KEYWORDS Reproductive Profile. Fertility. Mortality. Amenorrhoea.

ABSTRACT Fertility is a major counteracting force to population attrition from mortality and therefore, has a significant impact as an expansionary force in population dynamics. While mortality, on the other hand, checks the unlimited growth of population and regulates the distribution of individuals in different age groups. It is well known that increasing birth rates cause exposure to several social problems like crisis of minimum needs for survival and subsistence which includes scarcity of food and land, poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, etc. Information on fertility and mortality is relevant both to demographic assessment of the population and to assessment of health policies and programmes. Keeping this in mind, the present study was conducted among Hindu Gujjars of Delhi. The data for present study was collected by interviewing ever-married Gujjar women aged 15-49 years from a sample of 558 households. Fertility among Gujjars is higher than all Delhi population. Gujjar women are by and large reproductively active during prime childbearing ages of 20-29 years. Gujjar women tend to marry early and there is still a fair amount of fertility at very younger ages. Majority of pregnancies resulted in live births. For over three children born, around ninety percent are surviving. Infant and child mortality is relatively higher in groups where fertility is higher. The mean duration of postpartum amenorrhoea is 4.9 months. Mean age at menarche is 13.99 years while mean menopausal age is 44.06 years. Though IMR is lower among Gujjars, but overall mortality (CDR) is slightly higher than all Delhi population with respiratory disorder being the primary cause of death.