Hindu, Christian populations equivalent in State

The Muslim share in India’s population has grown faster than the rest between 2001 and 2011, the census on religious groups released by the Central government has revealed.

Hindu religion remains the choice of majority of Indian population -79.8 percent of India still comprises of Hindus, a total of 96.63 crores.

Of the total population in 2011, the number of Hindus was 96.63 crores (79.8%); Muslims 17.22 crores (14.2%); Christians 2.78 crores (2.3%); Sikhs 2.08 crores (1.7%); Buddhists 0.84 crores (0.7%); Jains 0.45 crores (0.4%), Other Religions and Persuasions (ORP) 0.79 crores (0.7%) and Religion Not Stated category 0.29 crores (0.2%).

The religious data of Census 2011 was released on Tuesday after the Registrar General of India (RGI) who reports to the Home Ministry, got a clearance from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

The proportion of the Muslim population to the total population increased by 0.8 per cent. There is “no significant change” in the proportion of Christians and Jains.

The proportion of Sikh population has declined by 0.2 percentage points (PP) and the Buddhist population has declined by 0.1 PP during the decade 2001-2011.

The data was released by sex and residence up to sub-districts and towns. The government released these data on religion recently.

“It’s been shown, for instance, that the growth rates of Muslims in southern states, such as Kerala, are lower than the growth rates of Hindus in Bihar or Uttar Pradesh”.

JD(U), RJD, DMK, SP and some other parties have been asking the government to disclosed the caste census figure.

In 2011, total population was registered as – 121.09 crores, in which Hindus constituted 79.8 percent, Muslims 14.2 percent, Christians 2.3 percent, Sikh 1.7 percent, Buddhist 0.7 percent and Jain 0.4 percent.

The data is likely to become an election issue in states like Assam, Bihar and West Bengal where the Muslim population has shown a sharp increase, compared to Hindus. Before it came to power, the BJP made it clear that it would release the data once it assumed office. In 2001, on the other hand, the Hindus and the Muslims numbered 82.75 crore and 13.81 crore, respectively (total population was 102 crore).

Usually, such data is released within three years.