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Demography, the word was first used by the Frenchman, A. Guillard in his textbook “elements de statistique Humaine”.
Demography has been derived from two Greek words viz, ‘Demos’ ‘Graphy’, ‘Demos’ means people and ‘graphy’ means to draw or write something.
Demography is an observational ‘science’ in which data are continuously generated by different demographic processes. Major sources of demographic data are:
i) Population census ii) Vital registration system and registers iii) Sample surveys, and iv) Administrative records.
The first census, that had an all-India character, was taken in 1872.
It was, however, a patchwork of census data taken in various parts of the country. The first regular census in India was taken in 1881.
There after, there have been regular censuses every 10 years. The 2011 census is the 15the census of India and the 6th since independence.
In India, the National Sample survey was started in 1950. It has been providing demographic data on such items as population, birth death, internal migration, employment and unemployment, morbidity, housing conditions etc.
To determine the overall errors in census enumeration post-enumeration check is done. It was started a 1951. In Post-Enumeration check, a sample of households (roughly one in a thousand) is selected and enumerated again within a month of the actual census taking. A comparison of actual census results and the results of this check gives the extent of error in a census.The Indian Census is the most credible source of information on Demography (Population characterstics), Economic Activity, Literacy and Education, Housing & Household Amenities, Urbanisation, Fertility and Mortality, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, Language, Religion, Migration, Disability and many other socio-cultural and demographic data. This is the only source of primary data in the village ,town and ward level, It provides valuable information for planning and formulation policies for Central and the State Governments and is widely used by National and International Agencies, Scholars, business people, industrialists, and many more.
The Delimitation/reservation of Constituencies- Parliamentary/Assembly/Panchayats and other Local Bodies is also done on the basis of the demographic data thrown up by the Census. Census is te basis for reviewing the country's progress in the past decade, monitoring the ongoing Schemes of the Government and most importantly, plan for the future. That is why the Slogan is “Our Census - Our Future".
Census 2011 was held in two phases:
· Houselisting & Housing Census: (April to September 2010)
· Population Enumeration (9th to 28 February 2011)
States/Union Territories – 35
Total Districts – 640
Sub-districts – 5,924
Towns – 7,936
Villages – 6.41 lakh
More than half of the Indian population does not have a lavatory while more people own mobile phone or telephone.
"47% of the households have latrine facility within premises" while "63% households have Telephone/mobile facility," According to the census, among the 47 percent of household having bathroom, 36 percent households have water closet and 9 percent households have pit latrine. There is 11 point decline in households having no latrine from 64 percent to 53 percent in 2011.
As per the Houselisting and Housing Census 2011, released by the Ministry of Home and Affairs, "The census houses increased from 25 cr to 33cr. There is an increase of 6 cr census houses for residential and partly residential purposes. The data indicates that the housing gap has reduced".
There is an improvement in the construction material used for roof, wall and floor. Thus there is a substantial improvement in the quality of housing both in rural and urban areas.
As regards amenities available with the households, 87% of households are using tap, tube well, hand pump and covered well as the main source of drinking water while 43.5 percent use tap water.
Only 47% of households have source of water on the premises while 36% of households have to fetch water from a source located within 500 m in rural areas/100 m in urban areas and 17% still fetch drinking water from a source located more than 500 m away in rural areas or 100 m in urban area.
As far as Main source of lighting is concerned, 67% households use electricity which shows an increase of 11point over 2001. The rural-urban gap has reduced by 7 percent points from 44% in 2001 to 37%.
58% of the households have bathing facility within the premises, showing an Increase of 22 points over 2001.
Around half of the households have drainage connectivity with two-third have the open drainage and one-third has the closed drainage.
61% households have kitchen facility with 55% within premises and 6% outside premises. Two-third of the households are using firewood/crop residue, cow dung cake/coal etc. and 3% households use Kerosene. There is an increase of 11 points in use of LPG from 18% in 2001 to 29% in 2011.
In the modes of transport 45% of the household are having bicycle, 21% two wheelers and 5% four wheelers. There is an increase of 9 point in two wheelers and 2 point in four wheelers, with bicycle showing increase of 1 point only.
59% of the households are availing banking facilities with 68% in urban and 54% in rural areas. The rural urban difference has reduced from 19 to 13 point.
18% of the households do not have any of the specified assets
Communication
As regards mode of communication, there is an increase of 16 percent in television and a corresponding decline of about 15 point in use of radios/transistors.
"63% households have Telephone/mobile facility with 82% in urban and 54% in rural area. The penetration of mobile phone is 59% and landline is 10%," said the survey.
Less than 1 out of 10 households have computer/laptop with only 3 percent having internet facility. The penetration of internet is 8 percent in urban as compared to less than 1 percent in rural area.
Up to 1921, the crude death rate in India was quite high (between 40 and 50 per thousand population), the highest being for the decade 1911-21, mainly because of the influenza epidemic in 1918, when more than 15 million persons died. Since 1921, the death rate has been declining. From 1911-21 to 1971-81 that is in a period of 60 years the average annual death rate declined from 48.6 per thousand populations to 14.9 per thousand population-a reductions of more than 69 per cent. The estimates of the Sample Registration System (SRS), 2012 indicate that the Crude Death Rate (CDR) for the countryhas marginally declined to 7.0 in 2012 from 7.1 in 2011.The maximum CDR has been reported for Odisha (8.5) and the minimum for Delhi(4.2).During last five years, the decline in National CDR has been to the tune of 0.4 points. The corresponding decline in female CDR has been by 0.5 points against 0.3 points in male CDR. The Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) has also registered 2 points decline to 42 in 2012from 44 in 2011 at the National level. The maximum IMR has been observed in Madhya Pradesh (56) and the minimum in Kerala (12).During the corresponding period, Neo-natal Mortality Rate(NNMR) has declined by 2 points. IMR for the country has come down to 42 in 2012 from 55 in 2007, a decline of 13 points over last 5 years and an annual average decline of about 2.5 points. The corresponding decline in rural IMR has been to the tune of 15 points (61 in 2007 to 46 in 2012) against a decline of 9 points in urban IMR (37 in 2007 to 28in 2012). Both the gender have shown similar decline in 2007-12. Despite this decline, one in every 24 infantat the National level, one in every 22 infant in rural areas and one in every 36 infant in urban areas still die within one year of life.( SRS-2012)
As in other developing countries, the crude birth rate has been quite high in India. In the first decade of the twentieth century, the estimated birth rate for India was as high as 49.2 per thousand population. In the decade 1951-61, that is, the decade immediately following Independence, the birth rate declined by only four points, and was around 45 per thousand population. Since 1961, however, the birth rate has been progressively declining, though not at a very fast pace. According to the estimates of the sample registration system, the Crude Birth Rate (CBR) at the National level during 2012 stands at 21.6 exhibiting a decline of 0.2 points over 2011. The maximum CBR has been reported in respect of Bihar (27.7) and the minimum in respect of Kerala (14.9). There has been a decline of 1.5 points in the CBR for the country during 2007-12. The corresponding decline in rural CBR has been to the extent of 1.6 points against 1.2 points in urban CBR.
Total Fertility Rate (TFR) for the country is stable to 2.4 in 2011 and 2012. During 2012, Bihar has reported the highest TFR (3.5) while Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Tamil Nadu & West Bengal has reported the lowest TFR (1.7). It is noteworthy that the replacement level of TFR, viz 2.1, has been attained by Andhra Pradesh (1.8), Delhi (1.8), Himachal Pradesh (1.7), Jammu & Kashmir (1.9) Karnataka (1.9), Kerala (1.8), Maharashtra (1.8), Punjab (1.7), Tamil Nadu (1.7), West Bengal (1.7)& Odisha (2.1).At present, a rural woman (having a TFR of 2.6) at the National level would have about one child more than an urban woman (having a TFR of 1.8), on average.( SRS-2012)
According to the provisional results compiled quickly for the Census of India 2011, the population of India at 0:00 hours of 1 s t March, 2011, stood at 1210193422comprising of 623724248males and 586469184 females. Thus, as widely believed and expected, India became only the second country in the world after China to officially cross the one billion mark.
The population of India, which at the turn of the twentieth century, was only around 238.4 million increased by more than four times in a period of hundred years to reach 1027 million now. Interestingly, the population of India grew by one and half times in the first half of the twentieth century, while in the later half it recorded almost a phenomenal three-fold increase. India’s population growth during the twentieth century can be chartered and classified into four distinct phases as follows:
1901-1921: Stagnant population
1921-1951: Steady growth
1951-1981: Rapid high growth
1981-2011: High growth with definite signs of slowing down
During most of the nineteenth century, India witnessed a fluctuating but ultimately more or less a stagnant growth of population, which drifted into the twentieth century until 1921. Thereafter, the country passed through successively all the phases of demographic transition and is now widely believed to have entered the fifth phase, usually characterized by rapidly declining fertility. The crucial question is - how long will this phase extend and when will India achieve a stable population? The National Population Policy (NPP), 2000, recently adopted by the Government of India states that ‘the long-term objective is to achieve a stable population by 2045, at a level consistent with the requirements of sustainable economic growth, social development, and environment protection’.
The population of India has increased by more than 181 million during the decade 2001-2011. But this Census data will not have an effect on the demarcation of parliamentary constituencies because as per the 2002 amendment to Constitution there will be no delimitation till the first census after 2026.Although, the net addition in population during each decade has increased consistently, the change in net addition has shown a steady declining trend over the decades starting from 1961. While 27.9 million more people were added between the decades 1981-1991 than between 1971-1981, this number declined to 17.6 million for the decades between 1981-1991 and 1991-2001.
· Uttar Pradesh - 19,95,81,477
· Maharashtra - 11,23,72,972
· Bihar - 10,38,04,637
· West Bengal - 9,13,47,736
· Andhra Pradesh - 8,46,65,533
· Most Populous State : Uttar Pradesh
· Lakshadweep - 64,429
· Daman & Diu - 2,42,911
· D. & N. Haveli - 3,42,853
· A. & N. Islands - 3,79,944
· Sikkim - 6,07,688
· Least Populous UTs : Lakshadweep
The percentage decadal growth during 1991-2001 has registered the sharpest decline since independence. It has declined from 23.86 percent for 1981-1991 to 21.34 percent for the period 1991-2001 further to 17.6 in 2001-11. Percentage growth in 2001-2011 is 17.64 in comparison to 21.15 per cent in 2001; males 17.19 and females 18.12.2001-2011 is the first decade (with the exception of 1911-1921) which has actually added lesser population compared to the previous decade.Uttar Pradesh (199.5 million) is the most populous State in the country – population is more than the population of Brazil.
The percentage decadal growth rates of the six 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%)
Census
(Year)
Density of Population
(Persons per sq. km)
1921
77
1931
90
1941
103
1951
117
1961
142
1971
177
1981
216
1991
267
2001
324
2011
382
Is a good measure for understanding the variation in the distribution of population. It is expressed as number of persons per square kilometer. According to Census 1991, average density of population in India is 267 persons per square kilometer. This average density makes India one of the most thickly populated countries of the world. The most striking feature of India’s density of population is that it has been consistently increasing since 1921.
· Density of population in India - 382
· Highest Density in state - Delhi (11297)
· Lowest Density in state – Arunachal Pardesh (17)
West Bengal is located in the Ganga delta, which is one of the most fertile areas of the world. The coastal plain of Kerala is also very fertile. Union Territories of Delhi and Chandigarh are mostly urban in character and are having very high densities of population.
India is an old country which a large young population; about 29 per cent of the population according to the 2011 census, is below the age of 14. 62.5% of population is aged between 15-59 years. Population above the age of 60 years is 8%.
The age structure of any population is determined by the levels of fertility, mortality and migration. Of these three factors, migration can affect the age structure of any population only when the migrants are concentrated in any one age group and the volume of migrations is large.
India has a large “young” population because the birth rates are high and the number of children born is large. The sustained high level of birth rates has resulted in a large proportion of children and a small proportion of old population. On the other hand, in economically developed countries, the birth rates are low and fewer children are born. The low birth rates result in a higher proportion of old people. Compared to the role of fertility, the role of mortality in determining the age structure of a population is limited, especially when mortality is low. Rapid reductions in mortality and lengthening of the life-span result in a “younger” population mainly because the improvement is first experienced by the infants and children. More infants and children survive, leading to an increase in the proportion of the young persons in the population. This is what has happened in India. One other implication of the young age structure of the Indian population is that it also has the potential of the high growth rates of the population in further years. Within a few years, these children will grow up, get married and start reproducing. When the number of couples in the reproductive age group (wife in the age group 15-44) is high, the birth rate can also be expected to be high, even with moderate fertility. This, in turn, leads to a high population growth rate.
Two measures are generally used for studying the age structure of any population: -
(1) The percentage of males in the population or the masculinity proportion, and
(2) The sex ratio
Of these two measures, the sex ratio is more frequently used in the study of the population. The sex ratio of a population may be expressed either as the number of males per 1000 females or the number of females per 100 males. The Indian Census has preferred to define the sex ratio as the number of the females per 1000 males, though the definition of the sex ratio followed the world over is the number of the males per 100 females.
Generally, in most countries, the overall sex ratio of the population is favourable to the females, that is, there are more females than males in the population. When the situation is different, that is, when there are more males than females in the population, this is considered unusual. The population statistics available through the Census indicate that the sex ratio in India has always been less than 1,000. In fact, the sex ratio has been declining from 972 in 1901 to 930 in 1971. A slight improvement was registered in the 1951 Census, and again during the 1981 Census, but the 1991 Census registered a fall by five points-from 934 in 1981 to 933 in 2001.In 2011 there is marginal recovery to 940.
The following three factors are responsible for determining the sex ratio of any population: (1) sex ratio at birth, (2) the sex ratio of the deceased persons and (3) the sex ratio of the net migrants. In a developing country like India, another factor could be added to this list. There is always a possibility that women are under-enumerated because they are not reported as members of the household by the head of the household, when the Census enumerator collects the information.
Of all these factors, high mortality of the females appears to be the most plausible explanation for the sex ratio in India, which is adverse to the females. The female in India is in a socially and culturally disadvantaged position, and has been accorded an inferior status over the centuries. The death rates for the females in most age groups are high than those for the males. Of the other factor, the sex ratio of newborn babies is not much different from that in other countries. Hence, a sex ratio that is adverse to the females, a peculiarity of the Indian demographic picture, need not be attributed to this factor. As for international migration of men, it is quite insignificant and is, therefore, not found to affect the sex ratio in India. Under-enumeration of the females cannot explain more than a very small part of the numerical imbalance between the males and the females in India.
· Child (0-6yrs.) sex-ratio - 914
· Highest sex-ratio in state – Kerala (1084)
· Lowest sex-ratio in UTs – Daman & Diu (618)
· Highest child(0-6) sex-ratio in state – Mizoram (971)
· Lowest child(0-6) sex-ratio in state – Haryana (830)
· 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. 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.
Sex Ratio at Birth for the country has gone up by 2 point to 908 in 2010- 2012from 906 in 2009-2011.Chhattisgarh has reported the highest Sex Ratio at Birth (979) while Haryana, the lowest (857). After exhibiting stability from 2007-09 to 2009-11, the Sex ratio of child (age group 0-4)for the country has been decreased to 912 in 2010-2012.The highest and the lowest Child Sex Ratio have also been reported in Chhattisgarh (1011) and Haryana (837) respectively. (SRS-2012)
Religious Composition
Population
(%)
Hindus
827,578,868
80.5
Muslims
138,188,240
13.4
Christians
24,080,016
2.3
Sikhs
19,215,730
1.9
Buddhists
7,955,207
0.8
Jains
4,225,053
0.4
Other Religions and Persuasions
6,639,626
0.6
Religion not stated
727,588
0.1
Total
1,028,610,328
100.0
Additional information- Census 2011[2]
The total number of children in the age-group 0-6 is 158.8 million (-5 million since 2001)
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 for females.
The proportion of Child Population in the age group of 0-6 years to total population is 13.1 percent while the corresponding figure in 2001 was 15.9 percent. The decline has been to the extent of 2.8 points.
Literacy rate has gone up from 64.83 per cent in 2001 to 74.04 per cent in 2011 showing an increase of 9.21 percentage points.
Percentage growth in literacy during 2001-2011 is 38.82; males: 31.98% & female: 49.10%.
The state of Kerala has the highest literacy rate 93.11%, whereas Bihar has the lowest 63.82%.
Literacy rate has gone up from 64.83 per cent in 2001 to 74.04 per cent in 2011showing an increase of 9.21 percentage points.
The population of Scheduled Castes at 16.6 per cent and Scheduled Tribes at 8.6 per cent, together forming a quarter of the total population.
In the period 2001-11, the SCs grew by 20.8 per cent and STs by 23.7 per cent.
The highest SC population, 31.9 per cent of the state's total number, is in Punjab. Lakshadweep has the highest proportion of STs at 94.8 per cent.
The work participation rate at 39.8 per cent. More than 60 per cent of the population does not participate in any economic activity. The figures may seem alarming but then students and homemakers have been categorized as 'non-workers', along with dependents, pensioners and beggars.
At 51.9 per cent, Himachal Pradesh has the highest work participation rate and Delhi, at 33.3 per cent, is among the states with lowest rates. Cultivators and agricultural labourers (54.6 per cent) form over half the working population.
The unemployment rate in India is estimated at 9.4 percent or 94 persons out of 1000 persons in the labour force for the fixed reference period of FY 2009-10, according to employment-unemployment survey by the Labour Bureau under the Labour and Employment Ministry. From 1983 until 2000, India’s Unemployment Rate averaged 7.20 percent reaching an historical high of 8.30 percent in December of 1983
At the level of the family, family planning implies having only the desired number of children. Thus family planning implies both limitation of the family to a number considered appropriate to the resources of the family as well as proper spacing between the children. The adoption of family planning obviously requires conscious efforts made by the couple to control conception.
When the government concerns itself with promoting the total welfare of the family and the community, through family planning, the programme consists of a wide range of activities, covering education, health, maternity and childcare, family planning and nutrition. Since 1977, the Indian family planning programme is known as the family welfare programme with greater emphasis on the welfare approach to the problem.
Milestones in the evolution of the population policy of India
1946 Bporthore Committee Report
1952 Launching of Family Planning Programme
1966 A department of family planning was created in the ministry of health
1976 Statement of National Population Policy
1977 Policy Statement on Family Welfare Programme Both statements were laid on the table of the House in Parliament, but never discussed or adopted.
1981 NPP modified
1983 The National Health Policy of 1983 emphasized the need for "securing the small family norm, through voluntary efforts and moving towards the goal of population stabilization". While adopting the Health Policy, Parliament emphasized the need for a separate National Population Policy.
1991 The National Development Council appointed a Committee on Population with Shri Karunakaran as Chairman. The Karunakaran Report (Report of the National Development Council (NDC) Committee on Population) endorsed by NDC in 1993 proposed the formulation of a National Population Policy to take a " a long term holistic view of development, population growth and environmental protection" and to "suggest policies and guidelines (for) formulation of programs" and "a monitoring mechanism with short, medium and long term perspectives and goals" (Planning Commission, 1992). It was argued that the earlier policy statements of 1976 and 1977 were placed on the table; however, Parliament never really discussed or adopted them. Specifically, it was recommended, "a National Policy of Population should be formulated by the Government and adopted by Parliament".
1993 An Expert Group headed by Dr. M.S. Swaminathan was asked to prepare a draft of a national population policy that would be discussed by the Cabinet and then by Parliament.
1994 Report on a National Population Policy by the Expert Group headed by Dr.Swaminathan. This report was circulated among Members of Parliament, and comments requested from central and state agencies. It was anticipated that a national population policy approved by the National Development Council and the Parliament would help produce a broad political consensus.
1997 On the 50th anniversary of India's Independence, Prime Minister Gujral promised to announce a National Population Policy in the near future. During 11/ 97 Cabinet approved the draft National Population Policy with the direction that this be placed before Parliament. However, this document could not be placed in either House of Parliament, as the respective Houses stood adjourned followed by dissolution of the Lok Sabha.
1999 Another round of consultations was held during 1998, and another draft National Population Policy was finalized and placed before the Cabinet in March 1999. Cabinet appointed a Group of Ministers (headed by Dy Chairman, Planning Commission) to examine the draft Policy. The GOM met several times and deliberated over the nuances of the Population Policy. In order to finalize a view about the inclusion/ exclusion of incentives and disincentives, the Group of Ministers invited a cross-section of experts from among academia, public health professionals, demographers, social scientists, and women's representatives. The GOM finalized a draft population policy, and placed the same before Cabinet. This was discussed in Cabinet on 19 November 1999. Several suggestions were made during the deliberations. On that basis, a fresh draft was submitted to Cabinet.
The NDA Government finally decided on 15th February 2000 to adopt the National Population Policy (2000) with a view to encourage two-child norm and aim at stabilizing the population by 2046 A.D The main features of the National Population Policy are as under.
Firstly, the Government has decided that the freeze on Lok Sabha seats imposed as per the 42nd Constitutional Amendment with 1971 census as the basis for deciding the number of seats which is valid upto 2001, is being extended till 2026. This is being done so that states like Tamil Nadu and Kerala, which have followed the small family norm effectively, should not be penalized and states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan should not be rewarded by granting more seats in Lok Sabha. The decision to freeze Lok Sabha seats upto 2026 is thus motivated to check the states ignoring population on policy to be rewarded and to avoid penalizing the states, which have been successful in implementing the small family norm.
Besides this, National Population Policy has listed the following measures to achieve a stable population by 2046.
· Reduction of infant mortality rate below 30 per 1000 live births
· Reduction of maternal mortality rate to below 1000 per 1,00,000 live births
· Universal immunization
· To achieve 80 per cent deliveries in regular dispensaries, hospitals and medical institutions with rained staff.
· Access to information, containing AIDS, prevention and control of communicable diseases.
· Incentive to adopt two-child small family norm
· Facilities for safe abortions to be increased
· Strict enforcement of Child Marriage Restraint Act and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act.
· Raising the age of girls not earlier than 18, and preferably raising it to 20 years or more.
· A special reward for women who marry after 21 and opt for a terminal method of contraception after the second child.
· Integration of Indian System of Medicine in the provision of reproduction and child health services.
· Health insurance covers for those below the poverty line who undergo sterilization after having two children.
· The appointment of a National Commission on Population to be headed y the Prime Minister to monitor the implementation of population policy.
· The Action Plan drawn for the next 10 crucial years includes the following:
A Self-help groups at village panchayat levels comprising mostly of housewives will interact with healthcare workers and gram Panchayats.
B Elementary education to the made free and compulsory
C Registration of marriage, pregnancy to be made compulsory along with births and deaths.
The Government hopes to achieve the objective of population stabilization by 2026 A.D. Immediately to improve the infrastructure; an additional allocation of Rs. 3,000 crores is required so that the unmet needs of contraception can be taken care of.
· Decentralized Planning and Programme Implementation
· Convergence of Service Delivery at Village Levels
· Empowering Women for Improved Health and Nutrition
· Child Health and Survival
· Meeting the Unmet Needs for Family Welfare Services
· Under-Served Population Groups including Urban Slums, Tribal Communities, Hill Area Populations and Displaced and Migrant Populations
· Adolescents
· Increased Participation of Men in Planned Parenthood
· Diverse Health Care Providers
· Collaboration With and Commitments from Non-Government Organisations and the Private Sector
· Mainstreaming Indian Systems of Medicine and Homeopathy
· Contraceptive Technology and Research on Reproductive and Child Health
· Providing for the Older Population
· Information, Education, and Communication
Population is a significant factor in social change. This fact can be clearly understood and its importance realized if we study the consequences of population growth on society. A steep rise in population in any country gives rise to various social problems. Many a change in the society is the mainly to population increase. For example, if there is such a rise in population that male population outnumbers the female population, the value of women will rise. If the female population outnumbers the male, sexual promiscuity is likely. In the past, as a result of wars, there used to be sharp decline in the number of young and healthy males, and this used to result in widespread prostitution and lesbianism. This was the case in postwar Germany. In social change, the increase in population has the following effects:
Increase in Poverty,Famine, Fall in the Living Standard, Decline in Health, Fragmentation of Agricultural Holdings, Dissolution of Family, Personal Disintegration, Marital Disintegration, Social Disintegration
All the above-mentioned social effects of population rise can be observed in modern India. This is the main reason why government is propagating family planning so lavishly. According to some scholars the population rise affects even the form of government.
India is a ‘Babel of languages’. The 1931 census showed that 225 Indian and Burmese languages were spoken in India, but the great majority of these were merely tribal dialects spoken by a few hundred or, at most, a few thousand people. The 1961 census listed 1652 languages as mother tongues and the 1971 census has merely reproduced the same list. There has been no additional information since then.
The variety of languages has been built up through the ages by various races and ethnic groups that made their way into India. There are 15 major languages in India. Some of these are closely allied and may be grouped together : Tamil,
Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada as Dravidian languages ; and Hindi, Punjabi, Bengali, Gujarati, Marathi, etc. as the Indo-Aryan family.
Linguistic composition(2001)
No.
Language
Percentage to
total population
1
Hindi
41.03
2
Bengali
8.11
3
Telugu
7.19
4
Marathi
6.99
5
Tamil
5.91
6
Urdu
5.01
7
Gujarati
4.48
8
Kannada
3.69
9
Malayalam
3.21
10
Oriya
11
Punjabi
2.83
12
Assamese
1.28
13
Maithili
1.18
14
Santali
0.63
15
Kashmiri
0.54
16
Nepali
0.28
17
Sindhi
0.25
18
Konkani
0.24
19
Dogri
0.22
20
Manipuri *
0.14
21
Bodo
0.13
22
Sanskrit
N
The fifteen major languages are statutorily recognized and listed in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. Fourteen of them are designated National Languages; of these fourteen, twelve are official languages of various states in the country. The ancient tongue, Sanskrit, the 15th scheduled language is the mother of Indo-European languages and is a source of vocabulary to many more languages even outside India. Being a classified language it is taught in schools along with Persian and Arabic. There are also scores of non-scheduled languages spoken in the country. The 1971 Census listed the number of speakers of eighty-nine non-scheduled languages and accounted for those who spoke other non-scheduled languages under the heading ‘other mother tongues’. Only recently three more languages-Manipuri, Nepali and Konkani have been included in the 8th Schedule.
The major division among India’s languages is that between the Dravidian tongues of south and the Indo-Aryan ones of north and central India. The Indo-Aryan languages are spoken by about three-quarters (74 per cent) of the population of the country. Hindi, with its variations, ranks numerically as on of the major languages of the world, with an estimated 200 million speakers. Spearheaded by the Hindi film it is now emerging as the lingua franca of India, besides being the official language of the Indian Union. It is one of the world’s to five languages, the others being Chinese, English, Russian and Spanish. English continues to be the associate language of the Indian Union. It has also been adopted as the official language by a couple of states
in the northeastern part of the country. This ensures that English will continue to occupy its present position at the Union - level.
Seven of the national languages, in terms of number of speakers, find a place in the top 20 languages of the world. Projecting official 1971 figures for speakers of these languages into 1982 it would appear that about 55 million Indians speak Bengali (the 6th most spoken language in the world), 55 m speak Telugu (13th in the world), Marathi 53 m (15th), Tamil 45 m (19th), Urdu 36 m (16th). The other national languages which figure in the next 20 world languages are Gujarati (33 m), Kannada (28 m), Malayalam (26 m), and Oriya (24 m). Assamese, Sindhi, Kashmiri and Sanskrit are scheduled languages with less than 10 million speakers each.
A decadal comparison of the languages of India, by proportion of speakers to total population, indicates that the percentage of speakers for Hindi, Telugu and Tamil has declined gradually over the two decades between 1951 and 1971. On the other hand, Punjabi and Urdu have shown noticeable increase in their percentages though the per cent of Urdu speakers decreased marginally between 1961 and 1971. Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, Malayalam and Assamese have also increased their percentages, marginally. Kannada, Kashmiri and Sindhi have remained at the same level. The ‘other’ languages have also come down in their aggregate shares over this period.
Since the states of the Union are generally language-based, the scheduled languages are spoken by the largest majorities of population in most states. In Kerala, for instance, 96 per cent of the population speak Malayalam, and in Andhra Pradesh 85.4 per cent of the population speak Telugu. But curiously, in two states listed as Hindi speaking, Rajasthan and Bihar, the languages spoken by substantial numbers do not find a place among the scheduled or non-scheduled languages. In 1961, Rajasthan listed 57 per cent of its population as Rajasthani speakers and Bihar listed 36 per cent of its people as Maithili/Bhojpuri/Magadhi. These and many more are treated as dialects of Hindi, although they have their literature too.
Indian languages merge into each other and are not separated by hard and fast boundaries. There is an intermingling of languages as well as cultures among the various linguistic groups. Nine out of every ten persons speak at least one of the fourteen spoken scheduled languages. People are often bi-lingual in most areas. This bi-or-tri-lingualism is widespread among all classes except the peasantry of linguistically homogeneous areas.
[1] SRS-2012
[2] For more indepth analysis of census 2011 data, refer to http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/population_enumeration.aspx
[3] To work out the proportion of male working population, the data relating to main workers were taken into account.
[4] At the 1961 Census, the concept of 'Town Group' was adopted to obtain a broad picture relating to urban spread. This was refined in 1971 with the concepts of 'Urban Agglomeration' to obtain better feed back in regard to urban contiguity, processes and trends of urbanisation and other related matters.
[5] Find out new data fron Census of India
[6]Ministry of Urban Employment and Poverty Alleviationrenamed as Ministry of housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation from 2004.
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