Arrange the following stages of population growth of India in chronological order.
(A) The growth rate of the country’s population, though it remains high, has started slowing down gradually.
(B) The period is referred to as the period of steady population growth.
(C) The period is referred to as a period of stagnant or stationary phase of growth of India’s population.
(D) The period is referred to as the period of population explosion.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → (C), (B), (D), (A)
How fast a population grows depends on the gap between births and deaths. India’s growth since 1901 passed through four phases as that gap changed:
(C) Stagnant or stationary phase — 1901-1921. ‘Stagnant’ means hardly moving. Poor health and medical services, illiteracy and a weak system for distributing food kept both births and deaths high; deaths nearly cancelled out births, so the population hardly grew, and in 1911-1921 it even fell.
(B) Steady population growth — 1921-1951. ‘Steady’ means growing at a regular pace. Better health and sanitation brought deaths down, and better transport improved the distribution of food, while births stayed high; the gap widened, so the population grew steadily.
(D) Population explosion — 1951-1981. An ‘explosion’ is a sudden, very fast rise. Planned development after Independence improved living conditions, so deaths fell rapidly while births stayed high; the wide gap gave about 2.2 per cent growth a year, and migrants from neighbouring countries added more.
(A) Growth still high but slowing down — after 1981. Now births began to fall too, as people married later and the quality of life, especially the education of women, improved; with the gap narrowing, growth started to slow, though it is still high.
Note: A similar question was also asked in CUET (UG) 2026 on 24-05-2026 (Slot 1), in CUET (UG) 2025 on 21-05-2025 (Slot 1) and 14-05-2025 (Slot 2), and in CUET (UG) 2023 on 21-06-2023 (Slot 3), 13-06-2023 (Slot 1), 10-06-2023 (Slot 1), 02-06-2023 (Slot 2), 23-05-2023 (Slot 1) and 22-05-2023 (Slot 2).
NCERT (2025-26): “Growth of Population … Phase I : The period from 1901-1921 is referred to as a period of stagnant or stationary phase of growth of India’s population, since in this period growth rate was very low, even recording a negative growth rate during 1911-1921.…” “Phase II : The decades 1921-1951 are referred to as the period of steady population growth.…” “Phase III : The decades 1951-1981 are referred to as the period of population explosion…” “Phase IV : In the post 1981 till present, the growth rate of country’s population though remained high, has started slowing down gradually…” |