get proper education they become reckless and remain unemployed. Because of this reckless people, the law and order of the country has been deteriorated to a great extent. Thus the increase in population is a more serious threat to Bangladesh than atomic weapon.

To check the rapid growth of population we have to adopt effective measures. Firstly, the growth rate of population has to be brought down to zero. To do this the entire population has to be encouraged to adopt various family planning devices. People have to be made conscious about the necessity of family planning.

Moreover, the government has to take elaborate programme to educate the mass people. Only an educated man can realize the miserable consequence of a big family. Then marriage at immature age has to be declared invalid and punishment has to be ensured for those who violate the law.

Beside we have to take pragmatic steps to employ the vast unemployed people. For this, we have to create more jobs in mills and factories and raw materials based industries must be set up at remote places of the country. In this regard, we can follow China which has controlled its population by adopting social methods.

Already a high tide of population consciousness has invigorated the people’s mind. We have to strengthen and sustain this force by great efforts. We must capitalize on the up-to-date feelings of people and go ahead. Also we must bear in mind that-

The problem of population is not one of mere number, but of efficient production and equal distribution of it.