Demographic Background

 Demographic Background 

The earliest references of Census in India can be traced back to the Mauryan Period in Kautilya’s Arthashatra.

In India, first Census was held in 1872, done by W.C. Plowden. But ,it was not a synchronized census. First synchronized Census was held in 1881, since then Census is organized after every 10 years. Census 2011 is the  15^th Census of India since 1872. It was held in two phases : House Listing and Housing Census (April to Sept 2010) and Population Enumeration (9^th to 28^th February, 2011) Reference Data was 0.00 houses of 1^st  March 2011.

Censes is a Union Subject (Article 246)and it listed as entry 69 of the VIIth  Schedule of the Constitution .

General trends of Census 2011

Population : 1210.6 million; Males  : 623 million and Females : 587.4 million.

Population density is defined as number of persons per sq.km.  The population density of India in 2011 was 382 per sq km decadal growth 17.5%.  Among major states , Bihar is the most thickly population state with a population density of 1106 persons followed by West Bengal and Kerala.

Sex ratio is defined as the number of females per thousand males.  According to 2011 census, the sex ratio Of India is 943. It was 972 at the beginning of the 20^th century and thereafter showed continuous decline until 1941.

As per population totals of Census 2011, literates constituted 73.0 per cent of the total population aged seven and above and illiterates formed 27.0 per cent . Literacy rate has gone up form 64.8 per cent in 2001 showing an increase of 8.2 percentage points.

For the purpose of Census 2011, a person aged seven and above , who can both read and write with understanding in any language, is treated as literate.  A person , who can only read but cannot write  , is not literate . In the censuses prior to 1991, children below five years of age were necessarily treated as illiterates.

Kerala retained its position by being on top with 94.0 per cent literate rate closely followed by Lakshadweep. Bihar with a literate  rate of 61.8 per cent ranks last in he country.