In A First, India's Fertility Rate Fall Below Replacement Level

The total fertility rate dipped below the replacement level for the first time, eventually leading to an outright reduction in population. According to the National Family Health Survey report, the Total Fertility Rate has decreased from 2.2 in 2015-16 to 2.0 at all Indian levels. Union Health Ministry released the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) data on November 24.

The Total Fertility Rate refers to the average number of children per woman. The data in NFHS 2019-20 shows that the fertility rate in urban areas is 1.6per cent while in rural areas, it is 2.1 per cent.

An Interesting Find

As per the report in The Indian Express, the United Nations' population division, countries experiencing below-replacement fertility — lesser than 2.1 children per woman — indicates that a generation is not producing enough children to replace itself, eventually leading to an outright reduction in population.

The second phase of this above-mentioned survey was conducted in Chhattisgarh, Arunachal Pradesh, Haryana, Chandigarh, Madhya Pradesh, NCT of Delhi, Jharkhand, Punjab, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Odisha. The TFR rate differed between each state and UTs. The numbers ranged from 1.4 in Chandigarh to 2.4 in Uttar Pradesh. The replacement level of fertility remained at 2.1 in all phase-II states except Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, UP.

Women And Children Found Anaemic

According to the phase-II survey, the NFHS survey also reveals that more than half the women and children were found anaemic. However, there is a slight decline in gender violence from 31.2 per cent to 29.3 per cent for married women aged 18-49 years.

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