India"s Youth Population is a Demographic Blessing

I would like to clarify my position. While it is a “blessing” to have a large youth population, India’s youth population is far too large to be a “blessing”. My opponent seems to have repeated his arguments several times. I will summarize Pro’s arguments quickly for the reader. India’s youth population is a demographic blessing because this means many potential workers. Workers exploit resources and be beneficial to the economy. The government can then collect taxes from these workers to support education, infrastructure, etc. My opponent also suggests improving the quality and quantity of schooling as a solution to improve the quality of life in youthful populations. Pro does not, however, offer a solution for the problem that there are lots of children reliant on few adults to provide for their needs. Before I refute Pro’s arguments and provide my own, I would like to state that Pro implicitly acknowledged that having a too large youth population is not a blessing when he offered a solution to lower fertility rates among women. Regarding taxes: Today, only 2 to 3 percent of Indians pay income taxes. The major reason is that Indians do not earn enough annual income to even qualify to pay. The other is that, among those wealthy elite, tax evasion is rampant due to India’s stifling bureaucracy and corruption. The majority of India’s youth population will not be able to pay taxes. http://www.ibtimes.com... http://www.caclubindia.com... Regarding Health Expenditure: Pro has not given any solution for the potential exorbitant funding of education, health care, or any other services for India’s youth. According to the following study, health expenditures are what is currently responsible for more than half of Indian households following into poverty, pushing around 39 million Indians into poverty each year. Providing health care for India’s youth population is taking a heavy toll on the quality of life of India’s citizens. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov... Inflation: The fact that there is a ever growing population in India means that the prices of goods (and land) will inevitably rise as there are only limited resources in India. This will drive down the quality of life of Indians even further. Resource Allocation: India ability to allocate resources is severely dampened by its corruption. Making resource allocation as efficient in India as it is in the US will increase productivity by 60%, according to a World Bank report. As many Indian businesses have complained, the Indian system is bureaucratic and slow. Thus India will not be able to fully utilize its large task force. In fact, recent surveys of employment patterns in the workforce in India point to the fact that the rapid growth hasn’t been accompanied by a spurt in jobs. In the five years between 2005 and 2010 fewer than 3 million new jobs were added to the economy, but 12 million people join the workforce every year. Having such a large youth population only points towards poverty. http://www.business-standard.com... http://www.bloombergview.com... From a Malthusian Perspective In India, there are hunger deaths - because of reduced per capita food availability and poor distribution of food. There are acute shortages of medical facilities including qualified doctors, medicines, dispensaries, modern health care facilities etc - due to high population.There are shortages of education facilities including schools, colleges, qualified teachers. There are serious shortage of power and problems connected with its distribution. Let’s take a more specific issue as an example. This is taken from an excerpt from the source below. http://www.mintpressnews.com... In his study of lakes in Thane, Maharastr, Singare reports that “Thane’s burgeoning population, thanks to its proximity to Mumbai, and the metro’s heavy industrial profile, are apparently choking its six lakes, with the unchecked discharge of sewage, pesticides and industrial effluents.” In his report, he analyzed lakes in Loktak (Manipur), Ropar and Kanjli (Punjab), Sukna (Chandigarh), Bhopal and the Pong dam (Himachal Pradesh), all revealed harmful levels of contamination. He showed a pattern where the toxins in water are passed from plant to animal to human. According to Leelakumari Amma, organizer of victims of Endosulfan poisoning, at least 1,000 people died, and it’s believed that there are 10,000 victims still suffering. India’s large youth population will cause numerous problems for the country.