India's Basic Demographic Statistics

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This volume, the first in a new series on Population Profile of India, presents 177 Key tables, on important facets of India's population based on data, selectively chosen from the census of India, 1991, National Family Health Survey (1992-93), Sample Registration System (1980-94) and other official sources of demographic data. In addition, select data from UNFPA's latest Report (1996) on the state of World Population are presented for making international comparisons.

The Tables presented here are carefully chosen from a vast array of demographic data which lie scattered in numerous publications. This volume should be indispensable for all users of demographic data as a Handbook on population statistics. A number of volumes which are subject-specific will be published in this series to make the latest demographic data available to the reader.

Professor Ashish Bose was Head of the Population Research Centre, Institute of Economic Growth and subsequently Jawaharlal Nehru Fellow attached to JNU. His major areas of specialisation include Census methodology, urbanisation, migration and population policy. He has served as United Nations Consultant/Resource Person, from time to time, all over the world.

He was a member of the National Commission on Urbanisation and also the Expert Group on Population Policy headed by Dr. M.S. Swaminathan, which submitted its report to the Prime Minister in 1994. Currently, he is a member of the Independent Commission on Health in India (ICHI). He is also a member of the Technical Group on Population Projections, appointed by the Planning Commission. He is a member of the State Planning Board of Punjab and a Visiting Professor at the Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development (CRRID), Chandigarh.

His recent books include India's Population Policy: Changing Paradigm (1996), Demographic Zones in India (1995), India's Urban Population (1994), India and the Asian Population Perspective (1993), Demographic Diversity of India (1992), Population of India: 1991 Census Results and Methodology (1991), From Population to People (1988, in 2 Volumes).

Soon after the first results of the 1991 Census of India were released to the public, I published a quick monograph-Population of India 1991 Census Results and Methodology (B. R. Publishing Corporation, 1991) which ran into several editions. When more detailed tables were available, I published a more substantial monograph Demographic Diversity of India: 1991 Census State and District Level Data-A Reference Book (B. R. Publishing Corporation, 1992) which also ran into several editions. Realising the urgency of data on India's exploding urbanisation, I published a detailed monograph on India's Urban Population-1991 Census Data at State and District Level (Wheeler, 1994) which has also been well received by the public.

The 1991 Census was aimed at modemising the Census through data processing and tabulation on electronic computers. The Registrar General also decided to make diskettes available to users of data on payment basis, as in the US Census. It was hoped that these measures would speed up the release of Census data to the general public. Unfortunately, this has not happened because of several factors, often outside the control of the Registrar General. This has led to considerable frustration among scholars and researchers in particular. For example, age tables for India are not yet available though for some states such data are available on diskettes supplied by the Registrar General. 1991 Census publications are gradually flowing in through All-India Papers, Tables and also State Volumes. The average scholar is quite lost in the maze of Census data and is quite at a loss to find out where and when he could get the data he is looking for. Even the librarians of Universities and research institutions tend to grope in the dark when one enquires about 1991 Census publications. This is not necessarily a reflection on the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner but the inevitable result of the neglect of the great institution of the Census of India by the Government of India and the Planning Commission.

When one looks for the yearly figures for birth, death, infant mortality rates, etc., one gets even more lost. These figures are published in the SRS Bulletins by the Registrar General but as these are not priced publications, very few readers have access to such vital data which are by no means confidential. Planners and policy-makers invariably need such data and they get these because they have access to the Office of Registrar General but this is not true of Universities, research institutions and individual scholars and users of data.

What is the population of India, according to the 1991 Census of India? What is the growth rate of population during the 1981-91 decade? These are perhaps the simplest questions one could ask and look at the 1991 Census publications for a ready answer. Yet one would be confused by the different sets of figures given in the Census tables, unless a careful reading is given to numerous footnotes. Indeed the first ground rule for the user of Census data is not to ignore any footnote. Let us illustrate this point.

In 1991, the Census was not conducted in the state of Jammu and Kashmir because of disturbed condition. In 1981, the Census was not conducted in the state of Assam for a similar reason. The 1991 Census tables, therefore, exclude Jammu and Kashmir as far as detailed tabulation is concerned, but for computing the total population of India, the projected population of Jammu and Kashmir is included in India. When it comes to computing the growth rate of population during 1981-91, both Assam and Jammu and Kashmir are excluded for the sake of comparison. Thus, one gets four sets of population figures from the 1991 Census:

(1) India including Jammu and Kashmir in 1991 (ii) India excluding Jammu and Kashmir in 1991

(ii) India excluding both Jammu and Kashmir and Assam in 1981 and 1991

(iv) India including Jammu and Kashmir but excluding Assam in 1981

The situation is similar in regard to the rural and urban population, workforce, number of literates, etc. The interpolated figure for Assam in 1981 and the projected figure for Jammu and Kashmir in 1991 refer only to the total population (with urban /rural breakdown) and obviously further details are not available as the Census was not undertaken in these states.

To complicate matters further, the 1981 population of India as given in the Census of 1981 does not tally with the 1981 figure given in the trend table of 1991 Census because certain adjustments were made in the population of Assam in 1981 in the light of the 1991 Census enumeration in Assam.

The average user of Census data does not want to be caught in the cobweb of Census statistics. We have endeavoured to present in this volume a set of 177 key tables as lucidly as possible so that even a lay reader can make use of demographic data.

While using Census data, one should know the Census questionnaire as well as the tabulation plan as also the concepts and definitions adopted in the Census. We have discussed these briefly in our earlier publication on the first results of the 1991 Census and Census methodology (see Preface for details). In order not to overload this volume, we have not repeated these details here. In passing, we may point out that we have included a set of tables which give the highlights of the post-census enumeration (PCE)

Book's Contents and Sample Pages