Population growth on rise in Andhra Pradesh

Population growth on rise in  Andhra Pradesh
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Population growth in the successor state of Andhra Pradesh appears to be on the rise after the bifurcation. As per the indices developed by the Population Research Centre of Andhra University, which projected the decadal trends with the 2011 census as a base, the curve is expected to go up by 2021 at the rate of 0.2 per cent.

Visakhapatnam: Population growth in the successor state of Andhra Pradesh appears to be on the rise after the bifurcation. As per the indices developed by the Population Research Centre of Andhra University, which projected the decadal trends with the 2011 census as a base, the curve is expected to go up by 2021 at the rate of 0.2 per cent.

Comparing the trends in the combined state based on the 2001 census, a senior officer in the Planning department however claims that the population growth is relatively low. In a bid to drive his point home, he recalled that the growth was registered at 2.5 during 2001 census over the 1.6 per cent during the year of bifurcation. It is projected at 1.8 per cent in the current year, according to T H Hari Babu, Principal Investigator of the Population Research Centre of Andhra University.

As per the projections, Guntur is seemingly set to top the state in population boom (54.5 lakh) followed by East Godavari (53 lakh).According to the official data, the state registered total population of 4.94 crore; the female population accounts for 2.46 crore. A majority of 3.48 crore are living in the rural areas.

Six districts overcame uneven sex ratio by having more women than men. Likewise, Guntur, West Godavari, East Godavari, Visakhapatnam, Srikakulam and Vizianagaram districts the sex ratio is 1003, 1004, 1006, 1006, 1015 and 1019 have acquired the gender friendly status.

The trend of early marriages is said to be one of the causes for the rising population in rural parts. The marriages have been taking place in an early age and the couples at the age of 24/25 are turning into parents, revealed the studies. The Malthusian theory linking the incidence of poverty to population growth seemingly proved to be wrong in rural areas, thanks to a slew of state-sponsored poverty-reduction programmes like the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.

Strikingly, the death rate is on the decline which is, according to Hari Babu, due to increasing health awareness in public. Besides, people are not showing interest in registration of deaths as much as registration of births. The deaths are registered only when they are incentive-based, he added.

According to the estimated statistics in 2016, the birth rate has shot up to 18 per 1,000 people and the death rate has declined from 9.8 to 7. The life span of the people increased from 59 to 68.5 (male) and 69.8 (female) years in the state.
The studies indicate that the female literacy rate fell to 60 per cent while the male literacy rate is crossing 74.8 per cent.

By VKL Gayatri

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