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India Census Results
Move Forward
The latest census results of India were released last Thursday. The census was the second biggest in the world revealing that the country has added 181 million new individuals in the last ten years. This number makes the country home to 17% of the Earth's population.
China remains as the most populous country in the world with a total headcount of 1.34 billion. India is second with a total 1.21 billion. The additional Indian population reported in the census is equal to the population of Brazil, which ranks fifth in terms of population. One of the biggest Indian states, Uttar Pradesh, has a population equal to the United Kingdom, France and Germany put together, a number totaling 199,500,000 all in all.
According to C Chandramouli, India's Census Commissioner, said that the new population figures, though high, shows that growth has slowed down. This increase was much lower than the recorded increase in 2001 measured at 21.5%.
The first modern Indian census was done in 1872 when the country was still under British rule. Since that census, the Indian government has undertaken census of its population every decade or so to determine how much the population has increased. The census is often undertaken through the employment of 2.3 million "enumerators" that travel around the country, particularly the 630,000 villages and 5,000 cities throughout the country. They catalogued how many people live in one house, obtaining their identities and ages and note other pertinent details such as airconditioning, car, computer, phone and Internet access including basic necessities as water and power.
Another major issue is the issue of the application of the caste system in a secular exercise such as census taking. The caste system is one of the most adhered social customs in India, deeply rooted in the Hindi religion but this was left out in the recent determination by the government. Even the homeless were included in the count as many enumerators scoured the streets to obtain a fairly accurate head count.
Other aspects of the census found that there is an increase in literacy for Indians aged seven and older as the previous 65% literacy rate increased to 74%. There are many other facts obtained, such as the continued preference of having male children over female children. This is a chilling number, as female infanticide still is rampant especially in the countryside. There is even a law forbidding doctors to advise parents as to the sex of their children.
Bobby Castro is the online editor at the NRI community, where he has published a number of articles about NRI discussions and many other topics.
Article submitted Tuesday, January 17, 2012 & read 2 times.
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