The good news in the Registrar General of India’s Sample Registration System (SRS) Statistical Report, 2010, is that the total fertility rate (TFR), which stood at 2.9 in 2005, is down to 2.5 in 2010, with 10 states attaining replacement-level fertility. The better news is that decline in fertility has been significant even in states with hitherto unsatisfactory health indicators (that were once referred to as Bimaru states). Though still three-plus in most of these states, the decline is faster than the decline in the national average.

><table width='100%' border=0 cellspacing=0><tr><td style='FONT-FAMILY: Arial; FONT-SIZE: 18px; FONT-WEIGHT: bold; COLOR: #0253B7;'><B>Amarjeet Sinha:</B> Development, the best contraceptive  </td></tr><tr><tr><td style='FONT-FAMILY: Arial; FONT-SIZE: 11px; '>Gender empowerment rather than hard-core 

Amarjeet Sinha: Development, the best contraceptive

Gender empowerment rather than hard-core family planning lies at the heart of Indias population stabilisation efforts

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