CUTTACK: Renowned social scientist Prof Amitabh Kundu expressed concern over the regional variation of the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) in Odisha.
Delivering a lecture on ‘Talk on demographic transition: Challenges and opportunities in Odisha’, organised by the Department of Geography, Ravenshaw University on Friday, he said, “While TFR in 35 per cent of districts of Odisha will be 1 pc, in some like Rayagada and Nabarangpur, it will be more than 2.1 pc by 2035,” he said.
The southern region of Odisha has a higher child dependency ratio compared to the northern and coastal regions. Kundu narrated the many theories and models that are not fit for explaining changes in TFR, which is much lower than the national average.
The social scientist encouraged young researchers to work on Odisha, its trajectory of economic growth and demographic characteristics and to solve the puzzle of declining TFR which contradicts several existing theories and models available in social sciences. The conference was presided over by the head of the department Prof Sibabrata Das.