For a country that has a lot to worry about the repercussions of its humungous population, we seemed to have hit a positive demographic milestone.
According to the findings of the National Family Health Survey-5 data, India’s total fertility rate has declined from 2.2 to 2.
Another finding from the survey that is being pompously celebrated is that for the first time in the history of NFHS surveys, the sex ratio is skewed in favour of women. The data suggests there are 1,020 women for every 1,000 men.
So, the two questions that come up are:
Do these number indicate that India is closer to stabilising its population?
And, given the continued prevalence of patriarchal attitudes in Indian society, gender preferences for children at birth, how do we really read the sex ratio figures?
Our guests in this episode are Sanghamitra Singh, Senior Manager of Knowledge Management & Partnerships at Population Foundation of India; Dr Srinath Reddy President of Public Health Foundation of India; Varna Sri Raman, Lead of Research and Knowledge Building at Oxfam India.
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