New Delhi: The Sample Registration System 2020 report has been released regarding the General Fertility Rate in India. According to this report, a decline of 20 percent in the General Fertility Rate (GFR) has been recorded in India during the last decade. This decline has been recorded more in rural areas than in urban areas. In urban areas, where it has been recorded at 15.6 percent, and in rural areas it has been recorded at 20.2%. GFR refers to the number of children born per 1,000 women in a year in the age group of 15-49 years.
According to a report published in TOI, as per the recently released Sample Registration System (SRS) data in 2020, the average GFR in India was 86.1 from 2008 to 2010 (three-year period) and during 2018-20 (three-year average). has come down to 68.7. The SRS data shows that the decline has been 20.2 percent higher in rural areas as compared to 15.6 percent in urban areas.
Dr. Sunita Mittal, former HOD of Obstetrics and Gynecology at AIIMS told that the fall in GFR indicated a reduction in population growth which is a good sign. He said that the main factors of this change are increasing the age of marriage, improving the literacy rate among women, and easy availability of modern contraceptive methods.
The recently released SRS 2020 report also highlighted the role of literacy among women in the reproductive age group in the reduction of GFR. With reference to GFR data by the education level of women, the report said, “… there is a gap between the GFR of illiterate and literate women, with the latter showing lower levels of GFR at the national level.
According to the report, among the states/UTs, the states that have recorded the highest decline in FR between 2008-10 and 2018-20 are Jammu and Kashmir (29.2). It is followed by Delhi (28.5) and then Uttar Pradesh (24), Jharkhand (24), and Rajasthan (23.2). The state of Maharashtra has also recorded a decline of 18.6% in GFR in the last two decades.
The total fertility rate (births per woman of reproductive age) in India in the most recent SRS data is 2. Bihar has recorded the highest ie the highest TFR (3.0) while in comparison Delhi, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal have recorded TFR (1.4) which is the lowest in India.
Presently, at the national level, the TFR of a rural woman has been recorded as higher than that of an urban woman. Rural women’s TFR was 2.2 and urban women’s 1.6 was recorded. At the same time, Delhi (1.4), Tamil Nadu (1.4), West Bengal (1.4), Andhra Pradesh (1.5), Himachal Pradesh (1.5), Jammu and Kashmir (1.5), Kerala (1.5), Maharashtra (1.5), Punjab (1.5) ), Telangana (1.5), Karnataka (1.6), Odisha (1.8), Uttarakhand (1.8), Gujarat (2.0), Haryana (2.0) and Assam recorded 2.1 TFR.
