The Right Numbers

Context: Fertility rate going below replacement level is an achievement of family planning programme.

Highlights of National Family Health Survey (NHFS-5)

• Decline in the rate of population growth across the country since 1980s. 
• TFR of India has dropped below the United Nations Population Council deems the “replacement level”: As per the NHFS 2005-2006, woman in India was likely to bear 2.7 children on an average in her lifetime, it is fell to 2.2 in 2015-2016. NHFS-5 shows that this average has come down to 2. 
• An average of less than 2.1 children per woman indicates that a generation is not producing enough children to replace itself. 
• It implies that country has taken the first step towards an outright reduction in population.
• Use of modern contraception increased by 9%: Indicates the family planning programme’s increased reach. 
• 62% of the respondents had received information on side effects of contraceptives at grass roots-level. It’s unfortunate, however, that the bogey of population explosion has found takers amongst sections of the government in at least four of these states. 
• Rise in anaemic woman and children: 57% of women of reproductive age in the country are anaemic.
• Pandemic period has taken a disproportionately high toll on the well-being of women and children, and aggravated nutritional and educational deficiencies.

Issues with Population Growth

• Growing population is putting the “country’s resources under strain”. 
• Rising population as a hurdle in development.

Conclusion: The experience of the Southern states shows that declining fertility rates are not just the function of family planning programmes but also have direct links with empowering women. It’s this development deficit that planners and policymakers must plug.

==========================================================================================