India's population to stabilise by 2080 due to dip in fertility rate: IASP
Kolkata (PTI): India's population is expected to stabilise by 2080 at 1.8 or 1.9 billion due to dipping total fertility rate, which is currently below the replacement level at 1.9, an official said.
India is undergoing a rapid demographic transition, with the birth rate dropping sharply over the past two decades, he said.
"In 2000, our TFR was 3.5 and today it stands at 1.9. This is a drastic decline," Indian Association for the Study of Population (IASP) general secretary Anil Chandran told PTI.
He said India's population is expected to peak at 1.8 or 1.9 billion by 2080, when growth is expected to stabilise.
"All estimates show that India's maximum population will remain below two billion," Chandran added.
He attributed the fall in fertility primarily to increasing development and education levels. Increased female literacy, he said, has directly shaped decisions around marriage and childbearing, leading to smaller families.
Greater use of contraceptives and wider access to birth control have further accelerated the decline, he said.
"Couples today are better informed and exercise greater control over when and how many children to have," Chandran said.
He said that late marriages and growing economic opportunities -- especially for women pursuing careers -- have also significantly influenced reproductive choices.
"Development is inversely proportional to birth rates. Illiterate groups still have fertility levels above three, but among the educated, TFR ranges between 1.5 and 1.8," he said.
Citing Kerala's example, Chandran said the state achieved replacement-level fertility (2.1) between 1987 and 1989 and now has a TFR of around 1.5.
West Bengal's fertility rate has also seen a sharp fall. According to the Sample Registration System (SRS) Statistical Report 2023, the state's TFR has dropped to 1.3, down from 1.7 in 2013 -- a decline of nearly 18 per cent and well below the replacement level of 2.1. West Bengal now ranks among the lowest in the country, on par with Tamil Nadu and just above Delhi, while recording the lowest urban TFR and the second-lowest rural TFR nationally, he said.
The demographer noted that while birth rates are falling, life expectancy continues to rise due to improvements in healthcare.
"More people are living beyond 60, and this brings new challenges of elderly care, especially as younger people migrate for work," he said, adding that solutions such as elderly day-care facilities are increasingly being discussed.
IASP, founded in 1971 and comprising around 1,100 demographers and population scientists, regularly deliberates on such issues with support from bodies including UNFPA, the Population Council and the Population Foundation of India.
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SWR announces special trains for passengers stranded by large-scale IndiGo cancellations
Bengaluru (PTI): The South Western Railway on Saturday announced a series of special trains, in coordination with Central, South Eastern and Southern Railways, to clear stranded passengers following large-scale IndiGo flight cancellations across the country.
The special services will operate between December 6 and 10 on high-demand routes, including Bengaluru–Chennai, Bengaluru–Pune, Yesvantpur–Hazrat Nizamuddin, Shalimar–Yelahanka and Ernakulam–Yelahanka, officials said.
According to an official statement, SWR will run Train No. 06255/06256 between Chennai Egmore and KSR Bengaluru, 06257/06258 between Bengaluru and MGR Chennai Central, 06259/06260 between Yesvantpur and Hazrat Nizamuddin, and 06263/06264 between Bengaluru and Pune.
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Central Railway will operate Train No. 01413/01414 between Pune and Bengaluru, while South Eastern Railway will run Train No. 08073/08074 between Shalimar and Yelahanka. Southern Railway will operate Train No. 06147/06148 between Ernakulam and Yelahanka, the statement said.
Railways has advised passengers to check updated timings on its official channels and arrive early at stations.
For at least five days in a row, IndiGo flight operations have been significantly disrupted, with a large number of cancellations and delays causing hardships to thousands of passengers. In many cases, baggage has been misplaced.
