Facts from Census 2011

Atlast the Government of India's Census 2011 has come out with more details. Religious numbers, employment rate, rural urban indicators, women households are some of the significant data which one can take from this report. 

Some of the vested interests may use the increase in Muslim population and decrease in the Hindu population to their advantage. Government must be extra cautious in dealing with this trouble. Let us see the key findings of Census 2011 as reported in The Times of India below,

The Muslim population in India grew by 24.6% between 2001 and 2011 while the decadal population growth for Hindus stood at 16.8% during the same period. Though Muslims' all-India decadal growth is less than the 29.3% recorded between 1991 and 2001, their state-wise decadal growth rate was higher than that of Hindus in all 35 states and Union Territories in 2001-11.

The 2001-11 decadal growth rate for total population was 17.7%. Over this period, Christians grew by 15.5%, Sikhs by 8.4%, Jains by 5.4% and Buddhists by 6.1%. Those stating other religions and persuasions grew by 19.6% in the 10 years preceding 2011.

Interestingly, the number of people who did not state their religion went up by 294% between 2001 and 2011.



The state/UT-wise figures for decadal growth rate between 2001 and 2011 show a notable rise in Hindu population in Uttar Pradesh (24.6%), Jharkhand (21.1%), Rajasthan (20.9%), Madhya Pradesh (20%), Puducherry (28.9%) and NCT of Delhi (20.7%). However, states that have shown witnessed a Hindu decadal growth less than the national average are Kerala (2.2%), Arunachal Pradesh (5.8%), West Bengal (10.8%), Assam (10.9%), Andhra Pradesh (10.3%), Himachal Pradesh (12.6%), Odisha (13.2%), Chhattisgarh (13.2%), Tamil Nadu (14.9%), Maharasthra (15.2%), Karnataka (15.8%) and Haryana (16%), among others. Lakshadweep and Mizoram recorded a negative decadal growth rate at (-)19.5% and (-)4.5% respectively, though this could be due to a low population base.



A few states/UTs where Hindus' decadal growth was higher than their respective averages are Punjab, Karnataka, Goa, Puducherry, Chandigarh, Nagaland, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli.

The Muslim population, on the other hand, rose across states registering more than their its national average in Mizoram (46.9%), Haryana (45.7%), Chandigarh (44.7%), Punjab (40.2%), Nagaland (39.9%), Uttarakhand (39%) and NCT or Delhi (33%), Rajasthan (29.8%), Assam (29.6%), Bihar (28%) and Gujarat (27.3%).

Kerala returned interesting results with a 12.8% rise in Muslim population between 2001 and 2011, far higher than the corresponding figures for Hindus (2.2%) and Christians (1.4%).

The decadal growth rate for Christian population (2001-11) was higher than 100% in Bihar and Arunachal Pradesh, but the community recorded a negative growth in five states including Nagaland (-2.8%), Andhra Pradesh (-4.4%), Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli.

Sikhs recorded a high decadal growth rate in Odisha (25.7%), Gujarat (27.8%), Andhra Pradesh (29.8%), Kerala (38.1%) and Tamil Nadu (53%), among others. The community, however, showed a negative growth rate in eight states/UTs.

Jains have shown just 5.4% decadal growth rate across the country. While Himachal Pradesh shows a notable growth rate for the community between 2001 and 2011 (28.2%), as many as 8 states recorded a negative growth rate.