After the release of the second phase data of the National Family Health Survey Fifth Round (NFHS-5), media commentators and experts have written that the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) for India has gone down just below the replacement-level fertility. The TFR for the entire nation was 2.2 in 2015-16, which decreased to 2.0 in 2019-21.   According to the United Nations, the replacement-level fertility is reached when the TFR of a...

-Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai There have been many successes and failures in economic and social development of India in the last 75 years. The recent covid-19 pandemic had also an adverse impact on growth, employment, health and education etc. In this paper, issues and policies are discussed beyond India@75 for achieving growth, inclusion and development. As India is integrated with the world, global issues are also important for...

The increase in the total number of suicides committed in India during 2020 in comparison to the previous years has hit the headlines recently. While some media commentators have stated that the economic distress (caused by job loss, income loss, failure of business, and growing hunger, among other things) in 2020 could have led to more suicides being committed, others have said that home isolation and deteriorating mental health (associated...

-The Telegraph Risks and rewards of a green transition At the CoP26 in Glasgow, India pledged to net-zero carbon emissions by 2070, with specific commitments at a shorter horizon to obtain half its energy from renewables and lower the carbon intensity of the economy by at least 45 per cent from 2005 levels as well as the total projected carbon emissions by one billion tonnes by 2030. The commitment to a low-carbon...

-TheIndiaForum.in ‘Overpopulation’ can no longer be a concern in India, as across states and across religious groups fertility has been falling in recent decades and approaching replacement level. Fears about a demographic shift between religious groups are not based on fact. India’s demographic trends have been viewed optimistically in recent years, compared to the second half of the 20th century when the discourse was about “overpopulation”. Undoubtedly, the country is now passing...