Govt. worried about teen pregnancies
- High teenage fertility in some areas remains a cause of concern in India even as the fertility rate has stabilised across the country\
Family Planning Vision-2030
- Participation of men will be encouraged in the family planning programme and that lack of access to contraceptives had been identified as a priority challenge area.
- Factors identified to explain low contraceptive use are child marriage and teenage pregnancy.
- Over 44% of the districts in India reported a high percentage of women marrying before they reach the age of 18.
- Coincidentally, these districts also experience low rates of modern contraceptive use.
Population in India
- India is the second highest population in the world.
- Population is expected to continue to grow until mid-century (due to population momentum), however, the population growth will decline substantially
- India’s population has reached 136.3 crore (1.36 billion) and is expected to reach 147.9 crore (1.47 billion) by 2031 and further 152.2 crore (1.52 billion) by 2036.
- The government said male contraceptive methods were largely limited to condoms. Male sterilisation was at 0.3%.
- The vision also included a plan to use the private sector for providing modern contraceptives.
- Private sector contributes 45% share of pills and 40% share of condoms.
- For other reversible contraceptives like injectables, the share is 30% and 24% for IUCD,”.
A priority area
- Although there has been a steady decline in teenage childbearing, from 7.9% in NFHS-4 to 6.8% in the NFHS-5, it remains a priority area that requires to be addressed, especially since India will continue to have one of the youngest populations in the world until 2030.
- It added that modern contraceptive use among married adolescents and young women, although increasing over time, has been rather low.
Prelims Take Away
- NFHS
- India’s Demography Indicators
- Family Planning Vision-2030