03 Census of India and Demography

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The Census of India

The Indian Census is the largest single source of avariety of statistical information on differentcharacteristics of the people of India.

With a history of more than 130 years, this reliable,time tested exercise has been bringing out a veritablewealth of statistics every 10 years, beginning from1872 when the first census was conducted in India.

The responsibility of conducting the decennial Censusrests with the Office of the Registrar General underMinistry of Home Affairs, Government of India.


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Historical Background

The Census Commissioners used to look after it

from 1881 Census to 1941 Census. The Census Organisation was set up on an ad-hoc

basis for each Census till the 1951 Census.

The Census Act was enacted in 1948 to provide

for the scheme of conducting population censuswith duties and responsibilities of census officers.

The Government of India decided in May 1949 toinitiate steps for developing systematic collection

of statistics on the size of population, its growth,etc., and established an organisation in theMinistry of Home Affairs under Registrar Generaland ex-Officio Census Commissioner, India.


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Functions and Responsibilities

This organisation was made responsible forgenerating data on population statisticsincluding Vital Statistics and Census.

Later, this office was also entrusted with theresponsibility of implementation of Registrationof Births and Deaths Act, 1969 in the country.

In 2003 this office has been assigned the work ofa pilot project on Multipurpose NationalIdentity Card (MNIC). This pilot project isunder implementation in 12 States and one Unionterritory covering a population of 3.1 million.


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The Census Data The first census of the third millennium and twenty first century the Census of

India, 2001 was the 14th continuous and uninterrupted Indian census since 1872.

The Census of India, 2001 was conducted in two distinct but inter-related phases.

1. The first phase, the House-listing Operation was conducted between April-

September, 2000 in different states and union territories as a prelude to the exercise

of undertaking the decennial Population Census. During this House-listing

Operation, data on housing conditions, amenities and assets available to the

households were also collected.2. The second phase of census i.e. Population Enumeration, was undertaken

between February, 9-28th 2001 (both days inclusive) with a revisional round from

1st to 5th March, 2001.

The Census moment was 00.00 hours of 1st March, 2001, the referral time at which

the snapshot of the population of the country was taken. This was a departure from

the earlier census tradition, as until the 1991 Census (except 1971), the sunrise of

1st March of the relevant Census year was the census moment. The enumeration of

houseless population was carried out on the night of February 28th, 2001.


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Census Data Collection

The door to door universal canvassing of the Household Schedule wasmade.

The comprehensive Household Schedule had three parts and two sides Aand B.

Part I contained the Location Particulars;

Part II related to the Individual Particulars and

Part III contained questions for Household engaged inCultivation/Plantation

To facilitate quick tabulation for bringing out Provisional Population Totals,provision for page totalling were made in the schedule itself for a few items

namely population, males, females, population aged 0-6 years by sex,literates, illiterates and workers and their categories by sex.

The Provisional Population Totals were put in the public domain on 26thMarch, 2001 within three weeks of the completion of the enumeration.


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Concepts and Definitions

It is important for the data users to familiarize

themselves with the concepts and the definitions of

the terms used for proper appreciations of the data

contained in this publication. At the same time, it is all the more important to

understand the implications of the terms used at the

Census of India 2001, for making meaningful

comparisons of the similar data generated by various

other agencies within the country and with the data

produced by other countries in the world.


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Persons enumerated

In Census, every person irrespective of age, sex,

caste, creed, region, origin or religion is counted only

once, without omission or duplication.

Foreigners who are expected to stay within thegeographical limits of this country throughout the

enumeration period are to be counted wherever they

are found, if not enumerated elsewhere. It may also

be important to state that the foreigners and their

families who were having diplomatic status were not

enumerated.


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Household

A 'household' is usually a group of persons

who normally live together and take their

meals from a common kitchen.


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Literates

A person aged 7 years and above who can bothread and write with understanding in anylanguage has been taken as literate. It is notnecessary for a person to have received any

formal education or passed any minimumeducational standard for being treated as literate.People who were blind and could read in Brailleare treated to be literates.

All children of age 6 years or less, even if goingto school and have picked up reading and writing,are treated as illiterate.


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Work

Work is defined as participation in any economically productive activity

with or without compensation, wages or profit. Such participation may bephysical and/or mental in nature. All persons engaged in 'work' as definedabove are workers. Persons who are engaged in cultivation or milkproduction even solely for domestic consumption are also treated asworkers.

A1: Main Workers: worked for 6 months or more

A2: Marginal Workers: worked for less than 6 months A3: Non Workers: did not work at all

B1: Cultivators: are engaged in cultivation of land owned or held fromGovernment or held from private persons or institutions for payment inmoney, kind or share. A person who has given out her/his land to anotherperson or persons or institution(s) for cultivation for money, kind or share

of crop is not treated as cultivator. B2: Agricultural Labourers: worked on another person's land for wages

in money or kind or share.

B3: Household Industry Workers: worked in Household Industry.

B4: Other Workers: engaged in some economic activity, but are notcultivators or agricultural labourers or in Household Industry.


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Some Indices Sex Ratio: Sex ratio has been defined as the number of

females per 1000 males in the population. It is expressedas 'number of females per 1000 males'.

Child Sex Ratio (0-6 years): Child Sex-ratio (0-6 years)has been defined as the number of females in age-group

0-6 years per 1000 males in the same age-group in thepopulation.

Literacy Rate: Literacy rate of population is defined asthe percentage of literates to the total population of age 7

years and above. Work Participation Rate: Work participation rate is

defined as the percentage of total workers (main andmarginal) to total population.


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Definition of Slum Slums have come to form an integral part of the phenomena of

urbanization in India. It is for the first time in the history of censusin the country that the slum demography is being presented on thebasis of the actual count.

For the purpose of Census of India, 2001, the slum areas broadlyconstitute of :-

(i) All specified areas in a town or city notified as Slum byState/Local Government and UT Administration under any Actincluding a SlumAct.

(ii) All areas recognized as Slum by State/Local Government andUT Administration, Housing and Slum Boards, which may have not

been formally notified as slum under any act;(iii) A compact area of at least 300 population or at least 60households of poorly built congested tenements, in unhygienicenvironment usually with inadequate infrastructure and lacking inproper sanitary and drinking water facilities.


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Sample Registration SystemRegistration of births and deaths is an important source for demographic

data for socio-economic development and population control in developingcountries. The data on population growth, fertility and mortality serves asthe starting point for population projections. Apart from these vitalindicators, an adequate evaluation of a number of programs in the healthsector, including family planning, maternal and reproductive health,immunization programs, is dependent upon the availability of accurate, up-to-date fertility and mortality data.

The registration of births and deaths started on voluntary basis and therewas no uniformity in statistical returns resulting in both under-registrationand incomplete coverage. In order to unify the civil registration activities,the Registration of Births & Deaths Act, 1969 was enacted.

With a view to generate reliable and continuous data on these indicators,the Office of the Registrar General, India, initiated the scheme of sample

registration of births and deaths in India popularly known as SampleRegistration System (SRS) in 1964-65 on a pilot basis and on full scalefrom 1969-70. The SRS since then has been providing data on regularbasis.

Despite having the registration of birth & death compulsory under thestatute, the level of registration of births and deaths under the Act has

continued to be far from satisfactory in several states/UTs.


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SRS: The Dual Record System

The SRS in India is based on a dual record system.The field investigation under Sample Registration Systemconsists of

(i) continuous enumeration of births and deaths in a sample ofvillages/urban blocks by a resident part time enumerator, and

(ii) an independent six monthly retrospective survey by a fulltime supervisor.

The data obtained through these two sources are matched. Theunmatched and partially matched events are re-verified in thefield to get an unduplicated count of correct events.

The advantage of this procedure, in addition to elimination oferrors of duplication, is that it leads to a quantitativeassessment of the sources of distortion in the two sets of

records making it a self evaluating technique.


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Structure of the Sample Registration System

The main components of SRS are:

Base-line survey of the sample units to obtain usual resident

population of the sample areas

Continuous (longitudinal) enumeration of vital events pertaining

to usual resident population by the enumerator

Independent retrospective half-yearly surveys for recordingbirths and deaths which occurred during the half-year under

reference and up-dating the House list, Household schedule and

the list of women in the reproductive age group along with their

pregnancy status by the Supervisor;

Matching of events recorded during continuous enumeration and

those listed in course of half-yearly survey.

Field verification of unmatched and partially matched events.

Filling of Verbal Autopsy Forms for finalized deaths.


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Mortality rates

Mortality rate is a measure of the number of deaths(in general, or due to a specific cause) in somepopulation, scaled to the size of that population, perunit time. Mortality rate is typically expressed in units

of deaths per 1000 individuals per year; thus, amortality rate of 9.5 in a population of 100,000 wouldmean 950 deaths per year in that entire population.

It is distinct from morbidity rate, which refers to thenumber of individuals in poor health during a giventime period (the prevalence rate) or the number whocurrently have that disease (the incidence rate), scaledto the size of the population.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deathhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morbidity_ratehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prevalence_ratehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incidence_ratehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incidence_ratehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incidence_ratehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incidence_ratehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prevalence_ratehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prevalence_ratehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prevalence_ratehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morbidity_ratehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morbidity_ratehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morbidity_ratehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death


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Mortality Rates of Children

Infant mortality rate is defined as the number of

infant deaths (one year of age or younger) per 1000

live births.

The Child Mortality Rate: The child mortality rateor under-5 mortality rate is the number of children

who die by the age of five, per thousand live births.

The Perinatal Mortality Rate: It is the sum of

neonatal deaths and fetal deaths (stillbirths) per 1000

births.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infanthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perinatal_mortalityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perinatal_mortalityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perinatal_mortalityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perinatal_mortalityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infant


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Other Mortality Rates

The Crude Death Rate: It is the total number of deaths per

year per 1000 people.

The Maternal Mortality Rate: It is the number of maternal

deaths due to childbearing per 100,000 live births.

The Standardized Mortality Rate (SMR): This represents a

proportional comparison to the numbers of deaths that would

have been expected if the population had been of a standard

composition in terms of age, gender, etc.

The Age-Specific Mortality Rate (ASMR): This refers to the

total number of deaths per year per 1000 people of a given age

(e.g. age 62 last birthday).


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Discussions

Note that the crude death rate as defined above and applied to a

whole population can give a misleading impression. The crude death

rate depends on the age (and gender) specific mortality rates and the

age (and gender) distribution of the population. The number of

deaths per 1000 people can be higher for developed nations than inless-developed countries, despite life expectancy being higher in

developed countries due to standards of health being better. This

happens because developed countries typically have a completely

different population age distribution, with a much higher proportion

of older people, due to both lower recent birth rates and lowermortality rates. A more complete picture of mortality is given by a

life table which shows the mortality rate separately for each age. A

life table is necessary to give a good estimate oflife expectancy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birth_ratehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_tablehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_expectancyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_expectancyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_expectancyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_expectancyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_tablehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_tablehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_tablehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birth_ratehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birth_ratehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birth_rate


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Fertility rates

Crude Birth Rate: CBR is the nativity or childbirths per 1,000 people per year.

General fertility rate (GFR): This measures the number of births per 1,000 womenaged 15 to 49.

Standardised birth rate (SBR): This compares the age-sex structure to a hypotheticalstandard population.

Total Fertility Rate (TFR): TFR is a measure of the fertility of an imaginary woman

who passes through her reproductive life subject to all the age-specific fertility rates forages 1549 that were recorded for a given population in a given year. In other words, thisrate is the number of children a woman would have if she was subject to prevailingfertility rates at all ages from a single given year, and survives throughout all herchildbearing years.

Net Reproduction Rate (NRR): NRR measures the number of daughters a woman

would have in her lifetime if she were subject to prevailing age-specific fertility andmortality rates in the given year. When the NRR is exactly one, then each generation ofwomen is exactly reproducing itself. The NRR is less widely used than the TFR, and theUnited Nations stopped reporting NRR data for member nations after 1998. But theNRR is particularly relevant where the number of male babies born is very high.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Childbirthhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Childbirth


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Vital Statistics

(Figures at a Glance, India 2003)

Total RuralUrban1. Percentage distribution of population by

broad age groups0-14 32.3 33.7 28.3

15-59 60.5 59.1 64.6

60+

7.2

7.2

7.2

2. Fertility indicatorsCrude birth rate 24.8 26.4 19.8

Total fertility rate 3.0 3.2 2.2

Gross reproduction rate 1.4 1.5 1

3. Mortality indicatorsCrude death rate 8 8.7 6

Infant mortality rate 60 66 38

Neo-natal mortality rate 37 41 22

Still birth rate 9 9 8

Source: Census of India

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03 Census of India and Demography