By Teja Yenamandra
Apr. 1 – For fans of Bollywood cinema and the country’s famous culinary prowess, India's latest census should bring cheers of joy. The figures, released on Thursday, revealed that the country had added 181 million new citizens over the last decade – roughly the number of people in Brazil, the fifth most populous country in the world. And that figure doesn't even consider the fairly large number of Indians born abroad, such as yours truly.
India is now home to 17 percent of the world's population. And although China is currently the world's most populated nation, India has been closing the gap fairly quickly. To put it into perspective, India's northern state of Uttar Pradesh alone has a population just shy of what's found in Britain, France and Germany combined.
In some senses, such a large population can be a boon. Due to its huge supply, Indian labor is typically cheaper, and may entice the entry of firms seeking lower labor costs. Those companies will then create jobs, grow the economy, pay taxes, and may serve as examples that both local and foreign firms can emulate. The positive effects of a huge labor supply could ripple throughout the economy. Politicians and economists often talk about this being India's "demographic dividend."
On the other hand, a population of 1.2 billion people places a huge strain on India's already ailing infrastructure and provision of social services.
According to the U.K.'s Guardian, the census is usually conducted with an eye for detail. The practice was begun in 1872 by the British and, since then, every decade or so roughly 2 million census enumerators venture forth to tally up the number of their fellow countrymen.
They also attempt to discern identities and ages, as well as develop a quantitative perspective on India's level of development by figuring out whether a house has access to air conditioning, an automobile, a computer, cell phones, internet access, and other amenities such as water and power. Caste is left to a separate census.
The latest census discovered that among Indians aged seven and older, the literacy rate jumped nine points from 65 percent to 74 percent. On the other hand, the census data demonstrated that there's still a preference for male children over female ones. The practice of revealing the sex of unborn children was banned by the Indian government, but the widespread ability of inexpensive ultrasound scans has allowed curious parents to circumvent that law fairly easily.
914 girls were born for every 1,000 boys, compared with 927 girls for every 1,000 boys in the last census.
“Whatever measures that have been put in place over the last 40 years have not had any impact on child sex ratio and therefore that requires a complete review,” G.K. Pillai, India’s Home Secretary, told reporters.
The overall gender ratio, however, showed improvement. Roughly 940 women were counted for every 1,000 men, compared to 933 in the previous decade's census.
The southern state of Kerala, which has long enjoyed high literacy rates for men and women, also has the healthiest ratio of men to women in the nation, the census found.
Age, however, has been difficult to record. The Indian government has been attempting to gather biometric data recently to issue ID cards that are necessary to receive welfare services in India.
The census enumerators carry a list of significant dates in Indian history which they then can use to approximate the age of an individual in relation to the event.
Every region has its own calendar of significant events. Delhi's starts in 1905 and includes India's independence in 1947, India's cricket World Cup win over the West Indies in 1983, Rajiv Gandhi's assassination in 1991, and Mother Teresa's death in 1997.
Related Reading
Indian Consensus Aims to Create National Database
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China and India Losing Gender Balance Due to Sex-Selective Abortions
India to Conduct First Caste Census Since 1931
Source: 2point6billion.com - Foreign Direct Investment in Asia
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