India, Feb. 27 -- India had made significant strides in improving life expectancy at birth-from just 49.7 years in the early 1970s to 70 years by the 2016-20 period. This steady upward trend, sustained for nearly five decades, was abruptly interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. During 2017-21, life expectancy at birth declined to 69.8 years. The drop, though seemingly modest at 0.2 years, is a critical demographic indicator, especially for a country that had consistently made gains over the years. The decline is visible across both rural and urban populations. Urban life expectancy fell from 73.2 years in 2016-20 to 72.9 years in 2017-21, while rural figures dipped from 68.6 to 68.5 years over the same period. This reversal coincides with ...