Analysing the latest statistics of the National Family Health Surveys (NFHS), India Today Data Intelligence Unit found that Bihar has the highest total fertility rate (TFR) in India. (Representational Image)

Population explosion, a perennial issue in India, hit the headlines once again after Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioned it in his Independence Day speech. "Ever-rising population is a matter of concern and the small section of society which keeps their families small deserves respect. What they are doing is an act of patriotism," the PM had said.

While the 1.3 billion-plus country did witness a 23 per cent fall in fertility rates since the beginning of the new millennium, it was observed that some states were not much successful in contributing to reduction in population growth.

Analysing the latest statistics of the National Family Health Surveys (NFHS), India Today Data Intelligence Unit found that Bihar has the highest total fertility rate (TFR) in India. This means that on an average, a woman from Bihar is likely to give birth to more children than women in any other state.

TFR, in simple words, measures the number of children a woman is likely to give birth to. TFR for women aged 15-49 years for Bihar was 3.4 children, which is the highest in India. TFR for India was 2.18 according to NFHS-4 (2015-16).

In terms of fertility, Bihar is followed by Meghalaya (3.04), Uttar Pradesh (2.74), Nagaland (2.74), Manipur (2.61) and Jharkhand (2.55). All other states had a TFR below 2.5.

Poorly performing states

Between 1998-99 and 2015-16, TFR declined by 23 per cent for India, while in Bihar it was 7.8 per cent during the same time period or three times slower than the national average.

In 1998-99, TFR for Bihar was 3.7, which rose to 4 in 2005-06 and 3.41 in 2015-16.

Jharkhand was the only other big state where the drop in fertility rates was slower than Bihar. From 1998-99 to 2015-16, TFR in Jharkhand declined by only 7.6 percent.

Why Bihar fares worse

DIU had earlier done a story on how new-gen Muslim women are taking family planning seriously, where Professor Sanjay Kumar of Mumbai's International Institute for Population Sciences mentioned three factors that cause a decline in fertility rates - age at marriage, use of contraceptives and induced abortions.

DIU has found that Bihar fares poor on all three.

Age at marriage

In 2015-16, the percentage of women married before the legal age of 18 was 42 per cent in Bihar. In this regard, West Bengal stood first at 44 per cent, while Bihar was second.

The median age at marriage for women surveyed (aged 20-49) was 17.5 years in Bihar. Nearly half of the surveyed women (aged 20-24) in the state got married before the legal age. In 2015-16, nearly 42 per cent women (aged 20-24 at the time of survey) were below 18 years of age at their marriage. The same figure was 69 per cent in 2005-06.

In terms of postponing the marriage age for women, Bihar's neighbor Uttar Pradesh has performed the best. Here, in 2005-06, more than 52 per cent women surveyed (aged 20-24) had married before they turned 18. This figure got reduced to 22.5 per cent in 2015-16.

Family planning/use of contraceptives

The second important factor that helps in reducing fertility rates is the use of contraceptives.

Bihar registered a 10 per cent increase in the number of women who were not using any family planning method.

More than 76 per cent of the married women (aged 15-49 during the survey) were not using any family planning method. The number of women not using contraceptives in 2005-06 was 65.9 per cent.

Female sterilisation was the most common method of family planning adopted by 23.5 per cent respondents. Percentage of respondents using condoms as a method of family planning was hardly 1 per cent in the state.

The overall trend shows that there has been a 6.4 per cent fall in the number of women adopting any family planning method in India. There were hardly eight states where the percentage of women adopting family planning method had increased. These were Punjab (12.5%), Rajasthan (12.5%), Odisha (7.2%), Jharkhand (4.6%), Chhattisgarh (4.5%), Uttar Pradesh (1.9%), Andhra Pradesh (1.9%) and Haryana (0.82%). The percentage of people not opting for any family planning method rose in 22 states.

The state-wise data on induced abortions was not available.

Socio-economic conditions

On an average, the NFHS surveys showed that women who are more educated, living in urban areas and from high income groups are more likely to adopt family planning methods.

According to RBI statistics (Tendulkar poverty estimates 2011-12), 33.71 per cent of Bihar's population live below poverty line. Bihar is also a state with the lowest per capita income. The Net State Domestic Product Per Capita of the state was Rs 25,950, the lowest in the country.

The NFHS-4 (2015-16) data shows that hardly 22.8 per cent women in the state had completed more than 10 years of schooling. Almost half of the women aged 15-49 years (48 per cent) had never been to school.

Census 2011 data shows that roughly 12 per cent of Bihar's population lives in rural areas.