2024-08-15 11:09:46
New Delhi: The sex ratio in India is expected to increase from 943 women per 1000 men in 2011 to 952 women per 1000 men in 2036. This information was given in the ‘Women and Men in India 2023’ report released on Monday by the Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation. The report underlines that in 2036, India’s population is likely to have more women than the population of 2011, as reflected in the sex ratio. According to the report, India had 943 women per 1000 men in 2011, which is estimated to increase to 952 per 1000 men by 2036, which shows a positive trend in gender equality.
What could be the population of India by 2036?
According to the report, India’s population is expected to reach 152.2 crore by 2036, with the percentage of women increasing slightly to 48.8 per cent from 48.5 per cent in 2011. It said the proportion of persons under 15 years of age is projected to decline from 2011 to 2036, possibly due to a decline in the fertility rate. In contrast, the proportion of the population aged 60 years and above is forecast to increase significantly during this period. This is evident from the fact that the age specific fertility rate (ASFR) in the 20-24 and 25-29 age groups declined from 135.4 and 166.0 to 113.6 and 139.6, respectively, from 2016 to 2020. The ASFR for the age group of 35-39 years has increased from 32.7 to 35.6 for this period, indicating that after getting settled in life, women are thinking about expanding their family.
According to the report, the adolescent fertility rate in 2020 was 33.9 among the illiterate population while it was 11.0 among the literate population. This rate is also much lower for women who are literate but without any formal education (20.0), compared to illiterate women, which once again highlights the importance of providing education to women. Age-based fertility rate is defined as the number of children born and alive in women of a specific age group per thousand female population of that age group. It states that the maternal mortality ratio (MMR) is one of the indicators of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the target of bringing it down to 70 by 2030 has been clearly placed in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) framework.
Decrease in infant mortality rate
According to the report, due to the sustained efforts of the government, India has successfully achieved the major milestone of reducing MMR (97/lakh live births in 2018-20) on time, and it should be possible to achieve the SDG target as well. Maternal mortality ratio (MMR) refers to the number of women who die as a result of pregnancy or childbirth-related complications per 100,000 births in a given year. According to the report, the infant mortality rate (IMR) has decreased in both boys and girls in the last few years. IMR has always been higher for girls than boys, but in 2020, both were equal at the level of 28 infants per 1000 live births.
Data on mortality rate of children under five years of age shows that it has declined from 43 in 2015 to 32 in 2020. The same is the case for both boys and girls and the gap between boys and girls has also reduced. According to the Periodic Labour Force Survey, the labour force participation rate of persons aged 15 years and above has been increasing since 2017-18 for both men and women. According to the report, till the 15th general election (1999), less than 60 per cent of women voters participated, while the voting percentage of men was eight per cent higher than them. However, there was a significant change in the 2014 elections, with women’s participation increasing to 65.6 per cent, and in the 2019 elections it further increased to 67.2 per cent. For the first time, the voting percentage was slightly higher for women, reflecting the impact of increasing literacy and political awareness among women.
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has recognised a total of 1,17,254 start-ups since its inception in January 2016 till December 2023. Of these, 55,816 start-ups are run by women, accounting for 47.6 per cent of the total recognised start-ups. This significant representation underlines the growing influence and contribution of women entrepreneurs in India’s start-up ecosystem.