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India adds 181 million people in a decade

By Rama Lakshmi

By Rama Lakshmi, Thursday, March 31, 2011

The Washington Post

NEW DELHI — India added more than 181 million people to its swelling population in the past decade, growing to more than 1.21 billion people, according to official census data released Thursday.

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Graphic: A swelling population

“We are now over 17 percent of the world population, and India is 2.4 percent of the world’s surface area,” said C. Chandramouli, India’s census commissioner. “We have added the population of Brazil to India’s numbers this time.”

The total population grew from 1.03 billion people in 2001 to 1.21 billion this year, or an increase of 17 percent, according to the preliminary calculations of the massive census exercise that ended in February.

The population of India — the world’s second most populous nation after China — now almost equals the combined populations of the United States, Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Japan.

But the census’s most alarming finding is the continuing preference for sons over daughters in Indian society. In the past decade, the ratio of girls to boys for children age 6 and younger has plunged to 914 girls per 1,000 boys. The ratio was 927 girls to 1,000 boys in the previous census.

“This is a matter of grave concern. This is the lowest ever in the demographic history of the country,” Chandramouli said. “The tendency has worsened.”

In many parts of India, female fetuses are aborted or female infants killed soon after birth by families that look upon daughters as a financial burden. The trend is worse in the states where people are prosperous and educated, including the northern state of Punjab and the western state of Gujarat.

The trend has continued despite the government forbidding the use of ultrasound tests to reveal the gender of a fetus to its family.

“Whatever policy measures we have been following in the last 40 years will need a complete review now. They have not been effective,” said India’s home secretary, G.K. Pillai.

The overall ratio of females to males in India has improved, with 940 women per 1,000 men now, compared with 933 females per 1,000 males a decade ago. But the national capital region of Delhi has recorded a much lower gender rati



    
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