- During his Independence Day speech,Prime Minister has underlined challenges posed by population growth in the country.
- According to the data,the Total fertility rate(TFR) has dropped to 2.2. This is only marginally higher than the fertility rate (2.1) required for replacement of the existing population.
- Total fertility rate(TFR) is defined as the number of children born to a woman until the end of her child-bearing age.It is a key indicator for population trends.
- Even the states that have a higher TFR such as Uttar Pradesh(3.0), Bihar (3.2), MP(2.7), Rajasthan(2.6), Assam(2.3), Chhattisgarh(2.4) and Jharkhand(2.5) have been witnessing a declining trend in fertility rates. These seven states account for about 45 % of the total population in the 2011 Census.
- Further,two more states namely Gujarat and Haryana has recorded a TFR of 2.2 which is above the replacement rate but is equal to the national average.Taken together,these nine major states account for 52 % of the 2011 population.
- This means that barring these nine states which accounts for almost half the population,the replacement level is either 2.1 or has gone below it.
- The states with a lower TFR include states such as Kerala (1.7), Tamil Nadu (1.6), Karnataka (1.7), Maharashtra (1.7), Andhra Pradesh (1.6), Telangana (1.7), West Bengal (1.6), Jammu and Kashmir (1.6) and Odisha (1.9).
