Region and religion both matter for better population indicators

For better population indicators, region and religion both matter, suggest data from 2011 and 2001 decadal Censuses.  According to the data, in the more developed southern States all communities do better than in the more backward northern States.

Poor education indicators

Between 2001 and 2011, Muslims (24.65 per cent) remained the group with the fastest population growth, followed closely by Scheduled Tribes (23.66 per cent) and Scheduled Castes (20.85 per cent). All three groups have historically had poor education indicators, especially for women, and restricted access to health care.

However, in States such as Kerala and Tamil Nadu, which are considered advanced in terms of income and development indicators, population growth is low for all communities, the numbers show.

The population growth rate for Muslims in Kerala, for example, while substantially higher than that for Hindus or Christians in the State, is lower than the national average for Hindus, and half that of Hindus in States like Bihar.

“When the demographic transition is occurring, the better off communities first reduce their fertility, which is then followed by poorer communities. This is exactly what we are seeing, and in developed States, access to education and health becomes available to all,” Dr. P Arokiasamy, demographer and professor at the International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai, said.

A similar trend is observed in other States; those with higher than average Hindu growth rates have higher than average Muslim growth rates too.

Two notable exceptions are Assam and Uttarakhand, where the Muslim growth rate is significantly higher than the national average, while the Hindu growth rate is lower.

“It is undeniable that in the border districts of Assam, there is illegal immigration. There is no other explanation for the Muslim population growth there,” a senior Census official said.

Worst sex ratio

When it comes to sex ratio, Sikhs as a community had the worst sex ratio in 2011 at 903 females for every 1,000 males, followed by non-SC/ ST Hindus (929), while Christians had the best sex ratio (1,023 females for every 1,000 males) followed by STs (990). Here again, region matters.

In Punjab and Haryana, all communities see their sex ratios plummet to their worst, while in Kerala, the sex ratio of all communities except Sikhs and Buddhists rises above 1,000 females for every 1,000 males.

In Tamil Nadu, the sex ratio for Muslims, Christians and SCs rises above 1,000.

More children in school, but very few enter college

Over 400 million people, or over a third of the population in 2011, had never attended any school or educational institution, new numbers from the census show. According to the new data, while enrolment in school is now over 80 per cent for school-age children, higher education enrolment remains low.

Enrolment in educational institutions rose between 2001 and 2011 at every level, most of all in the primary and secondary school-going age of 7 to14 years. Between the age of 7 and 14, over 80 per cent of children are attending school, the numbers show.

In Kerala, the proportion of 7 to 14-year-olds attending school rose from 93 per cent to over 97 per cent. In all, however, there are still over 25.6 million children between the age of 6 and 14 who are out of school.

While girls still lag behind boys in educational enrolment at this age, the gap has substantially reduced over the last decade; school and college enrolment rose faster among girls than among boys.

Despite a substantial improvement over the last decade, less than two out of three young Indians in the age group of 15 to 19 go to any sort of educational institution, the census shows.

The proportion is lower for girls, in rural areas and among Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe students. In 2001, just 44 per cent of those aged 15 to 19 were in school or college, while in 2011 that proportion rose to nearly 60 per cent.

There is also wide inter-State variation. While the proportion of 15 to19-year-olds enrolled in school or college is the lowest in Odisha and Gujarat at 43.3 per cent and 51.1 per cent respectively, it is the highest in Himachal Pradesh (78.51 per cent) and Kerala (82.87 per cent).

Signalling the still low proportion of young Indians enrolling in graduate and postgraduate courses, fewer than 25 per cent of those aged 20 to 24 were enrolled in an educational institution in 2011.

Even in Kerala, the proportion is just over 30 per cent. For girls, nationally, the number is substantially lower, at under 20 per cent.

Those taking up vocational education remains extremely low. Between the age of 15 and 24, the proportion of those enrolled in a vocational institute is under 5 per cent. This figure is up from just over 2 per cent in 2001.