2011 Census of India

15th Census of India
General information
Country	India
Date taken	1 March 2011
Total population	1,210,854,977
Percent change	17.70%[1]
Most populous state	Uttar Pradesh (199,812,341)
Least populous state	Sikkim (610,577)

The 15th Indian Census was conducted in two phases, house listing and population enumeration. House listing phase began on 1 April 2010 and involved collection of information about all buildings. Information for National Population Register was also collected in the first phase, which will be used to issue a 12-digit unique identification number to all registered Indians by Unique Identification Authority of India. The second population enumeration phase was conducted between 9 and 28 February 2011. Census has been conducted in India since 1872 and 2011 marks the first time biometric information was collected. According to the provisional reports released on 31 March 2011, the Indian population increased to 121 crore with a decadal growth of 17.64%.^[2] Adult literacy rate increased to 74.04% with a decadal growth of 9.21%. The motto of census 2011 was 'Our Census, Our future'.

Spread across 29 states and 7 union territories, the census covered 640 districts, 5,767 tehsils, 7,933 towns and more than 6 lakh villages. A total of 27 lakh officials visited households in 7,933 towns and 6 lakh villages, classifying the population according to gender, religion, education and occupation.^[3] The cost of the exercise was approximately ₹2,200 crore (US$330 million) – this comes to less than $0.50 per person, well below the estimated world average of $4.60 per person.^[3] Conducted every 10 years, this census faced big challenges considering India's vast area and diversity of cultures and opposition from the manpower involved.

Information on castes was included in the census following demands from several ruling coalition leaders including Lalu Prasad Yadav, Sharad Yadav and Mulayam Singh Yadav supported by opposition parties Bharatiya Janata Party, Akali Dal, Shiv Sena and Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.^[4] Information on caste was last collected during the British Raj in 1931. During the early census, people often exaggerated their caste status to garner social status and it is expected that people downgrade it now in the expectation of gaining government benefits.^[5] Earlier, there was speculation of conduction caste-based census in 2011, first time after 80 years since 1931, to find the exact population of Other Backward Class (OBCs) in India,^[6][7][8][9] which was later accepted and Socio-Economic Caste Census 2011 was conducted whose first findings were revealed on 3 July 2015 by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.^[10] Mandal Commission report of 1980 quoted OBC population at 52%, though National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) survey of 2006 quoted OBC population at 41%^[11]

There is only one instance of a caste-count in post-independence India. It was conducted in Kerala in 1968 by the Communist government under E M S Namboodiripad to assess the social and economic backwardness of various lower castes. The census was termed Socio-Economic Survey of 1968 and the results were published in the Gazetteer of Kerala, 1971.^[12]

Census

C Chandramauli was the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India for the 2011 Indian Census. Census data was collected in 16 languages and the training manual was prepared in 18 languages. In 2011, India and Bangladesh also conducted their first-ever joint census of areas along their border.^[13][14] The census was conducted in two phases. The first, the house-listing phase, began on 1 April 2010 and involved collection of data about all the buildings and census houses.^[15] Information for the National Population Register was also collected in the first phase. The second, the population enumeration phase, was conducted from 9 – 28 February 2011 all over the country. The eradication of epidemics, the availability of more effective medicines for the treatment of various types of diseases and the improvement in the standard of living were the main reasons for the high decadal growth of population in India.

Information

House-listings

The House-listing schedule contained 35 questions.^[16]

Building number Census house number Predominant material of floor, wall and roof of the census house Ascertain use of actual house Condition of the census house Household number Total number of persons in the household Name of the head of the household Sex of the head Caste status (SC or ST or others)

Ownership status of the house Number of dwelling rooms Number of married couple the household Main source of drinking water Availability of drinking water source Main source of lighting Latrine within the premises Type of latrine facility Waste water outlet connection Bathing facility within the premises

Availability of kitchen Fuel used for cooking Radio/Transistor Television Computer/Laptop Telephone/Mobile phone Bicycle Scooter/Motor cycle/Moped Car/Jeep/Van Availing Banking services.

Population enumeration

The Population enumeration schedule contained 30 questions.^[17][18]

Name of the person Relationship to head Sex Date of birth and age Current marital status Age at marriage Religion Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe Disability Mother tongue

Other languages known Literacy status Status of attendance (Education) Highest educational level attained Working any time during last year Category of economic activity Occupation Nature of industry Trade or service Class of worker Non economic activity

Seeking or available for work Travel to place of work Birthplace Place of last residence Reason for migration Duration of stay in the place of migration Children surviving Children ever born Number of children born alive during last one year

National Population Register

The National Population Register household schedule contained 9 questions.^[19]

Name of the person and resident status Name of the person as should appear in the population register Relationship to head gender Date of birth Marital status Educational qualification Occupation/Activity Names of father, mother and spouse

Once the information was collected and digitised, fingerprints were taken and photos collected. Unique Identification Authority of India was to issue a 12-digit identification number to all individuals and the first ID was to have been issued in 2011.^[20][21][22]

Census report

Decadal growth of Indian population (1901–2011).

Provisional data from the census was released on 31 March 2011 (and was updated on 20 May 2013).^{[23][24][25][26][27]}

Population	Total	1,210,854,977
	Males	62,37,24,248
	Females	58,64,69,174
Literacy	Total	74%
	Males	82.10%
	Females	65.50%
Density of population	per km^2	382
Sex ratio	per 1000 males	943 females
Child sex ratio (0–6 age group)	per 1000 males	918

Population

The population of India as per 2011 census was 1,210,193,422.^[28] India added 181.5 million to its population since 2001, slightly lower than the population of Brazil. India, with 2.4% of the world's surface area, accounts for 17.5% of its population. Uttar Pradesh is the most populous state with roughly 200 million people. A little over 5 out of 10 Indians live in the six states of Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.^[29] Of the 121 crore Indians, 83.3 crore (68.84%) live in rural areas while 37.7 crore stay in urban areas.^[30][31]

India is the homeland of major belief systems such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism, while also being home to several indigenous faiths and tribal religions which have survived the influence of major religions for centuries.

Ever since its inception, the Census of India has been collecting and publishing information about the religious affiliations as expressed by the people of India. In fact, population census has the rare distinction of being the only instrument that collects this diverse and important characteristic of the Indian population.

Population distribution in India by states

Rank	State / Union Territory (UT)	Type	Population[32]	% of total population[33]	Males	Females	Sex Ratio [34]	Literacy rate (%)	Rural[35] (%) Population	Urban[35] Population	Area[36] (km²)	Density (/km²)	Decadal Growth% (2001-2011)
1	Uttar Pradesh	State	19,98,12,341	16.5	10,44,80,510	9,53,31,831	930	67.68	15,51,11,022	4,44,70,455	2,40,928	828	20.1%
2	Maharashtra	State	11,23,74,333	9.28	5,82,43,056	5,41,31,277	929	82.34	6,15,45,441	5,08,27,531	3,07,713	365	16.0%
3	Bihar	State	10,40,99,452	8.6	5,42,78,157	4,98,21,295	918	61.80	9,20,75,028	1,17,29,609	94,163	1,102	25.1%
4	West Bengal	State	9,12,76,115	7.54	4,68,09,027	4,44,67,088	950	76.26	6,22,13,676	2,91,34,060	88,752	1,030	13.9%
5	Andhra Pradesh	State	8,45,80,777	6.99	4,24,42,146	4,21,38,631	993	67.02	56,361,702	2,82,19,075	2,75,045	308	11.1%
6	Madhya Pradesh	State	7,26,26,809	6.00	3,76,12,306	3,50,14,503	931	69.32	5,25,37,899	2,00,59,666	3,08,245	236	20.3%
7	Tamil Nadu	State	7,21,47,030	5.96	3,61,37,975	3,60,09,055	996	80.09	3,71,89,229	3,49,49,729	1,30,058	555	15.6%
8	Rajasthan	State	6,85,48,437	5.66	3,55,50,997	3,29,97,440	928	66.11	5,15,40,236	1,70,80,776	3,42,239	201	21.4%
9	Karnataka	State	6,10,95,297	5.05	3,09,66,657	3,01,28,640	973	75.36	3,75,52,529	2,35,78,175	1,91,791	319	15.7%
10	Gujarat	State	6,04,39,692	4.99	3,14,91,260	2,89,48,432	919	78.03	3,46,70,817	2,57,12,811	1,96,024	308	19.2%
11	Odisha	State	4,19,74,218	3.47	2,12,12,136	2,07,62,082	979	72.87	3,49,51,234	69,96,124	1,55,707	269	14.0%
12	Kerala	State	3,34,06,061	2.76	1,60,27,412	1,73,78,649	1084	94.00	1,74,45,506	1,59,32,171	38,863	859	4.9%
13	Jharkhand	State	3,29,88,134	2.72	1,69,30,315	1,60,57,819	948	66.41	2,50,36,946	79,29,292	79,714	414	22.3%
14	Assam	State	3,12,05,576	2.58	1,59,39,443	1,52,66,133	958	72.19	2,67,80,526	43,88,756	78,438	397	16.9%
15	Punjab	State	2,77,43,338	2.29	1,46,39,465	1,31,03,873	895	75.84	1,73,16,800	1,03,87,436	50,362	550	13.7%
16	Chhattisgarh	State	2,55,45,198	2.11	1,28,32,895	1,27,12,303	991	70.28	1,96,03,658	59,36,538	1,35,191	189	22.6%
17	Haryana	State	2,53,51,462	2.09	1,34,94,734	1,18,56,728	879	75.55	1,65,31,493	88,21,588	44,212	573	19.9%
18	Delhi	UT	1,67,87,941	1.39	88,87,326	78,00,615	868	86.21	9,44,727	1,29,05,780	1,484	11,297	21%
19	Jammu and Kashmir	State	1,25,41,302	1.04	66,40,662	59,00,640	889	67.16	91,34,820	34,14,106	2,22,236	56	23.7%
20	Uttarakhand	State	1,00,86,292	0.83	51,37,773	49,48,519	963	79.63	70,25,583	30,91,169	53,483	189	19.2%
21	Himachal Pradesh	State	68,64,602	0.57	34,81,873	33,82,729	972	82.80	61,67,805	6,88,704	55,673	123	12.8%
22	Tripura	State	36,73,917	0.30	18,74,376	17,99,541	960	87.22	27,10,051	9,60,981	10,486	350	14.7%
23	Meghalaya	State	29,66,889	0.25	14,91,832	14,75,057	989	74.43	23,68,971	5,95,036	22,429	132	27.8%
24	Manipur	State	27,21,756	0.21	12,90,171	12,80,219	992	79.21	18,99,624	8,22,132	22,327	122	18.7%
25	Nagaland	State	19,78,502	0.16	10,24,649	9,53,853	931	79.55	14,06,861	5,73,741	16,579	119	-0.5%
26	Goa	State	14,58,545	0.12	7,39,140	7,19,405	973	88.70	5,51,414	9,06,309	3,702	394	8.2%
27	Arunachal Pradesh	State	13,83,727	0.11	7,13,912	6,69,815	938	65.38	10,69,165	3,13,446	83,743	17	25.9%
28	Puducherry	UT	12,47,953	0.10	6,12,511	6,35,442	1037	85.85	3,94,341	8,50,123	479	2,598	27.7%
29	Mizoram	State	10,97,206	0.09	5,55,339	5,41,867	976	91.33	5,29,037	5,61,997	21,081	52	22.8%
30	Chandigarh	UT	10,55,450	0.09	5,80,663	4,74,787	818	86.05	29,004	10,25,682	114	9,252	17.1%
31	Sikkim	State	6,10,577	0.05	3,23,070	2,87,507	890	81.42	4,55,962	1,51,726	7,096	86	12.4%
32	Andaman and Nicobar Islands	UT	3,80,581	0.03	2,02,871	1,77,710	876	86.63	2,44,411	1,35,533	8,249	46	6.7%
33	Dadra and Nagar Haveli	UT	3,43,709	0.03	1,93,760	1,49,949	774	76.24	1,83,024	1,59,829	491	698	55.5%
34	Daman and Diu	UT	2,43,247	0.02	1,50,301	92,946	618	87.10	60,331	1,82,580	112	2,169	53.5%
35	Lakshadweep	UT	64,473	0.01	33,123	31,350	946	91.85	14,121	50,308	32	2,013	6.2%
TOTAL	India	35	121,08,54,977	100	62,37,24,248	58,64,69,174	943	73.00	83,30,87,662	37,71,05,760	32,87,240	382	17.64%

Religious demographics

The religious data on India Census 2011 was released by the Government of India on 25 August 2015.^[37][38][39] Hindus are 79.8% (966.3 million), while Muslims are 14.23% (172.2 million) in India.^{[40][40][41][42]} For the first time, a "No religion" category was added in the 2011 census.^[43][44] 2.87 million were classified as people belonging to "No Religion" in India in the 2011 census.^[45][46] - 0.24% of India's population of 1.21 billion.^[47][48] Given below is the decade-by-decade religious composition of India till the 2011 census.^[49][50][51] There are six religions in India that have been awarded "National Minority" status - Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists and Parsis.^[52][53] Sunnis, Shias, Bohras, Agakhanis and Ahmadiyyas were identified as sects of Islam in India.^[54][55][56] As per 2011 census, six major faiths- Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains make up over 99.4% of India’s 121 crore population, while “other religions, persuasions” (ORP) count is 82. Among the ORP faiths, six faiths- 49.57 lakh-strong Sarna, 10.26 lakh-strong Gond, 5.06 lakh-strong Sari, Doni Polo (3.02 lakh) in Arunachal Pradesh, Sanamahi (2.22 lakh) in Manipur, Khasi (1.38 lakh) in Meghalaya dominate.^[57] Maharashtra is having the highest number of atheists in the country with 9,652 such people, followed by Meghalaya (9,089) and Kerala.^[58]

Population trends for major religious groups in India (1951–2011)

Religious group	Population % 1951	Population % 1961	Population % 1971	Population % 1981	Population % 1991	Population % 2001	Population % 2011[59]
Hinduism	84.1%	83.45%	82.73%	82.30%	81.53%	80.46%	79.80%
Islam	9.8%	10.69%	11.21%	11.75%	12.61%	13.43%	14.23%
Christianity	2.3%	2.44%	2.60%	2.44%	2.32%	2.34%	2.30%
Sikhism	1.79%	1.79%	1.89%	1.92%	1.94%	1.87%	1.72%
Buddhism	0.74%	0.74%	0.70%	0.70%	0.77%	0.77%	0.70%
Jainism	0.46%	0.46%	0.48%	0.47%	0.40%	0.41%	0.37%
Zoroastrianism	0.13%	0.09%	0.09%	0.09%	0.08%	0.06%	n/a
Other religions / No religion	0.43%	0.43%	0.41%	0.42%	0.44%	0.72%	0.9%

Literacy

Any one above age 7 who can read and write in any language with an ability to understand was considered a literate. In censuses before 1991, children below the age 5 were treated as illiterates. The literacy rate taking the entire population into account is termed as "crude literacy rate", and taking the population from age 7 and above into account is termed as "effective literacy rate". Effective literacy rate increased to a total of 74.04% with 82.14% of the males and 65.46% of the females being literate.^[60]

S.No.	Census Year	Total (%)	Male (%)	Female (%)
1	1901	5.35	9.83	0.60
2	1911	5.92	10.56	1.05
3	1921	7.16	12.21	1.81
4	1931	9.50	15.59	2.93
5	1941	16.10	24.90	7.30
6	1951	16.67	24.95	9.45
7	1961	24.02	34.44	12.95
8	1971	29.45	39.45	18.69
9	1981	36.23	46.89	24.82
10	1991	42.84	52.74	32.17
11	2001	64.83	75.26	53.67
12	2011	74.04	82.14	65.46

• The table lists the "crude literacy rate" in India from 1901 to 2011.

See also

• Socio Economic and Caste Census 2011
• Demographics of India
• Other Backward Class
• List of Other Backward Classes

Notes

• "Cities having population 1 lakh and above, Census 2011" (PDF). Census of India, 2011.

References

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External links

• Official Website