CENSUS 2011

The 15th Indian Census was conducted in two phases, house listing and population enumeration. House listing phase began on 1 April 2010 and involved collection of information about all buildings. Information for National Population Register was also collected in the first phase, which will be used to issue a 12-digit unique identification number to all registered Indians by Unique Identification Authority of India. The second population enumeration phase was conducted between 9 to 28 February 2011. Census has been conducted in India since 1872 and 2011 marks the first time biometric information was collected. According to the provisional reports released on 31 March 2011, the Indian population increased to 1.21 billion with a decadal growth of 17.64%. Adult literacy rate increased to 74.04% with a decadal growth of 9.21%. The motto of census 2011 was 'Our Census, Our future'.

Spread across 29 states and 7 union territories, the census covered 640 districts, 5,767 tehsils, 7,933 towns and more than 600,000 villages. A total of 2.7 million officials visited households in 7,933 towns and 600,000 villages, classifying the population according to gender, religion, education and occupation. The cost of the exercise was approximately ₹2200 crore (US$330 million) – this comes to less than $0.50 per person, well below the estimated world average of $4.60 per person. Conducted every 10 years, this census faced big challenges considering India's vast area and diversity of cultures and opposition from the manpower involved.

Information on castes was included in the census following demands from several ruling coalition leaders including Lalu Prasad Yadav, Sharad Yadav and Mulayam Singh Yadavsupported by opposition parties Bharatiya Janata Party, Akali Dal, Shiv Sena and Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. Information on caste was last collected during the British Raj in 1931. During the early census, people often exaggerated their caste status to garner social status and it is expected that people downgrade it now in the expectation of gaining government benefits. Earlier, there was speculation of conduction caste-based census in 2011, first time after 80 years since 1931, to find the exact population of Other Backward Class (OBCs) in India,which was later accepted and Socio Economic Caste Census 2011 was conducted whose first findings were revealed on 3 July 2015 by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.Mandal Commission report of 1980 quoted OBC population at 52%, though National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) survey of 2006 quoted OBC population at 41%.

There is only one instance of a caste-count in post-independence India. It was conducted in Kerala in 1968 by the Communist government under E. M. S. Namboodiripad to assess the social and economic backwardness of various lower castes. The census was termed Socio-Economic Survey of 1968 and the results were published in the Gazetteer of Kerala, 1971.

C. Chandramauli is the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India of 2011 Indian census. Census data was collected in 16 languages and training manual was prepared in 18 languages. India and Bangladesh also conducted their first-ever joint census of areas along their border in 2011. The census was conducted in two phases. The first houselisting phase began on 1 April 2010 and involved collection of data about all the buildings and census houses. Information for National population register was also collected in the first phase. The second population enumeration phase was conducted from 9–28 February 2011 all over the country. The eradication of epidemics (2) availability of more effective medicines for the treatment of various types of diseases and the improvement in the standard of living these are the main reason for the high growth of population in India.

 Socio-Economic and caste census (SECC) 2011

Here are some key points from the census report:

1. This is the first caste census done in Independent India.

 2. The last caste census in India happened in 1932.

3. Just 4.6% of all rural households in the country pay income tax.

4. The total households in the country - rural plus urban - stand at 24.39 crore.

5. Public sector-employed households made up 1.11% of the total.

6. Over 11% rural households possessed refrigerators.

7. 20.69% rural households had either an automobile or a fishing boat.

8. 94% of the rural households owned a house with 54% cent having 1-2 room dwellings.

9. Of all the rural salaried households, 5% earned salaries from the government while those employed in the private sector constituted 3.57% of the total households.

10. Landless ownership was 56% of the total rural population, with 70% of SCs and 50% of STs being landless owners.

Population

Population Total         1,210,193,422

         Males          623,724,248

         Females      586,469,174

Literacy     Total          74%

        Males        82.10%

        Females    65.50%

Density of population per km² 382

Sex ratio   per     1000 males  -  940 females

Child sex ratio (0–6 age group) per 1000 males-919 females

Five largest Populous State of the Country
1. Uttar Pradesh	19,95,81,477
2. Maharashtra	11,23,72,972
3. Bihar	10,38,04,637
4. West Bengal	9,13,47,736
5. Andhra Pradesh	8,46,65,533
Highest Populous State - Uttar Pradesh

Five least Populous State of the Country
1. Lakshadweep	64,429
2. Daman & Diu	2,42,911
3. D & N Haveli	3,42,853
4. A & N islands	3,79,944
5. Sikkim	6,07,688
Least Populous UT - Lakshadweep, Sikkim is the least populous state.

Density of Population (person per sq km)
Density of Population in India	382
Highest Density in State	Delhi (11297)
Lowest Density in State	Arunachal Pradesh (17)

Sex Ratio (Females per 1000 Males)
Sex ratio in India	940
Child (0-6 years) sex ratio	914
Highest sex ratio in state	Kerala (1084)
Lowest sex ratio in UTs	Daman & Diu (618)
Highest child (0-6) sex ratio in state	Mizoram (971)
Lowest child (0-6) sex ratio in state	Haryana (830)

Literacy Rate in India
Total Person Literacy Rate	74%
Males	82.14%
Females	65.46%
Highest Literacy Rate in state	Kerala - 93.11%,
Lowest Literacy Rate in state	Bihar -  63.82%.

The population of India as per 2011 census was 1,210,854,977. India added 181.5 million to its population since 2001, slightly lower than the population of Brazil. India with 2.4% of the world's surface area accounts for 17.5% of its population. Uttar Pradesh is the most populous state with roughly 200 million people. A little over 5 out of 10 Indians live in the six states of Uttar Pradesh Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

India is the homeland of major belief systems such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism, while also being home to several indigenous faiths and tribal religions which have survived the influence of major religions for centuries.

Ever since its inception, the Census of India has been collecting and publishing information about the religious affiliations as expressed by the people of India. In fact, population census has the rare distinction of being the only instrument that collects this diverse and important characteristic of the Indian population.

Rank	State /	Type	Population	%[30]	Males	Females	Sex Ratio	Literacy	Rural[32]	Urban[32]	Area[33]	Density
	Union Territory						[31]		Population	Population	(km²)	(/km²)
1	Uttar Pradesh	State	199,812,341	16.5	104,480,510	95,331,831	930	67.68	131,658,339	34,539,582	240,928	828
2	Maharashtra	State	112,374,333	9.28	58,243,056	54,131,277	929	82.34	55,777,647	41,100,980	307,713	365
3	Bihar	State	104,099,452	8.6	54,278,157	49,821,295	918	61.8	74,316,709	8,681,800	94,163	1,102
4	West Bengal	State	91,276,115	7.54	46,809,027	44,467,088	950	76.26	57,748,946	22,427,251	88,752	1,030
5	Andhra Pradesh	State	84,580,777	6.99	42,442,146	42,138,631	993	67.02	55,401,067	20,808,940	275,045	308
6	Madhya Pradesh	State	72,626,809	6	37,612,306	35,014,503	931	69.32	44,380,878	15,967,145	308,245	236
7	Tamil Nadu	State	72,147,030	5.96	36,137,975	36,009,055	996	80.09	34,921,681	27,483,998	130,058	555
8	Rajasthan	State	68,548,437	5.66	35,550,997	32,997,440	928	66.11	43,292,813	13,214,375	342,239	201
9	Karnataka	State	61,095,297	5.05	30,966,657	30,128,640	973	75.36	34,889,033	17,961,529	191,791	319
10	Gujarat	State	60,439,692	4.99	31,491,260	28,948,432	919	78.03	31,740,767	18,930,250	196,024	308
11	Orissa	State	41,974,218	3.47	21,212,136	20,762,082	979	72.87	31,287,422	5,517,238	155,707	269
12	Kerala	State	33,406,061	2.76	16,027,412	17,378,649	1084	94	23,574,449	8,266,925	38,863	859
13	Jharkhand	State	32,988,134	2.72	16,930,315	16,057,819	948	66.41	20,952,088	5,993,741	79,714	414
14	Assam	State	31,205,576	2.58	15,939,443	15,266,133	958	72.19	23,216,288	3,439,240	78,438	397
15	Punjab	State	27,743,338	2.29	14,639,465	13,103,873	895	75.84	16,096,488	8,262,511	50,362	550
16	Chhattisgarh	State	25,545,198	2.11	12,832,895	12,712,303	991	70.28	16,648,056	4,185,747	135,191	189
17	Haryana	State	25,351,462	2.09	13,494,734	11,856,728	879	75.55	15,029,260	6,115,304	44,212	573
18	Delhi	UT	16,787,941	1.39	8,987,326	7,800,615	868	86.21	944,727	12,905,780	1,484	11,297
19	Jammu and Kashmir	State	12,541,302	1.04	6,640,662	5,900,640	889	67.16	7,627,062	2,516,638	222,236	56
20	Uttarakhand	State	10,086,292	0.83	5,137,773	4,948,519	963	79.63	6,310,275	2,179,074	53,483	189
21	Himachal Pradesh	State	6,864,602	0.57	3,481,873	3,382,729	972	82.8	5,482,319	595,581	55,673	123
22	Tripura	State	3,673,917	0.3	1,874,376	1,799,541	960	87.22	2,653,453	545,750	10,486	350
23	Meghalaya	State	2,966,889	0.25	1,491,832	1,475,057	989	74.43	1,864,711	454,111	22,429	132
24	Manipur	State	2,570,390	0.21	1,290,171	1,280,219	992	79.21	1,590,820	575,968	22,327	122
25	Nagaland	State	1,978,502	0.16	1,024,649	953,853	931	79.55	1,647,249	342,787	16,579	119
26	Goa	State	1,458,545	0.12	739,140	719,405	973	88.7	677,091	670,577	3,702	394
27	Arunachal Pradesh	State	1,383,727	0.11	713,912	669,815	938	65.38	870,087	227,881	83,743	17
28	Pondicherry	UT	1,247,953	0.1	612,511	635,442	1037	85.85	325,726	648,619	479	2,598
29	Mizoram	State	1,097,206	0.09	555,339	541,867	976	91.33	447,567	441,006	21,081	52
30	Chandigarh	UT	1,055,450	0.09	580,663	474,787	818	86.05	92,120	808,515	114	9,252
31	Sikkim	State	610,577	0.05	323,070	287,507	890	81.42	480,981	59,870	7,096	86
32	Andaman and Nicobar Islands	UT	380,581	0.03	202,871	177,710	876	86.63	239,954	116,198	8,249	46
33	Dadra and Nagar Haveli	UT	343,709	0.03	193,760	149,949	774	76.24	170,027	50,463	491	698
34	Daman and Diu	UT	243,247	0.02	150,301	92,946	618	87.1	100,856	57,348	112	2,169
35	Lakshadweep	UT	64,473	0.01	33,123	31,350	946	91.85	33,683	26,967	32	2,013
TOTAL	India	28 + 7	1,210,854,977	100	623,724,248	586,469,174	943	73	833,087,662	377,105,760	3,287,240	382

Religious demographics

The religious data on India Census 2011 was released by Government of India on 25 August 2015.Hindus are 79.8% (96.63 crore) while Muslims are 14.23% (17.22 crore) in India.First time, a "No religion" category was added in the census in 2011.28.7 lakhs were classified as people belonging to "no religion" in India in 2011 census- 0.24% of India's population of 121 crore. Below is the decade-by-decade religious composition of India till 2011 census. There are six religions in India which have been awarded "National minority" status- Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists and Parsis.

Population trends for major religious groups in India (1951–2011)

Religious group	Population % 1951	Population % 1961	Population % 1971	Population % 1981	Population % 1991	Population % 2001	Population % 2011[52]
Hinduism	84.1%	83.45%	82.73%	82.30%	81.53%	80.46%	79.80%
Islam	9.8%	10.69%	11.21%	11.75%	12.61%	13.43%	14.23%
Christianity	2.3%	2.44%	2.60%	2.44%	2.32%	2.34%	2.30%
Sikhism	1.79%	1.79%	1.89%	1.92%	1.94%	1.87%	1.72%
Buddhism	0.74%	0.74%	0.70%	0.70%	0.77%	0.77%	0.70%
Jainism	0.46%	0.46%	0.48%	0.47%	0.40%	0.41%	0.37%
Zoroastrianism	0.13%	0.09%	0.09%	0.09%	0.08%	0.06%	n/a
Other religions / No religion	0.43%	0.43%	0.41%	0.42%	0.44%	0.72%	0.9%

Literacy

Any one above age 7 who can read and write in any language with an ability to understand was considered a literate. In censuses before 1991, children below the age 5 were treated as illiterates. The literacy rate taking the entire population into account is termed as "crude literacy rate", and taking the population from age 7 and above into account is termed as "effective literacy rate". Effective literacy rate increased to a total of 74.04% with 82.14% of the males and 65.46% of the females being literate.

S.No.	Census Year	Total (%)	Male (%)	Female (%)
1	1901	5.35	9.83	0.60
2	1911	5.92	10.56	1.05
3	1921	7.16	12.21	1.81
4	1931	9.50	15.59	2.93
5	1941	16.10	24.90	7.30
6	1951	16.67	24.95	9.45
7	1961	24.02	34.44	12.95
8	1971	29.45	39.45	18.69
9	1981	36.23	46.89	24.82
10	1991	42.84	52.74	32.17
11	2001	64.83	75.26	53.67
12	2011	74.04	82.14	65.46