Indian Demography

Around 1 of every 6 people on the planet live in India thus, it is an imperative to collect information on its residents for the purposes of planning, development, and improvement of the residents’ quality of life. India saw its last census eight years ago in 2011 and it will again be conducted in 2021 as it happens in an interval of 10 years and between the 2001 and 2011 censuses, in due course our country grew by 17.7%, adding 181.5 million people.

15th Census of India (2011)

• Census is the basis for reviewing the country’s progress in the past decade, monitoring the ongoing schemes of the government and plan for the future
• Census provides detailed and authentic information on demography, economic activity, literacy and education, housing and household amenities, urbanisation, fertility and mortality, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, language, religion, migration, disability and many other socio-cultural and demographic data.

• The 15th Indian Census was conducted in two phases, house listing and population enumeration. The first step in the 2011 census was conducting house listing in 2010 in every village, town and city in India. Along with it a Housing census was also conducted. The questionnaire had as many as 35 questions and collected valuable data.
• The enumeration of households took place from February 9 to 28, 2011 and the provisional results were declared towards the end of March 2011.
• Paper 1 of Census 2011 on Provisional Population Totals was released by Dr. C. Chandramouli, the then Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India.
• China conducted a census in 2010 but in terms of scope, coverage and comprehensiveness our census questionnaires go much beyond a headcount. Granted, China’s headcount is higher than ours in 2011 but there the ball stops.
• The Census 2011 covered 28 States, 7 Union Territories, 640 districts, 5924 sub-districts, 7, 933 Towns (Statutory Towns-4041, Census Towns-3892) and 6, 40, 930 villages. In Census 2001, the corresponding figures were 593 districts, 5, 463 sub-districts, 5, 161 Towns (3799 Statutory Towns and 1362 Census Towns) and 6, 38, 588 villages.

Major Highlights of Census 2011

Populations

• The population of India has increased by more than 181 million during the decade 2001-2011.
• Percentage growth in 2001-2011 is 17.64 (males: 17.19 and females: 18.12).
• The 2001-2011 is the 1^st decade (with the exception of 1911-1921) when the absolute increase in population over the ten-year period has been less than in the previous decade. The percentage decadal growth during 2001-2011 has recorded the sharpest decline since Independence.
• Uttar Pradesh (199.5 million) is the most populous State in the country followed by Maharashtra with 112 million. Among 10 million plus states, the size of population varies from almost 200 million in Uttar Pradesh to 10 million in Uttarakhand. This implies that U.P. has 16.5 % of India’s population while Uttarakhand which is an off-shoot of U.P. claims only 0.8 %.
• The percentage decadal growth rates of the five most populous States have declined during 2001-2011 compared to 1991-2001:
  • Uttar Pradesh (25.85% to 20.09%)
  • Maharashtra (22.73% to 15.99%)
  • Bihar (28.62% to 25.07%)
  • West Bengal (17.77 % to 13.93%)
  • Andhra Pradesh (14.59% to 11.10%)
• India is now expected to become the most populous country of the world by 2030 overtaking China sooner than earlier expected. India’s population size is expected to stabilize at 1.8 billion around 2041.

Growth Rate

• The growth rate of population in India in the last decade is 17.7% (Rural -12.3%; Urban -31.8%). Meghalaya (27.2%) has recorded the highest decadal growth rate in rural population and Daman & Diu (218.8 %) the highest decadal growth rate in urban population during 2001-2011.

Density of Population (persons per Sq. Km.)

• Population density in Census 2011 works out to be 382 showing an increase of 57 points from 2001.
• Delhi (11,297) turns out to be the most densely inhabited followed by Chandigarh (9,252), in all States/UTs, both in 2001 and 2011 Census.
• Among the major States, Bihar occupies the first position with a density of 1106, surpassing West Bengal which occupied the first position during 2001. The minimum population density works out in Arunachal Pradesh (17) for both Censuses.

Proportion of Population

• In percentage terms, the rural population constitutes 68.8% and urban population 31.2% of the total population. There has been an increase of 3.4% in the proportion of urban population in the last decade.
• Himachal Pradesh (90.0%) has the largest proportion of rural population, while Delhi (97.5%) has the highest proportion of urban population.

Child Population

• The total number of children in the age-group 0-6 is 158.8 million (-5 million since 2001); 21 States and Union Territories now have over 1 million children in the age group 0-6 years. On the other extreme, there are five States and Union Territories in the country that are yet to reach the one hundred thousand mark.
• Uttar Pradesh (29.7 million), Bihar (18.6 million), Maharashtra (12.8 million), Madhya Pradesh (10.5 million) and Rajasthan (10.5 million) constitute 52% children in the age group of 0-6 years.
• Population (0-6 years) 2001-2011 registered minus (-) 3.08 percent growth with – (minus) 2.42 for males and – 3.80 (minus) for females.
• Among the major states, the only exceptions were Bihar and Jammu & Kashmir, which reported some absolute increase in their child population.

Overall sex ratio

• Overall sex ratio at the national level has increased by 7 points to reach 940 at Census 2011 as against 933 in Census 2001.
• This is the highest sex ratio recorded since Census 1971 and a shade lower than 1961. Increase in sex ratio is observed in 29 States/UTs. Three major States (J&K, Bihar & Gujarat) have shown decline in sex ratio as compared to Census 2001.
• Kerala with 1084 has the highest sex ratio followed by Puducherry with 1038, Daman & Diu has the lowest sex ratio of 618.
• The female to male sex ratio of population historically noted in the contiguous area of Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi, has improved between 2001 and 2011, but it is still below 900 women per 1000 men. On the other hand, Sex ratio close to unity is recorded in the southern states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

Worsening Child Sex Ratio (0-6 years)

• The Child Sex Ratio stands for the number of girls per 1000 boys in the age group 0-6 years.
• Child sex ratio (0-6 years) is 914. Increasing trend in the child sex ratio (0-6) seen in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Mizoram and A&N Islands. In all remaining 27 States/UTs, the child sex ratio show decline over Census 2001.
• Mizoram has the highest child sex ratio (0-6 years) of 971 followed by Meghalaya with 970. Haryana is at the bottom with ratio of 830 followed by Punjab with 846.
• The CSR has continuously declined from 976 in 1961 to 914 in 2011. It should certainly be a cause for concern to our leaders of society and the government.

Literacy rate

• Literacy rate has gone up from 64.83 % in 2001 to 74.04 % in 2011 showing an increase of 9.21 percentage points.
• Percentage growth in literacy during 2001-2011 is 38.82; males: 31.98% & females: 49.10%.
• Compared to 2001, in 2011 male literacy rate increased by 6 percentage points but female literacy increased by nearly 12 percentage points, which is viewed as a remarkable achievement.
• Another striking feature is that, out of total decrease of 3.1 crore of illiterates, the females (1.7 crores) top male (1.4 crore) in the list. This trend of rising female literacy will have far reaching consequences which may lead to development of the society. The growth in number of male and female literates is represented by pie.
• Kerala has the highest literacy rate, both for males (96%) and females (92%).
• Bihar is the least literate state with 63.82% where the male literacy rate is 73% while the female literacy rate is 53%. It means that 50% of the female population is illiterate.

Scheduled Caste Population

• The total Scheduled Caste population returned in Census 2011 is 201.4 million. Of this, 153.9 million are in rural areas and 47.5 million in urban areas.
• In terms of proportion, the Scheduled Caste population constitutes 16.6 % of the total population. The proportion during the last Census was 16.2%. There has thus been an increase of 0.4% during the last decade.
• The highest proportion of Scheduled Castes has been recorded in Punjab (31.9 %) and the lowest in Mizoram (0.1%). The Scheduled Castes population in absolute numbers has increased by 34.8 million. This constitutes a decadal growth of 20.8%.
• The highest number of Scheduled Castes has been recorded in Uttar Pradesh (41.4 million) and the lowest in Mizoram (1,218).In terms of gender composition, there are 103.5 million male Scheduled Castes (Rural- 79.1 million and Urban -24.4 million).
• Female Scheduled Castes numbered 97.8 million (Rural - 74.7 million and Urban -23. 1 million).

Scheduled Tribe Population

• The total Scheduled Tribe population returned in Census 2011 is 104.3 million. Of this, 93.8 million are in rural areas and 10.5 million in urban areas.
• In terms of proportion, the Scheduled Tribe population constitutes 8.6% of the total population. The proportion during the last Census was 8.2%. There has thus been an increase of 0.4% during the last decade. The highest proportion of Scheduled Tribes has been recorded in Lakshadweep (94.8%) and the lowest in Uttar Pradesh (0.6%).
• The Scheduled Tribes population in absolute numbers has increased by 20.0 million. This constitutes a decadal growth of 23.7%.The highest number of Scheduled Tribes has been recorded in Madhya Pradesh (15.3 million) and the lowest in Daman & Diu (15,363).In terms of gender composition, there are 52.4 million male Scheduled Tribes (Rural -47.1 million and Urban -5.3 million).
• Female Scheduled Tribes number 51.9 million (Rural -46.7 million and Urban -5.2 million).

Workers

• As per Census 2011, the total number of workers (who have worked for at least one day during the reference year) in India, is 481.7 million. Of this, 331.9 million workers are males and 149.9 million are females.
• Out of the increase of 79.5 million workers during the decade 2001-2011, male workers have accounted for 56.8 million and female workers 22.7 million.The workers have registered a growth of 19.8%, which is marginally higher than the overall population growth rate of 17.7% during the decade. The male workers have grown by 20.7% and female workers by 17.8%.

Work Participation Rates

• The Work Participation Rate (WPR) for the country works out to 39.8%. This is marginally higher than the corresponding WPR of 39.1% in Census 2001.
• The WPR for males has increased to 53.3% in 2011 in comparison to 51.7% in Census 2001. The female WPR has reduced marginally to 25.5% in 2011 from 25.6% in Census 2001.Himachal Pradesh (51.9%) ranks first in WPR for total workers as well as female workers (44.8%). The lowest WPR have been reported from Lakshadweep (29.1%).
• The lowest female WPR has been reported from NCT of Delhi (10.6%). The highest male WPR has been reported in Daman & Diu (71.5%) and lowest in Lakshadweep (46.2%).

Demography Dividend and Aging in India

• The UN defines a country as “Ageing” or “Greying Nation” where the proportion of people over 60 reaches 7 percent to total population. By 2011 India has exceeded that proportion (8.0%) and is expected to reach 12.6% in 2025.
• The number of older people has increased from 19 million (i.e. 4 percent of total population) to 77 million and further to roughly 93 million (i.e. 7.5 percent of the total) during the year 2001 and 2011 respectively.
• In 2011, the elderly population accounted for 8.0 percent of total population. For males it was marginally lower at 7.7 percent while for females it was 8.4 percent.
• The size of the Indian elderly (60 years and above) is expected to triple in the next four decades from 92 million to 316 million, constituting around 20 percent of the population by the middle of the century.

Slum – Census of India

• The census that covers all 4,041 statutory towns in India found that the slum population in India has increased during 2001-11.
• Over 65 million people live in slums, up from 52 million in 2001, but slum populations have grown slower than the average urban population over the last decade. The average household living in a slum is no larger than an average urban Indian household, with 4.7 family members.
• The report finds that majority of slums were located in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. With over 11 million of its residents in slums, Maharashtra has the highest slum population; 4.6 million of them in ‘identified’ slums. Andhra Pradesh follows with over 10 million in slums, and West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh have over 6 million slum residents each. Over 1 million of Delhi’s 1.7 million slum residents live in ‘identified’ slums.
• Newly released census data shows families living in slums have a far better child sex ratio than the urban Indian average. Over a third of India’s slum dwellers live in un-recognized slums.
• The literacy rate in slums is now up to 77.7% but still lags behind the urban average. Both men and women living in slums participate at a higher rate in the workforce than the urban average, even though fewer have employment through the year.
• States/Union territories not reporting Slums
  • Census 2001: 1. Himachal Pradesh; 2. Sikkim; 3. Arunachal Pradesh; 4. Nagaland; 5. Mizoram; 6. Manipur; 7. Daman & Diu; 8. Dadra & Nagar Haveli; 9. Lakshadweep
  • Census 2011: 1. Manipur; 2. Daman & Diu; 3. Dadra & Nagar Haveli; 4. Lakshadweep

Key Findings

Decadal Comparison

Census on Religion, 2011

• Population Growth rate of various religion has come down in the last decade (2001-2011). Hindu Population Growth rate slowed down to 16.76% from previous decade figure of 19.92% while Muslim witness sharp fall in growth rate to 24.60% (2001-2011) from the previous figure of 29.52% (1991-2001).
• Such sharp fall in population growth rate for Muslims didn’t happened in the last 6 decades. Christian Population growth was at 15.5% while Sikh population growth rate stood at 8.4%.
• The most educated and wealthily community of Jains registered least growth rate in 2001-2011 with figure of just 5.4%.
• The Growth rate of Hindus, Muslims and Christian is expected to fall more in upcoming 2021 census while other religions like Sikhism, Jainism and Buddhism are expected to remain stable for next 2 decades considering already slowed down growth rate of these religions.

All India Religion Census Data 2011

• Data reveals that the proportion of Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists in the total population shrank in the decade to 2011, while there was negligible change for Christians and Jains.
• The data shows that while the general population grew at the rate of 17.7% between 2001 and 2011, the growth rate was 16.8% for Hindus, 24.6% for Muslims, 15.5% for Christians, 8.4% for Sikhs, 6.1% for Buddhists, and 5.4% for Jains.
• The most rapid rise in the share of Muslims in the total population was witnessed in Assam. Muslims constituted 30.9% of the state’s population in 2001, but accounted for a 34.2% share a decade later. The state has had a persisting problem of the illegal influx of Bangladeshi immigrants.
• West Bengal, another state where illegal immigration from Bangladesh has been an old phenomenon, has also registered a rise in the share of Muslims in total population from 25.2% in 2001 to 27% in 2011, a growth of 1.9% over the 10 years, more than double the national average.
• The proportion of Hindu population to total population in 2011 has declined by 0.7%; the proportion of Sikh population has declined by 0.2% and the Buddhist population has declined by 0.1% during the decade 2001-2011. The proportion of Muslim population to total population has increased by 0.8%. There has been no significant change in the proportion of Christians and Jains.
• Uttarakhand, significantly, has also reported a sharp rise in the share of Muslim population from 11.9% to 13.9%, a growth of 2 percent against the countrywide growth of 0.8% points between 2001 and 2011.
• Other states with a significant rise in the share of Muslims in the total population as per the 2011 census were Kerala (from 24.7% to 26.6%), Goa (6.8% to 8.4%), Jammu & Kashmir (67% to 68.3%), Haryana (5.8% to 7%) and Delhi (11.7% to 12.9%).

Socio Economic and Caste Census 2011

• The Socio Economic and Caste Census 2011 (SECC) was conducted for the 2011 Census of India. The then government (in 2010) approved the Socio Economic and Caste Census 2011 to be carried out after discussion in both houses of Parliament in 2010.
• The SECC 2011 was conducted in all States and Union Territories of India and the first findings were revealed on 3 July 2015 by then Union Finance Minister.
• The Ministry of Rural Development commenced the Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC) in June 2011 through a comprehensive door to door enumeration across the country. This is the first time such a comprehensive exercise has been carried out for both rural and urban India. It has generated information on a large number of social and economic indicators relating to households across the country.
• SECC 2011 was the first-ever caste-based census since 1931 Census of India, and it was launched on 29 June 2011 from the Sankhola village of Hazemara block in West Tripura district, Tripura.
• SECC 2011 is also the first paperless census in India conducted on hand-held electronic devices by the government in 640 districts. The rural development ministry has taken a decision to use the SECC data in all its programmes such as MGNREGA, National Food Security Act, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushal Yojana, etc.
• Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC-2011) is a study of socio economic status of rural and urban households and allows ranking of households based on predefined parameters.
• SECC 2011 has three census components which were conducted by three separate authorities but under the overall coordination of Department of Rural Development in the Government of India.
• Census in Rural Area has been conducted by the Department of Rural Development (DoRD). Census in Urban areas is under the administrative jurisdiction of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (MoHUPA). Caste Census is under the administrative control of Ministry of Home Affairs: Registrar General of India (RGI) and Census Commissioner of India.
• It provides very useful data on households regarding various aspects of their socio-economic status – housing, land-holding/landlessness, educational status, status of women, the differently able, occupation, possession of assets, SC/ST households, incomes, etc.

Objectives

The key rationale behind conducting a socio-economic and caste census was to assess the population that is actually below the poverty line

Inclusion, Exclusion and deprivation of Houses

SECC provided for automatic exclusion on the basis of 14 parameters, automatic inclusion on the basis of 5 parameters and grading of deprivation on the basis of seven criteria.

14 parameters of Automatic Exclusion: -

• Motorized 2/3/4 wheeler/fishing boat.
• Mechanized 3-4 wheeler agricultural equipment.
• Kisan credit card with credit limit of over Rs. 50,000/-.
• Household member government employee.
• Households with non-agricultural enterprises registered with government.
• Any member of household earning more than Rs. 10,000 per month.
• Paying income tax.
• Paying professional tax.
• 3 or more rooms with pucca walls and roof.
• Owns a refrigerator.
• Owns landline phone.
• Owns more than 2.5 acres of irrigated land with 1 irrigation equipment.
• 5 acres or more of irrigated land for two or more crop season.
• Owning at least 7.5 acres of land or more with at least 1 irrigation equipment.

5 parameters of Automatic inclusion:

• Households without shelter.
• Destitute, living on alms.
• Manual scavenger families.
• Primitive tribal groups.
• Legally released bonded labour.

Households based on 7 markers of deprivation:

• Households with Kutchha house
• No adult member in working age
• Household headed by female and no working age male member
• Household with handicapped members and no able bodied adult
• Household with no literate over 25 years
• Landless households engaged in manual labour
• SC/ST households.
• The data addresses the multi dimensionality of poverty and provides a unique opportunity for a convergent, evidence based planning with a Gram Panchayat as a unit.
• The data is an opportunity to make evidence based selection, prioritization and targeting of beneficiaries in different programmes.

Some Major Highlights

• There are 24.39 crore (243.9 million) households in India, of which 17.91 (179.1 million) crore live in villages. Of these, 10.69 crore households are considered as deprived.
• 5.37 Crore (29.97%) households in rural areas are “landless deriving a major part of their income from manual labour”.
• As many as 2.37 crore (13.25%) families in villages live in houses of one room with ‘Kachcha’ (impermanent) walls and roof.
• 21.53%, or 3.86 crore, families living in villages belong to SC/ST categories.
• 56% of India’s rural households lack agricultural land.
• 36% of 884 million people in rural India are non-literate. This is higher than the 32% recorded by 2011 Census of India.
• Of the 64% literate rural Indians, more than one-fifth have not completed primary school.
• 60% of the 17.91 crore rural households are deprived or poor.
• 35% of urban Indian households qualify as poor.
• 74.5% (13.34 crore) of rural households survive on a monthly income of Rs 5,000 for their highest earner.
• 5.4% of rural India has completed high school.
• 3.4% of rural households have a family member who is a graduate.
• 4.6% of all rural households in India pay income tax.
• 14% of rural households are employed either with the government or the private sector.
• 1,80,657 households are engaged in manual scavenging for a livelihood. Maharashtra, with 63,713, tops the list of the largest number of manual scavenger households, followed by Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Tripura and Karnataka.
• Over 48 % of the Indian rural population is female.
• 44.72 Crore are Indians are non-literate, more than a third of its 121.08 crore population.
• Transgender people comprise 0.1 % of India’s rural population. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands, West Bengal, Gujarat, Odisha and Mizoram have the highest proportions of transgender people.
• The military and the para-military were kept out of the SECC.
• Kerala tops in the number of people with mental ailments in India.
• 1% of rural households own a landline phone without a mobile phone, while 68.35% rural households have mobile phones as their only phone(s).
• Government of Karnataka’s Socio Economic Survey 2015 conducted by the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes was put up on the official website. The survey was launched on 11 April 2015. 1.33 lakh enumerators carried out the Socio Economic Survey 2015 into every village, town and street to compile data related to religion, caste, education, social and economic condition of about 6.60 crore people in Karnataka by covering about 1.26 crore families. ww