| What the 2011 Census numbers tell us |
| Nitin Desai / April 2, 2011, 0:40 IST |
The Census Commissioner has put out the provisional population totals as of March 1, 2011, for India and the states on March 31, 2011. There are now 1,210 million of us. The press release highlights some features of this, including the decline in the absolute number of children below six, the small improvement in the sex ratio in some states and the fact that the absolute decadal population growth is less than the previous decade. In this, the focus is on how the numbers stack up against expectations.
A comparison of the projections made by the registrar-general in May 2006 and the provisional results reported, shows that the population total is 17.7 million more than what was expected in 2006, a discrepancy of about 1.5 per cent or about a year’s population growth.
A big part of this difference is in Bihar, where the provisional population numbers are 6.1 million (i.e. 6.2 per cent) higher than what was projected. The tribal states of Jharkhand, Orissa and Chhattisgarh also show a similar pattern, with a discrepancy relative to the projections, which is significantly above the national average. West Bengal’s and Assam’s population numbers are about two per cent above the 2006 projections. The North-Eastern states (other than Nagaland and Tripura) are off the projection by a large margin, ranging from 8.6 per cent to 13.1per cent.
| Census 2011: Projections and actuals | |||
| 2006 Projection ('000) | Provisional population ('000) | Percentage discrepancy (%) | |
| India | 1,192,506 | 1,210,193 | 1.5 |
| Jammu & Kashmir | 11,718 | 12,549 | 7.1 |
| Himachal Pradesh | 6,793 | 6,857 | 0.9 |
| Punjab | 27,678 | 27,704 | 0.1 |
| Chandigarh | 1,438 | 1,055 | -26.7 |
| Uttarakhand | 9,943 | 10,117 | 1.7 |
| Haryana | 25,439 | 25,353 | -0.3 |
| NCT of Delhi | 18,451 | 16,753 | -9.2 |
| Rajasthan | 67,830 | 68621 | 1.2 |
| Uttar Pradesh | 200,764 | 199581 | -0.6 |
| Bihar | 97,720 | 103805 | 6.2 |
| Sikkim | 612 | 608 | -0.7 |
| Arunachal Pradesh | 1,241 | 1383 | 11.4 |
| Nagaland | 2,249 | 1981 | -11.9 |
| Manipur | 2,449 | 2722 | 11.1 |
| Mizoram | 1,004 | 1091 | 8.7 |
| Tripura | 3616 | 3671 | 1.5 |
| Meghalaya | 2621 | 2964 | 13.1 |
| Assam | 30,568 | 31169 | 2.0 |
| West Bengal | 89,499 | 91348 | 2.1 |
| Jharkhand | 31,472 | 32966 | 4.7 |
| Orissa | 40,750 | 41947 | 2.9 |
| Chhattisgarh | 24,258 | 25540 | 5.3 |
| Madhya Pradesh | 72,200 | 72598 | 0.6 |
| Gujarat | 59,020 | 60384 | 2.3 |
| Dadra & Nagar Haveli | 354 | 343 | -3.1 |
| Maharashtra | 112,660 | 112373 | -0.3 |
| Andhra Pradesh | 84,735 | 84666 | -0.1 |
| Karnataka | 59,419 | 61131 | 2.9 |
| Goa | 1,767 | 1458 | -17.5 |
| Daman & Diu | 270 | 243 | -10.0 |
| Lakshadweep | 76 | 64 | -15.2 |
| Kerala | 34,563 | 33388 | -3.4 |
| Tamil Nadu | 67,444 | 72139 | 7.0 |
