6

POPULATION

C
an you imagine a world without human We are primarily concerned with three
beings? Who would have utilised major questions about the population:
resources and created the social and
(i) Population size and distribution: How
cultural environment? The people are
many people are there and where are they
important to develop the economy and society.
located?
The people make and use resources and are
(ii) Population growth and processes of
themselves resources with varying quality.
population change: How has the
Coal is but a piece of rock, until people were
population grown and changed through
able to invent technology to obtain it and make
time?
it a ‘resource’. Natural events like a river flood
(iii) Characteristics or qualities of the
or Tsunami becomes a ‘disaster’ only when
population: What are their age, sex-
they affect a crowded village or a town.
Hence, population is the pivotal element in composition, literacy levels, occupational
social studies. It is the point of reference from structure and health conditions?
which all other elements are observed and from
which they derive significance and meaning. POPULATION SIZE AND DISTRIBUTION
‘Resources’, ‘calamities’ and ‘disasters’ are all
India’s Population Size and Distribution by
meaningful only in relation to human beings.
Numbers
Their numbers, distribution, growth and
characteristics or qualities provide the basic India’s population as on March 2001 stood at
background for understanding and 1,028 million, which account for 16.7 per cent
appreciating all aspects of the environment. of the world’s population. These 1.02 billion
Human beings are producers and people are unevenly distributed over our
consumers of earth’s resources. Therefore, it country’s vast area of 3.28 million square km,
is important to know how many people are which accounts for 2.4 per cent of the world’s
there in a country, where do they live, how and area (Figure 6.1)
why their numbers are increasing and what The 2001 Census data reveals that Uttar
are their characteristics. The census of India Pradesh with a population size of 166 million
provides us with information regarding the people is the most populous state of India. Uttar
population of our country. Pradesh accounts for about 16 per cent of the
Census
A census is an official enumeration of population done periodically. In India the first census was held in the year
1872. The first complete census, however was taken in the year 1881. Since then censuses have been held
regularly every tenth year.
The Indian Census is the most comprehensive source of demographic, social and economic data. Have you
ever seen a census report? Check in your library if it has one.
 POPULATION is calculated as the number of persons per unit
area. India is one of the most densely populated
Rest of the world, 83.3%
countries of the world.

Do You Know? Only Bangladesh and Japan have

higher average population densities
than India. Find out the population densities of
Bangladesh and Japan.
India, 16.7% The population density of India in the year
2001 was 324 persons per sq km. Densities
vary from 904 persons per sq km in West
AREA
Bengal to only 13 persons per sq km in
Rest of the world, 97.6% Arunachal Pradesh. A study of the figure 6.3
shows the pattern of uneven distribution of
population densities at the state level.

Activity
India, 2.4%
Study the figure 6.3 and compare it with
figure 2.4 and figure 4.7. Do you find any
corelation between these maps?
Fig 6.1 : India’s share of world’s area and population

country’s population. On the other hand, the Note the states with population densities
Himalayan state Sikkim has a population of below 250 persons per square km. Rugged
just about 0.5 million and Lakshadweep has terrain and unfavourable climatic conditions
only 60 thousand people. are primarily responsible for sparse population
Almost half of India’s population lives in in these areas. Which states have density below
just five states. These are Uttar Pradesh, 100 persons per square km?
Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal, and Andhra
Pradesh. Rajasthan, the biggest state in terms Assam and most of the Peninsular states
of area, has only 5.5 per cent of the total have moderate population densities. Hilly,
population of India (Figure 6.2) dissected and rocky nature of the terrain,
Others 51.2% moderate to low rainfall, shallow and less
fertile soils have influenced population
densities in these areas.
The Northern Plains and Kerala in the
Andhra
south have high to very high population
Pradesh 7.41% densities because of the flat plains with fertile
soils and abundant rainfall. Identify the three
W. Bengal Uttar states of the Northern Plains with high
7.79% Bihar Pradesh 16.16%
8.02%
Maharashtra population densities.
9.42%

Figure 6.2 : Distribution of Population

POPULATION GROWTH AND PROCESSES OF
• What could be the reason of uneven POPULATION CHANGE
distribution of population in India?
Population is a dynamic phenomenon. The
India’s Population Distribution by Density numbers, distribution and composition of the
population are constantly changing. This is the
Population density provides a better picture influence of the interaction of the three processes,
of the uneven distribution. Population density namely-births, deaths and migrations.

54 CONTEMPORARY INDIA
 HARYANA

Figure 6.3 : Density of Population in India

POPULATION 55
Population Growth Table 6.1 and figure 6.4 reveal that from
1951 to 1981, the annual rate of population
Growth of population refers to the change in
growth was steadily increasing; which
the number of inhabitants of a country/territory
explains the rapid increase in population
during a specific period of time, say during the
from 361 million in 1951 to 683 million in
last ten years. Such a change can be expressed
in two ways: in terms of absolute numbers and 1981.
in terms of percentage change per year.
• Table 6.1 reveals that despite the
The absolute numbers added each year or decline in growth rates, the number of people being
decade is the magnitude of increase. It is added every decade is steadily increasing. Why?
obtained by simply subtracting the earlier
population (e.g. that of 1991) from the later Since 1981, however, the rate of growth
population (e.g. that of 2001). It is referred to started declining gradually. During this
as the absolute increase. period, birth rates declined rapidly. Still 182
The rate or the pace of population increase million people were added to the total
is the other important aspect. It is studied in population in the 1990s alone (an annual
per cent per annum, e.g. a rate of increase of 2 addition larger than ever before).
per cent per annum means that in a given year, It is essential to realise that India has a very
there was an increase of two persons for every large population. When a low annual rate is
100 persons in the base population. This is applied to a very large population, it yields a
referred to as the annual growth rate.
large absolute increase. When more than a
India’s population has been steadily
billion people increase even at a lower rate, the
increasing from 361 million in 1951 to 1028
total numbers being added becomes very large.
million in 2001.
India’s current annual increase in population
Table 6.1 : The Magnitude and Rate of India’s
Population Growth
of 15.5 million is large enough to neutralise
efforts to conserve the resource endowment
Year Total Absolute Annual
Population Increase in Growth
and environment.
(in millions) the decade Rate The declining trend of the growth rate is
(in million) (%) indeed a positive indicator of the efforts of birth
1951 361.0 42.43 1.25 control. Despite that, the total additions to the
1961 439.2 78.15 1.96 population base continue to grow, and India
1971 548.2 108.92 2.20
1981 683.3 135.17 2.22 may overtake China in 2045 to become the
1991 846.4 163.09 2.14 most populous country in the world.
2001 1028.7 182.32 1.93

12 2.5
Annual Growth Rate %

10
2
Population in Millions

8
1.5
6

1
4

0.5
2
Total Pupulation

Annual Growth
0 0
1951 1961 1971 1981 1991 2001
Year

Figure 6.4 : India’s Population and Population Growth Rates during 1951-2001

56 CONTEMPORARY INDIA
Processes of Population Change/Growth population size but also the population
composition of urban and rural populations
There are three main processes of change of
in terms of age and sex composition. In India,
population : birth rates, death rates and
the rural-urban migration has resulted in a
migration.
The natural increase of population is the steady increase in the percentage of population
difference between birth rates and death rates. in cities and towns. The urban population has
Birth rate is the number of live births per increased from 17.29 per cent of the total
thousand persons in a year. It is a major population in 1951 to 27.78 per cent in 2001.
component of growth because in India, birth There has been a significant increase in the
rates have always been higher than death number of ‘million plus cities’ from 23 to 35 in
rates. just one decade i.e. 1991 to 2001.
Death rate is the number of deaths per
thousand persons in a year. The main cause Age Composition
of the rate of growth of the Indian population The age composition of a population refers to
has been the rapid decline in death rates. the number of people in different age groups
Till 1980, high birth rates and declining in a country. It is one of the most basic
death rates led to a large difference between characteristics of a population. To an important
birth rates and death rates resulting in higher degree, a person’s age influences what he
rates of population growth. Since 1981, birth needs, buys, does and his capacity to perform.
rates have also started declining gradually, Consequently, the number and percentage of
resulting in a gradual decline in the rate of a population found within the children,
population growth. What are the reasons for working age and aged groups are notable
this trend? determinants of the population’s social and
The third component of population growth economic structure.
is migration. Migration is the movement of The population of a nation is generally
people across regions and territories. Migration grouped into three broad categories:
can be internal (within the country) or
international (between the countries). Children (generally below 15 years)
Internal migration does not change the size
of the population, but influences the distribution They are economically unproductive and need
of population within the nation. Migration plays to be provided with food, clothing, education
a very significant role in changing the composition and medical care.
and distribution of population.
Activity
India : Age Structure Adults, 58.7%
On a map, trace the migration of each
of your grandparents and parents Aged, 6.9%
since their birth. Try and analyse the
reasons for each move. Children, 34.4%

In India, most migrations have been from

rural to urban areas because of the “push”
factor in rural areas. These are adverse
conditions of poverty and unemployment in the
rural areas and the “pull” of the city in terms
of increased employment opportunities and
better living conditions.
Migration is an important determinant of
population change. It changes not only the
Figure 6.5: India: Age Composition

POPULATION 57
Working Age (15-59 years) • What could be the reasons for such
variations?
They are economically productive and
biologically reproductive. They comprise the
Literacy Rates
working population.
Literacy is a very important quality of a
Aged (Above 59 years) population. Obviously, only an informed and
educated citizen can make intelligent choices
They can be economically productive though
and undertake research and development
they and may have retired. They may be
projects. Low levels of literacy are a serious
working voluntarily but they are not available
obstacle for economic improvement.
for employment through recruitment.
According to the Census of 2001, a person
The percentage of children and the aged
aged 7 years. and above who can read and
affect the dependency ratio because these
write with understanding in any language, is
groups are not producers. The proportion of
treated as literate.
the three groups in India’s population is
There has been a steady improvement in
already presented in figure 6.5 .
the literacy levels in India. The literacy rate in
Activity :
the country as per the Census of 2001 is 64.84
(i) How many children do you know who are per cent; 75.26 per cent for males and 53.67
engaged as household helpers, labourers in per cent for females. Why do such differences
your locality? exist?
(ii) How many adults do you know in your locality
who are unemployed?
(iii) What do you feel are the reasons for this? Occupational Structure
The percentage of population that is
economically active is an important index of
Sex Ratio development. The distribution of the
Sex ratio is defined as the number of females population according to different types of
per 1000 males in the population. This occupation is referred to as the occupational
information is an important social indicator structure. An enormous variety of occupations
to measure the extent of equality between are found in any country. Occupations are
males and females in a society at a given time. generally classified as primary, secondary, and
The sex ratio in the country has always tertiary.
remained unfavourable to females. Find out Primary activities include agriculture,
why this is so? Table 6.2 shows the sex ratio animal husbandry, forestry, fishing, mining
from 1951-2001. and quarrying etc. Secondary activities include
Table 6.2 : India : Sex Ratio 1951-2001 manufacturing industry, building and
Census year Sex ratio construction work etc. Tertiary activities
(Females per 1000 males) include transport, communications,
1951 946 commerce, administration and other services.
1961 941 The proportion of people working in
1971 930
1981 934 different activities varies in developed and
1991 929 developing countries. Developed nations have
2001 933
a high proportion of people in secondary, and
tertiary activities. Developing countries tend
• Kerala has a sex ratio of 1058 to have a higher proportion of their workforce
females per 1000 males, Pondicherry has 1001 engaged in primary activities. In India, about
females for every 1000males, while Delhi has
64 per cent of the population is engaged only
only 821 females per 1000 and Haryana has
just 861. in agriculture. The proportion of population
dependent on secondary and tertiary sectors

58 CONTEMPORARY INDIA
is about 13 and 20 per cent respectively. There anaemia. Their problems have so far not
has been an occupational shift in favour of received adequate attention in the process of
secondary and tertiary sectors because of development. The adolescent girls have to be
growing industrialisation and urbanisation in sensitised to the problems they confront. Their
recent times. awareness can be improved through the spread
of literacy and education among them.
Health
National Population Policy
Health is an important component of
population composition, which affects the Recognising that the planning of families would
process of development. Sustained efforts of improve individual health and welfare, the
government programmes have registered Government of India initiated the
significant improvements in the health comprehensive Family Planning Programme in
conditions of the Indian population. Death 1952. The Family Welfare Programme has
rates have declined from 25 per 1000 sought to promote responsible and planned
population in 1951 to 8.1 per 1000 in 2001 parenthood on a voluntary basis. The National
and life expectancy at birth has increased from Population Policy 2000 is a culmination of
36.7 years in 1951 to 64.6 years in 2001. years of planned efforts.
The substantial improvement is the result The NPP 2000 provides a policy framework
of many factors including improvement in for imparting free and compulsory school
public health, prevention of infectious diseases education up to 14 years of age, reducing
and application of modern medical practices infant mortality rate to below 30 per 1000 live
in diagnosis and treatment of ailments. births, achieving universal immunisation of
Despite considerable achievements, the children against all vaccine preventable
health situation is a matter of major concern diseases, promoting delayed marriage for girls,
for India. The per capita calorie consumption and making family welfare a people-centered
is much below the recommended levels and programme.
malnutrition afflicts a large percentage of our
population. Safe drinking water and basic NPP 2000 and Adolescents
sanitation amenities are available to only one-
NPP 2000 identified adolescents as one of the
third of the rural population. These problems
major sections of the population that need
need to be tackled through an appropriate
greater attention. Besides nutritional
population policy.
requirements, the policy put greater emphasis
on other important needs of adolescents
Adolescent Population
including protection from unwanted
The most significant feature of the Indian pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases
population is the size of its adolescent (STD). It called for programmes that aim
population. It constitutes one-fifth of the total towards encouraging delayed marriage and
population of India. Adolescents are generally child-bearing, education of adolescents about
grouped in the age-group of 10 to 19 years. the risks of unprotected sex, making
They are the most important resource for the contraceptive services accessible and
future. Nutrition requirements of adolescents affordable, providing food supplements,
are higher than those of a normal child or adult. nutritional services, strengthening legal
Poor nutrition can lead to deficiency and measures to prevent child marriage.
stunted growth. But in India, the diet available People are the nation’s most valuable
to adolescents is inadequate in all nutrients. A resource. A well- educated healthy population
large number of adolescent girls suffer from provides potential power.

POPULATION 59
 EXERCISE

1. Choose the right answer from the four alternatives given below.
(i) Migrations change the number, distribution and composition of the
population in
(a) the area of departure (c) both the area of departure and arrival
(b) the area of arrival (d) none of the above
(ii) A large proportion of children in a population is a result of
(a) high birth rates (c) high death rates
(b) high life expectancies (d) more married couples
(iii) The magnitude of population growth refers to
(a) the total population of an area
(b) the number of persons added each year
(c) the rate at which the population increases
(d) the number of females per thousand males
(iv) According to the Census 2001, a “literate” person is one who
(a) can read and write his/her name
(b) can read and write any language
(c) is 7 years old and can read and write any language with understanding
(d) knows the 3 ‘R’s (reading, writing, arithematic)
2. Answer the following questions briefly.
(i) Why is the rate of population growth in India declining since 1981?
(ii) Discuss the major components of population growth.
(iii) Define age structure, death rate and birth rate.
(iv) How is migration a determinant factor of population change?
3. Distinguish between population growth and population change.
4. What is the relation between occupational structure and development?
5. What are the advantages of having a healthy population?
6. What are the significant features of the National Population Policy 2000?

PROJECT/ACTIVITY

Conduct a class census by preparing a questionnaire. The questionnaire should

contain minimum five questions. Questions should relate to students, their
family members, their class performance, their health etc. Each student is
required to fill up the questionnaire. Compile the information in numerical terms
(in terms of percentage). Present the information through pie-chart, bar-diagram
or in any other way.

60 CONTEMPORARY INDIA
 The people are very important component of a
Unit I country. India is the second most populous
Chapter 1 country after China in the world with its total
population of 1,028 million (2001). India’s
population is larger than the total population
of North America, South America and Australia
put together. More often, it is argued that such
a large population invariably puts pressure
on its limited resources and is also responsible
for many socio-economic problems in the
country.

How do you perceive the idea of India? Is

POPULATION it simply a territory? Does this signify an
amalgam of people? Is it a territory
Distribution, Density, Growth inhabited by people living under certain
institutions of governance?
and Composition
In this chapter, we will discuss the
patterns of distribution, density, growth and
composition of India’s population.

Sources of Population Data

Population data are collected through
Census operation held every 10 years in our
country. The first population Census in India
was conducted in 1872 but its first complete
Census was conducted only in 1881.

Distrib ution of P
Distribution opula
Population
opulation
Examine Fig. 1.1 and try to describe the
patterns of spatial distribution of population
shown on it. It is clear that India has a highly
uneven pattern of population distribution. The
percentage shares of population of the states
and Union Territories in the country (Appendix–i)
show that Uttar Pradesh has the highest
population followed by Maharashtra, Bihar,
West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh.

Looking at the data in Appendix (i) arrange the Indian

states and union territories according to their sizes and
population and find out :
 Fig. 1.1 : India – Distribution of Population

2 India : People and Economy

States/UTs of large size and large population of transport network. On the other hand, the
urban regions of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata,
States/UTs of large size but small population Bangalore, Pune, Ahmedabad, Chennai and
Jaipur have high concentration of population
States/UTs of smaller size but larger population due to industrial development and
urbanisation drawing a large numbers of
Check from the table (Appendix–i) that U.P.,
rural-urban migrants.
Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal, Andhra
Pradesh along with Tamil Nadu, Madhya
Density of Popula
Population
opulation
Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Gujarat,
together account for about 76 per cent of the total Density of population, is expressed as number
population of the country. On the other hand, of persons per unit area. It helps in getting a
share of population is very small in the states like better understanding of the spatial distribution
Jammu & Kashmir (0.98%), Arunachal Pradesh of population in relation to land. The density of
(0.11%) and Uttaranchal (0.83%) inspite of theses population in India (2001) is 313 persons per
states having fairly large geographical area. sq km and ranks third among the most densely
Such an uneven spatial distribution of populated countries of Asia following
population in India suggests a close relationship Bangladesh (849 persons) and Japan (334
between population and physical, socio- persons). There has been a steady increase of
economic and historical factors. As far as the about 200 persons per sq km over the last 50
physical factors are concerned, it is clear that years as the density of population increased
climate along with terrain and availability of from 117 persons/ sq km in 1951 to 313
water largely determines the pattern of the persons/sq km in 2001.
population distribution. Consequently, we The data shown in Appendix (i) give an idea
observe that the North Indian Plains, deltas and of spatial variation of population densities in the
Coastal Plains have higher proportion of
country which ranges from as low as 13 persons
population than the interior districts of southern
per sq km in Arunachal Pradesh to 9,340
and central Indian States, Himalayas, some of
persons in the National Capital Territory of Delhi.
the north eastern and the western states.
Among the northern Indian States, West Bengal
However, development of irrigation (Rajasthan),
(903), Bihar (880) and Uttar Pradesh (690) have
availability of mineral and energy resources
(Jharkhand) and development of transport higher densities, while Kerala (819) and Tamil
network (Peninsular States) have resulted in Nadu (480) have higher densities among the
moderate to high proportion of population in peninsular Indian states. States like Assam,
areas which were previously very thinly Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Jharkhand,
populated (Fig. 1.1). Orissa have moderate densities. The hill states
Among the socio-economic and historical of the Himalayan region and North eastern states
factors of distribution of population, important of India (excluding Assam) have relatively low
ones are evolution of settled agriculture and densities while the Union Territories (excluding
agricultural development; pattern of human Andaman and Nicobar islands) have very high
settlement; development of transport network, densities of population (Fig. 1.2).
industrialisation and urbanisation. It is The density of population, as discussed
observed that the regions falling in the river in the earlier paragraph, is a crude measure
plains and coastal areas of India have remained of human and land relationship. To get a better
the regions of larger population concentration. insight into the human-land ratio in terms of
Even though the uses of natural resources like pressure of population on total cultivable land,
land and water in these regions have shown the physiological and the agricultural densities
the sign of degradation, the concentration of should be found out which are significant for
population remains high because of an early a country like India having a large agricultural
history of human settlement and development population.

Population: Distribution, Density, Growth and Composition 3

 Fig. 1.2 : India – Density of Population

4 India : People and Economy

 induced components are explained by the
Physiological density = total population / volume of inward and outward movement of
net cultivated area people in any given area. However, in the present
Agricultural density = total agricultural chapter, we will only discuss the natural growth
population / net cultivable area of India’s population.
The decadal and annual growth rates of
Agricultural population includes cultivators population in India are both very high and
and agricultural labourers and their family steadily increasing over time. The annual
members.
growth rate of India’s population is 2.4 per cent.
At this current rate of increase, it is estimated
that the country’s population will double itself
in another 36 years and even surpass
population of China.
With the help of data given in Appendix (ii), Calculate
the Physiological and Agricultural densities of
population of Indian States and Union Territories. Population Doubling Time
Compare them with density of population and see how
are these different? Population doubling time is the time taken
by any population to double itself at its
current annual growth rate.
Growth of P
Growth opula
Population
opulation
Growth of population is the change in the
number of people living in a particular area The growth rate of population in India over
between two points of time. Its rate is expressed the last one century has been caused by annual
in percentage. Population growth has two birth rate and death rate and rate of migration
components namely; natural and induced. and thereby shows different trends. There are
While the natural growth is analysed by four distinct phases of growth identified within
assessing the crude birth and death rates, the this period:

Table 1.1 : Decadal Growth Rates in India, 1901-2001

Census Total Population Growth Rate*

Years Absolute Number % of Growth

1901 238396327 ------------ ------------
1911 252093390 (+) 13697063 (+) 5.75
1921 251321213 (-) 772117 (-) 0.31
1931 278977238 (+) 27656025 (+) 11.60
1941 318660580 (+) 39683342 (+) 14.22
1951 361088090 (+) 42420485 (+) 13.31
1961 439234771 (+) 77682873 (+) 21.51
1971 548159652 (+) 108924881 (+) 24.80
1981 683329097 (+) 135169445 (+) 24.66
1991 846302688 (+) 162973591 (+) 23.85
2001 1028610328 (+) 182307640 (+) 21.54

p 2 -p1
* Decadal growth rate: g= ×100
p2
Where P1 = population of the base year
P2 = population of the present year

Population: Distribution, Density, Growth and Composition 5

 Fig. 1.3 : India – Growth of Population

6 India : People and Economy

Phase I : The period from 1901-1921 is Tibetans, Bangladeshis, Nepalies
referred to as a period of stagnant and even people from Pakistan
or stationary phase of growth of contributed to the high growth rate.
India’s population, since in this Phase IV : In the post 1981 till present, the
period growth rate was very low, growth rate of country’s population
even recording a negative growth though remained high, has started
rate during 1911-1921. Both the slowing down gradually (Table 1.1).
birth rate and death rate were high A downward trend of crude birth
keeping the rate of increase low rate is held responsible for such a
(Appendix–iii). Poor health and population growth. This was, in
medical services, illiteracy of people turn, affected by an increase in the
at large and inefficient distribution mean age at marriage, improved
system of food and other basic quality of life particularly education
necessities were largely responsible of females in the country.
for a high birth and death rates in The growth rate of population is, however,
this period. still high in the country, and it has been
Phase II : The decades 1921-1951 are projected by World Development Report that
referred to as the period of steady population of India will touch 1,350 million by
population growth. An overall 2025.
improvement in health and The analysis done so far shows the average
sanitation throughout the country growth rate, but the country also has wide
brought down the mortality rate. At variation (Appendix–iv) in growth rates from one
the same time better transport and area to another which is discussed below.
communication system improved Regional Varia
Variation in P
ariation opula
Population Gr
opulation owth
Growth
distribution system. The crude
The growth rate of population during 1991-
birth rate remained high in this
2001 in Indian States and Union Territories
period leading to higher growth rate
shows very obvious pattern.
than the previous phase. This is
The States like Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil
impressive at the backdrop of Great
Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Pondicherry,
Economic Depression, 1920s and
and Goa show a low rate of growth not exceeding
World War II.
20 per cent over the decade. Kerala registered
Phase III : The decades 1951-1981 are
the lowest growth rate (9.4) not only in this group
referred to as the period of
of states but also in the country as a whole.
population explosion in India, A continuous belt of states from west to
which was caused by a rapid fall east in the north-west, north , and north central
in the mortality rate but a high parts of the country has relatively high growth
fertility rate of population in the rate than the southern states. It is in this belt
country. The average annual comprising Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan,
growth rate was as high as 2.2 per Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal,
cent. It is in this period, after the Madhya Pradesh, Sikkim, Assam, West Bengal,
Independence, that developmental Bihar, Chhattisgarh, and Jharkhand, the growth
activities were introduced through rate on the average remained 20-25 per cent.
a centralised planning process and
economy started showing up
ensuring the improvement of living
condition of people at large. Why have the north-eastern states on the
Consequently, there was a high one hand and some of the Union Territories
natural increase and higher growth on the other (leaving Pondicherr y,
rate. Besides, increased Lakshadweep, and Andaman and Nicobar
islands) very high growth rates?
international migration bringing in

Population: Distribution, Density, Growth and Composition 7

 to look into youth health, sports and
recreation, creativity and awareness about new
Take the population growth data of the districts/selected innovations in the spheres of science and
districts of your respective state for total male and female technology.
population and represent them with the help of It appears from the above discussion that
Composite Bar Graph. the growth rate of population is widely variant
over space and time in the country and also
An important aspect of population growth highlights various social problems related to the
in India is the growth of its adolescents. At growth of population. However, in order to have
present the share of adolescents i.e. up to the a better insight into the growth pattern of
age group of 10-19 years is about 22 per cent population it is also necessary to look into the
(2001), among which male adolescents social composition of population.
constitute 53 per cent and female adolescents
constitute 47 per cent. The adolescent Population Composition
opulation
population, though, regarded as the youthful Population composition is a distinct field of
population having high potentials, but at the study within population geography with a vast
same time they are quite vulnerable if not guided coverage of analysis of age and sex, place of
and channelised properly. There are many residence, ethnic characteristics, tribes,
challenges for the society as far as these language, religion, marital status, literacy and
adolescents are concerned, some of which are education, occupational characteristics, etc. In
lower age at marriage, illiteracy – particularly this section, the composition of Indian
female illiteracy, school dropouts, low intake of population with respect to their rural-urban
nutrients, high rate of maternal mortality of characteristics, language, religion and pattern
adolescent mothers, high rates of HIV/AIDS of occupation will be discussed.
infections, physical and mental disability or
retardedness, drug abuse and alcoholism, juvenile Rural – Urban Composition
delinquency and commitence of crimes, etc. Composition of population by their respective
In view of these, the Government of India places of residence is an important indicator of
has undertaken certain policies to impart social and economic characteristics. This becomes
proper education to the adolescent groups so even more significant for a country where about
that their talents are better channelised and 72 per cent of its total population lives in villages.
properly utilised. The National Youth Policy is
one example which has been designed to look
into the overall development of our large youth
and adolescent population. Using the data given in Appendix (iv), calculate the
The National Youth Policy of Government percentages of rural population of the states in India
of India, launched in 2003, stresses on an all- and represent them cartographically on a map of India.
round improvement of the youth and
adolescents enabling them to shoulder Do you know that India has 638,588
responsibility towards constructive villages according to the Census 2001 out of
development of the country. It also aims at which 593,731 (93 per cent) are inhabited
reinforcing the qualities of patriotism and villages? However, the distribution of rural
responsible citizenship. population is not uniform throughout the
The thrust of this policy is youth country. You might have noted that the states
empowerment in terms of their effective like Bihar and Sikkim have very high
participation in decision making and carrying percentage of rural population. The states of
the responsibility of an able leader. Special Goa and Maharashtra have only little over half
emphasis was given in empowering women and of their total population residing in villages.
girl child to bring parity in the male-female The Union Territories, on the other hand,
status. Moreover, deliberate efforts were made have smaller proportion of rural population,

8 India : People and Economy

except Dadra and Nagar Haveli (77.1 per cent). Linguistic Composition
The size of villages also varies considerably. It
India is a land of linguistic diversity. According
is less than 200 persons in the hill states of
to Grierson (Linguistic Survey of India, 1903 –
north-eastern India, Western Rajasthan and
Rann of Kuchchh and as high as 17 thousand 1928) there were 179 languages and as many
persons in the states of Kerala and in parts of as 544 dialects in the country. In the context of
Maharashtra. A thorough examination of the modern India, there are about 18 scheduled
pattern of distribution of rural population of languages (1991 census) and a number of non-
India reveals that both at intra-State and inter- scheduled languages. See how many languages
State levels, the relative degree of urbanisation appear on a ten Rs note. Among the scheduled
and extent of rural-urban migration regulate languages, the speakers of Hindi have the
the concentration of rural population. highest percentage (40.42). The smallest
You have noted that contrary to rural language groups are Kashmiri and Sanskrit
population, the proportion of urban population speakers (0.01 per cent each). However, it is
(27.8 per cent) in India is quite low but it is noticed that the linguistic regions in the
country do not maintain a sharp and distinct
showing a much faster rate of growth over the
boundary, rather they gradually merge and
decades. In fact since 1931, the growth rate of
overlap in their respective border zones.
urban population has accelerated due to
enhanced economic development and
Linguistic Classification
improvement in health and hygienic conditions.
The distribution of urban population too, The speakers of major Indian languages
as in the case of total population, has a wide belong to four language families, which have
variation throughout the country (Appendix–iv). their sub-families and branches or groups.
This can be better understood from Table 1.2.
Religious Composition
Look at the data of Appendix (iv) and identify the states/ Religion is one of the most dominant forces
UTs with very high and very low proportion of urban affecting the cultural and political life of the most
population. of Indians. Since religion virtually permeates
into almost all the aspects of people’s family and
It is, however, noticed that in almost all the community lives, it is important to study the
states and Union Territories, there has been a religious composition in detail.
considerable increase of urban population. The spatial distribution of religious
This indicates both development of urban areas communities in the country (Appendix–v) shows
in terms of socio-economic conditions and an that there are certain states and districts having
increased rate of rural-urban migration. The large numerical strength of one religion, while
rural-urban migration is conspicuous in the the same may be very negligibly represented in
case of urban areas along the main road links other states.
and railroads in the North Indian Plains, the Hindus are distributed as a major group in
industrial areas around Kolkata, Mumbai, many states (ranging from 70 - 90 per cent and
Bangalore – Mysore, Madurai – Coimbatore, above) except the districts of states along Indo-
Ahmedabad – Surat, Delhi – Kanpur and Bangladesh border, Indo-Pak border, Jammu &
Ludhiana – Jalandhar. In the agriculturally Kashmir, Hill States of North-East and in scattered
stagnant parts of the middle and lower Ganga areas of Deccan Plateau and Ganga Plain.
Plains, Telengana, non-irrigated Western Muslims, the largest religious minority, are
Rajasthan, remote hilly, tribal areas of north- concentrated in Jammu & Kashmir, certain
east, along the flood prone areas of Peninsular districts of West Bengal and Kerala, many
India and along eastern part of Madhya districts of Uttar Pradesh , in and around Delhi
Pradesh, the degree of urbanisation has and in Lakshadweep. They form majority in
remained low. Kashmir valley and Lakshadweep.

Population: Distribution, Density, Growth and Composition 9

 Table 1.2 : Classification of Modern Indian Languages

Family Sub-Family Branch/Group Speech Areas

Austro-Asiatic Mon-Khmer Meghalaya, Nicobar Islands

Austric
(Nishada) Munda West Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, Assam,
1.38% Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra
Austro- Nesian Outside India
South-Dravidian Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala

Dravidian Central Dravidian Andhra Pradesh, M.P., Orissa,

(Dravida) Maharashtra
20%
North Dravidian Bihar, Orissa, West Bengal,
Madhya Pradesh

Tibeto – Myanmari Tibeto-Himalayan Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh,

Sikkim
Sino-Tibetan
(Kirata) North Assam Arunachal Pradesh
0.85%
Siamese-Chinese Assam- Myanmari Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram,
Tripura, Meghalaya

Indo-Aryan Iranian Outside India

Indo – Dardic Jammu & Kashmir
European
(Aryan) 73% Indo-Aryan Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Himachal
Pradesh, U.P., Rajasthan, Haryana, M.P.,
Bihar, Orissa, West Bengal, Assam,
Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa.
Source : Ahmed, A. (1999) : Social Geography, Rawat Publication, New Delhi

Table 1.3 : Religious Communities of India, 2001

Look at Table 1.2 and prepare a pie diagram of linguistic Religious 2001
composition of India showing the sectoral shares of
Groups Population % of Total
each linguistic group. (in million)

Or Hindus 827.6 80.5

Muslims 138.2 13.5
Prepare a qualitative symbol map of India showing the Christians 24.1 2.3
distribution of different linguistic groups in the country.
Sikhs 19.2 1.9
The Christian population is distributed Buddhists 8.0 0.9
mostly in rural areas of the country. The main Jains 4.2 0.4
concentration is observed along the Western
Others 6.6 0.6
coast around Goa, Kerala and also in the hill
states of Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland,
Chotanagpur area and Hills of Manipur. major concentration in the urban areas of
Sikhs are mostly concentrated in relatively Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra, while the
small area of the country, particularly in the Buddhists are concentrated mostly in
states of Punjab, Haryana and Delhi. Maharashtra. The other areas of Buddhist
Jains and Buddhists, the smallest religious majority are Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh,
groups in India have their concentration only Ladakh in Jammu & Kashmir, Tripura, and
in selected areas of the country. Jains have Lahul and Spiti in Himachal Pradesh.

10 India : People and Economy

 The proportion of working population, of
Religion and Landscape the states and Union Territories show a
moderate variation from about 25 per cent in
Formal expression of religions on Goa to about 53 per cent in Mizoram. The states
landscape is manifested through sacred with larger percentages of workers are Himachal
structures, use of cemetries and Pradesh, Sikkim, Chhattisgarh, Andhra
assemblages of plants and animals, groves Pradesh, Karnataka, Arunachal Pradesh,
of trees for religious purposes. Sacred Nagaland, Manipur and Meghalaya. Among the
structures are widely distributed throughout Union Territories, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and
the country. These may range from
Daman and Diu have higher participation rate.
inconspicuous village shrines to large Hindu
It is understood that, in the context of a country
temples, monumental masjids or ornately
like India, the work participation rate tends to
designed cathedrals in large metropolitan
cities. These temples, masjids, gurudwaras,
be higher in the areas of lower levels of economic
monastries and churches differ in size, development since number of manual workers
form, space – use and density, while are needed to perform the subsistence or near
attributing a special dimension to the total subsistence economic activities.
landscape of the area. The occupational composition (see box)
of India’s population (which actually means
engagement of an individual in farming,
The other religions of India include manufacturing trade, services or any kind of
Zoroastrians, tribal and other indigenous faiths professional activities) shows a large proportion
and beliefs. These groups are concentrated in of primary sector workers compared to
small pockets scattered throughout the country. secondary and tertiary sectors. About 58.2 per
cent of total working population are cultivators
Composition of Working Population and agricultural labourers, whereas only 4.2%
of workers are engaged in household industries
The population of India according to their
and 37.6 % are other workers including non-
economic status is divided into three groups,
household industries, trade, commerce,
namely; main workers, marginal workers and
construction and repair and other services. As
non-workers.
far as the occupation of country’s male and
female population is concerned, male workers
out-number female workers in all the three
Standard Census Definition
sectors (Fig.1.4 and Table 1.4).
Main Worker is a person who works for
atleast 183 days in a year.
Occupational Categories
Marginal Worker is a person who works for
less than 183 days in a year. The 2001 Census has divided the working
population of India into four major categories:
1. Cultivators
It is observed that in India, the proportion 2. Agricultural Labourers
of workers (both main and marginal) is only 39
3. Household Industrial Workers
per cent (2001) leaving a vast majority of 61
per cent as non-workers. This indicates an 4. Other Workers.
economic status in which there is a larger
proportion of dependent population, further
indicating possible existence of large number The number of female workers is relatively
of unemployed or under employed people. high in primary sector, though in recent years
there has been some improvement in work
participation of women in secondary and
What is work participation rate? tertiary sectors.

Population: Distribution, Density, Growth and Composition 11

 Fig. 1.4 : India – Occupational Structure, 2001

Identify some issues in which

India is ahead of or lagging
behind its neighbours.

12 India : People and Economy

 Consequently, the participation rate in
secondary and tertiary sector has registered an
Prepare composite bar graphs, one for India and the increase. This indicates a shift of dependence of
other for your respective states showing the proportion workers from farm-based occupations to non-
of male and female workers in agriculture, household farm based ones, indicating a sectoral shift in
industries and other sectors, and compare. the economy of the country.
The spatial variation of work participation
It is important to note that the proportion rate in different sectors in the country
of workers in agricultural sector in India has (Appendix–v) is very wide. For instance, the states
shown a decline over the last few decades like Himachal Pradesh and Nagaland have very
(66.85% in 1991 to 58.2% in 2001). large shares of cultivators. On the other hand
states like Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh,
Orissa, Jharkhand, West Bengal and
Table 1.4 : Sectoral Composition of work force in India, 2001 Madhya Pradesh have higher
proportion of agricultural labourers.
Categories Population
The highly urbanised areas like
Persons % to Male Female Delhi, Chandigarh and Pondicherry
total have a very large proportion of
Workers workers being engaged in other
services. This indicates not only
Primary 234088181 58.2 142745598 91342583 availability of limited farming land,
Secondary 16956942 4.2 8744183 8212759 but also large scale urbanisation and
industrialisation requiring more
Tertiary 151189601 37.6 123524695 27664906
workers in non-farm sectors.

EXERCISES
1. Choose the right answers of the followings from the given options.
(i) India’s population as per 2001 census is :
(a) 1028 million (c) 3287 million
(b) 3182 million (d) 20 million
(ii) Which one of the following states has the highest density of population in
India?
(a) West Bengal (c) Uttar Pradesh
(b) Kerala (d) Punjab
(iii) Which one of the following states has the highest proportion of urban
population in India according to 2001 Census?
(a) Tamil Nadu (c) Kerala
(b) Maharashtra (d) Gujarat

Population: Distribution, Density, Growth and Composition 13

 (iv) Which one of the following is the largest linguistic group of India?
(a) Sino – Tibetan (c) Austric
(b) Indo – Aryan (d) Dravidian
2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words.
(i) Very hot and dry and very cold and wet regions of India have low density
of population. In this light, explain the role of climate on the distribution
of population.
(ii) Which states have large rural population in India? Give one reason for
such large rural population.
(iii) Why do some states of India have higher rates of work participation than
others?
(iv) ‘The agricultural sector has the largest share of Indian workers.’ – Explain.
3. Answer the following questions in about 150 words.
(i) Discuss the spatial pattern of density of population in India.
(ii) Give an account of the occupational structure of India’s population.

14 India : People and Economy

 Ram Babu, working as an engineer in Bhilai
Unit I Steel Plant, Chhattisgarh, was born in a small
Chapter 2 village of district Bhojpur, Bihar. At an early
age of twelve he moved to a nearby town Ara to
complete his intermediate level studies. He went
to Sindri, Jharkhand for his engineering degree
and he got a job at Bhilai, where he is living for
the last 31 years. His parents were illiterate and
the only source of their livelihood was meagre
income from agriculture. They spent their whole
life in that village.
Ram Babu has three children who got their
education up to the intermediate level at Bhilai
and then moved to different places for higher
MIGRATION education. First one studied at Allahabad and
Mumbai and is presently working in Delhi as a
Types, Causes and scientist. The second child got her higher
Consequences education from different universities in India
and is now working in USA. The third one after
finishing her education settled at Surat after
marriage.
This is not a story of only Ram Babu and
his children but such movements are
increasingly becoming universal trend. People
have been moving from one village to another,
from villages to towns, from smaller towns to
bigger towns and from one country to another.
In your Book Fundamentals of Human
Geography you have already learnt about the
concept and definition of migration. Migration
has been an integral part and a very important
factor in redistributing population over time
and space. India has witnessed the waves of
migrants coming to the country from Central
and West Asia and also from Southeast Asia.
In fact, the history of India is a history of waves
of migrants coming and settling one after
another in different parts of the country. In the
words of a renowned poet Firaque Gorakhpuri;

SAR ZAMIN-E-HIND PAR AQWAM-E-ALAM KE

FIRAQUE
CARVAN BASTE GAYE, HINDOSTAN BANTA
GAYA

(The carvans of people from all parts of the

world kept on coming and settling in India and
led to the formation of India.)
Similarly, large numbers of people from
India too have been migrating to places in search
of better opportunities specially to the countries Migration
of the Middle-East, Western Europe, America,
Australia and East and South East Asia. You are familiar with Census in India. It contains
information about migration in the country.
Actually migration was recorded beginning
Indian Diaspora from the first Census of India conducted in
1881. This data were recorded on the basis of
During colonial period (British period)
place of birth. However, the first major
millions of the indentured labourers were
modification was introduced in 1961 Census
sent to Mauritius, Caribbean islands
(
Trinidad, Tobago and Guyana), Fiji and
by bringing in two additional components viz;
South Africa by British from Uttar Pradesh place of birth i.e. village or town and duration
and Bihar; to Reunion Island, Guadeloupe, of residence (if born elsewhere). Further in
Martinique and Surinam by French and 1971, additional information on place of last
Dutch and by Portuguese from Goa, Daman residence and duration of stay at the place of
and Diu to Angola, Mozambique to work as enumeration were incorporated. Information on
plantation workers. All such migrations were reasons for migration were incorporated in
covered under the time-bound contract 1981 Census and modified in consecutive
known as Girmit Ac t (Indian Emigration Act). Censuses.
However, the living conditions of these In the Census the following questions are
indentured labourers were not better than asked on migration :
the slaves. • Is the person born in this village or
The second wave of migrants ventured out into town? If no, then further information
the neighbouring countries in recent times as is taken on rural/urban status of the
professionals, artisans, traders and factory place of birth, name of district and state
workers, in search of economic opportunities and if outside India then name of the
to Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, country of birth.
Brunei and African countries, etc. and the • Has the person come to this village or
trend still continues. There was a steady town from elsewhere? If yes, then
outflow of India’s semi-skilled and skilled labour further questions are asked about the
in the wake of the oil boom in West Asia in status (rural/urban) of previous place
the 1970s. There was also some outflow of
of residence, name of district and state
entrepreneurs, storeowners, professionals,
and if outside India then name of the
businessmen to Western Countries.
country.
Third wave, of migrant was comprised
In addition, reasons for migration from the
professionals like doctors, engineers (1960s
place of last residence and duration of residence
onwards), software engineers, management
in place of enumeration are also asked.
consultants, financial experts, media
persons (1980s onwards), and others
In the Census of India migration is
migrated to countries such as USA, Canada, enumerated on two bases : (i) place of birth, if
UK, Australia, New Zealand and Germany, the place of birth is different from the place of
etc. These professional enjoy the distinction enumeration (known as life-time migrant);
of being one of highly educated, the highest (ii) place of residence, if the place of last
earning and prospering groups. After residence is different from the place of
liberalisation, in the 90s education and enumeration (known as migrant by place of last
knowledge–based Indian emigration has residence). Can you imagine the proportion of
made Indian Diaspora one of the most migrants in the population of India? As per
powerful diasporas in the world. 2001 census, out of 1,029 million people in the
In all these countries, Indian diaspora has country, 307 million (30 per cent) were reported
been playing an important role in the as migrants by place of birth. However, this
development of the respective countries. figure was 315 million (31 per cent) in case of
place of last residence.

16 India : People and Economy

 The distribution of male and female
migrants in different streams of intra-state and
Conduct a survey of five households in your inter -state migration is presented in
neighbourhood to find out their migration status. If Fig. 2.1 a and 2.1 b. It is clearly evident that
migrants, classify these on the basis of the two criteria females predominate the streams of short
mentioned in the text. distance rural to rural migration in both types
of migration. Contrary to this, men predominate
the rural to urban stream of inter -state
Streams of Migration
migration due to economic reasons.
A few facts pertaining to the internal Apart from these streams of internal
migration (within the country) and migration, India also experiences immigration
international migration (out of the country from and emigration to the neighbouring
and into the country from other countries) countries. Table 2.1 presents the details of
are presented here. Under the internal migrants from neighbouring countries. Indian

Fig. 2.1 a : Intra State Migration by Place of Fig. 2.1 b : Inter State Migration by Place of
Last Residence Indicating Migration Streams Last Residence Indicating Migration Streams
(Duration 0-9 years), India, 2001 (Duration 0-9 years), India, 2001
Source: Census of India, 2001

Examine Fig. 2.1 a and 2.1 b showing intra-state and inter-state migration in India according to the Census 2001
and find out:

(i) Why are the numbers of females migrating from rural to rural areas in both the diagrams higher?

(ii) Why is the male migration higher from rural to urban?

migration, four streams are identified: (a) Census 2001 has recorded that more than 5
rural to rural (R-R); (b) rural to urban (R-U); million person have migrated to India from
(c) urban to urban (U-U); and (d) urban to other countries. Out of these, 96 per cent came
rural (U-R). In India, during 2001, out of from the neighbouring countries: Bangladesh
(3.0 million) followed by Pakistan (0.9 million)
315 million migrants, enumerated on the
and Nepal (0.5 million). Included in this are 0.16
basis of the last residence, 98 million had
million refugees from T ibet, Sri Lanka,
changed their place of residence in the last
Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, and
ten years. Out of these, 81 million were intra- Myanmar. As far as emigration from India is
state migrants. The stream was dominated concerned it is estimated that there are around
by female migrants. Most of these were 20 million people of Indian Diaspora, spread
migrants related to marriage. across 110 countries.
Migration: Types, Causes and Consequences 17
 Table 2.1 : Immigrants by last residence
from neighbouring countries by all
Represent the data given in Table 2.1 by pie diagrams duration in India, 2001
assuming the migration from neighbouring countries Countries% No of % of
(4,918,266 persons as 100 per cent). immigrants total
immigrants
Spatial Variation in Migration Total international
Some states like Maharashtra, Delhi, Gujarat and migration 5,155,423 100
Haryana attract migrants from other states such Migration from
as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, etc. (see Appendix–vii for neighbouring
detail). Maharashtra occupied first place in the countries 4,918,266 95.5
list with 2.3 million net in-migrants, followed by Afghanistan 9,194 0.2
Delhi, Gujarat and Haryana. On the other hand,
Bangladesh 3,084,826 59.8
Uttar Pradesh (-2.6 million) and Bihar
Bhutan 8,337 0.2
(-1.7 million) were the states, which had the largest
number of net out-migrants from the state. China 23,721 0.5
Among the urban agglomeration (UA), Myanmar 49,086 1.0
Greater Mumbai received the higher number of Nepal 596,696 11.6
in migrants. Intra-states migration constituted Pakistan 997,106 19.3
the largest share in it. These differences are Sri Lanka 149,300 2.9
largely due to the size of the state in which these
Urban Agglomeration are located. Source : Census of India, 2001

From the given news

items try to identify
the political and
economic causes of
migration.

18 India : People and Economy

 be variety of reasons. These reasons can be put
into two broad categories : (i) push factor, these
Statewise in-migration and out-migration data are given cause people to leave their place of residence or
in Appendix (vii). Calculate net migration for all the states origin; and (ii) pull factors, which attract the
of India. people from different places.
In India people migrate from rural to urban
areas mainly due to poverty, high population
Causes of Migration
pressure on the land, lack of basic infrastructural
People, generally are emotionally attached to facilities like health care, education, etc. Apart
their place of birth. But millions of people leave from these factors, natural disasters such as,
their places of birth and residence. There could flood, drought, cyclonic storms, earthquake,

The four stories describe different situations of migrants.

Enumerate the push and pull factors for Aarif?

What are the pull factors for Mohan Singh?

Study the story of Subbalakshmi and Manish Gawarkar. Compare their cases on the basis of types of
migration, causes of migration and their living conditions.

Migration: Types, Causes and Consequences 19

tsunami, wars and local conflicts also give extra from their international migrants. The amount
push to migrate. On the other hand, there are of remittances sent by the internal migrants is
pull factors which attract people from rural areas very meagre as compared to international
to cities. The most important pull factor for migrants, but it plays an important role in the
majority of the rural migrants to urban areas is growth of economy of the source area.
the better opportunities, availability of regular Remittances are mainly used for food,
work and relatively higher wages. Better repayment of debts, treatment, marriages,
opportunities for education, better health children’s education, agricultural inputs,
facilities and sources of entertainment, etc. are construction of houses, etc. For thousands of
also quite important pull factors. the poor villages of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa,
Examine the reasons for migration for Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, etc.
males and females separately in Fig. 2.2. On remittance works as life blood for their economy.
the basis of the figures, it can be seen that Migration from rural areas of Eastern Uttar
reason for migration of males and females are Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa
different. For example, work and employment to the rural areas of Punjab, Haryana, Western
have remained the main cause for male Uttar Pradesh accounted for the success of their
migration (38 per cent) while it is only three per green revolution strategy for agricultural
cent for the females. Contrary to this, about 65 development. Besides this, unregulated
per cent of females move out from their parental migration to the metropolitan cities of India has
houses following their marriage. This is the caused overcrowding. Development of slums in
most important cause in the rural areas of India industrially developed states such as
except in Meghalaya where reverse is the case. Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu
and Delhi is a negative consequence of
unregulated migration within the country.

Why is the female marriage migration law

in Meghalaya different?
Can you name some other positive and
negative consequences of migration?
In comparison to these marriage migration
of the male, is only 2 per cent in the country.
Demographic Consequences
Consequences of Migration Migration leads to the redistribution of the
Migration is a response to the uneven population within a country. Rural urban
distribution of opportunities over space. People migration is one of the important factors
tend to move from place of low opportunity and contributing to the population growth of cities.
low safety to the place of higher opportunity Age and skill selective out migration from the
and better safety. This, in turn, creates both rural area have adverse effect on the rural
benefits and problems for the areas, people demographic structure. However, high out
migrate from and migrate to. Consequences can migration from Uttaranchal, Rajasthan,
be observed in economic, social, cultural, Madhya Pradesh and Eastern Maharashtra
political and demographic terms. have brought serious imbalances in age and
sex composition in these states. Similar
Economic Consequences imbalances are also brought in the recipients
states. What is the cause of imbalance in sex
A major benefit for the source region is the ratio in the place of origin and destination of
remittance sent by migrants. Remittances from the migrants?
the international migrants are one of the major
sources of foreign exchange. In 2002, India
Social Consequences
received US$ 11 billion as remittances from
international migrants. Punjab, Kerala and Migrants act as agents of social change. The
Tamil Nadu receive very significant amount new ideas related to new technologies, family

20 India : People and Economy

 Fig. 2.2 a : Reasons for Male Migration by Last Fig. 2.2 b : Reasons for Female Migration by last
Residence with Duration (0-9 years), India, 2001 Residence with Duration (0-9 years), India, 2001

planning, girl’s education, etc. get diffused from pollution, disposal of sewage and management
urban to rural areas through them. of solid wastes.
Migration leads to intermixing of people
from diverse cultures. It has positive Others
contribution such as evolution of composite
Migration (even excluding the marriage
culture and breaking through the narrow
migration) affects the status of women directly
considerations and widens up the mental
or indirectly. In the rural areas, male selective
horizon of the people at large. But it also has
out migration leaving their wives behind puts
serious negative consequences such as
extra physical as well mental pressure on the
anonimity, which creates social vacuum and
women. Migration of ‘women’ either for
sense of dejection among individuals.
education or employment enhances their
Continued feeling of dejection may motivate
autonomy and role in the economy but also
people to fall in the trap of anti-social activities
increases their vulnerability.
like crime and drug abuse.
If remittances are the major benefits of
migration from the point of view of the source
Environmental Consequences
region, the loss of human resources
Overcrowding of people due to rural-urban particularly highly skilled people is the most
migration has put pressure on the existing serious cost. The market for advanced skills
social and physical infrastructure in the urban has become truly a global market and the
areas. This ultimately leads to unplanned most dynamic industrial economies are
growth of urban settlement and formation of admitting and recruiting significant
slums shanty colonies. proportions of the highly trained professionals
Apart from this, due to over-exploitation from poor regions. Consequently, the existing
of natural resources, cities are facing the acute underdevelopment in the source region gets
problem of depletion of ground water, air reinforced.

Migration: Types, Causes and Consequences 21

 EXERCISES
1. Choose the right answers of the following from the given options.
(i) Which one of the following is the main reason for male migration in India?
(a) Education (c) Work and employment
(b) Business (d) Marriage
(ii) Which one of the following states receives maximum number of
immigrants?
(a) Uttar Pradesh (c) Maharashtra
(b) Delhi (d) Bihar
(iii) Which one of the following streams is dominated by male migrants in
India?
(a) Rural-rural (c) Rural-urban
(b) Urban-rural (d) Urban-Urban
(iv) Which one of the following urban agglomeration has the highest share of
in migrant population?
(a) Mumbai UA (c) Bangalore UA
(b) Delhi UA (d) Chennai UA
2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words.
(i) Differentiate between life-time migrant and migrant by last residence.
(ii) Identify the main reason for male/female selective migration.
(iii) What is the impact of rural-urban migration on the age and sex structure
of the place of origin and destination?
3. Answer the following questions in about 150 words.
(i) Discuss the consequences of international migration in India.
(ii) What are the socio demographic consequences of migration?

22 India : People and Economy

 Sixty years ago, Rekha was born in a family of
Unit I small farmer in Uttaranchal. She helped her
Chapter 3 mother in household chores. While her brothers
went to school, she did not receive any
education. She was dependent on her in laws
after she was widowed immediately after
marriage. She could not be economically
independent and faced neglect. Her brother
helped her to migrate to Delhi.
For the first time, she travelled by bus and
train and was exposed to a large city like Delhi.
After a while, the same city which attracted her
with its buildings, roads, avenues and facilities
and amenities disillusioned her.
HUMAN With greater familiarity of the city, she
could comprehend the paradoxes. The jhuggi
DEVELOPMENT and slum clusters, traffic jams, congestion,
crimes, poverty, small children begging on
traffic lights, people sleeping on footpaths,
polluted water and air revealed another face of
development. She used to think whether
development and under-development coexist?
Whether development help some segments of
population more than the other? Does
development create haves and have nots? Let
us examine these paradoxes and try to
understand the phenomena.
Of all the paradoxes of our times
mentioned in the story, development is the most
significant one. Development of a few regions,
individuals brought about in a short span of
time leads to poverty and malnutrition for many
along with large scale ecological degradation.
Is development class biased?
Apparently, it is believed that
“Development is freedom” which is often
associated with modernisation, leisure, comfort
and affluence. In the present context,
computerisation, industrialisation, efficient
transport and communication network, large
education system, advanced and modern
medical facilities, safety and security of
individuals, etc. are considered as the symbols
of development. Every individual, community
and government measures its performance or
levels of development in relation to the
availability and access to some of these things.
But, this may be partial and one-sided view of
development. It is often called the western or
euro-centric view of development. For a
postcolonial country like India, colonisation, existence of our society. Consequently, the poor
marginalisation, social discrimination and are being subjected to three inter-related
regional disparity, etc. show the other face of processes of declining capabilities; i.e. (1) social
development. capabilities – due to displacement and
Thus, for India, development is a mixed weakening social ties (social capital),
bag of opportunities as well as neglect and (2) environmental capabilities – due to pollution
deprivations. There are a few areas like the and, (3) personal capabilities – due to
metropolitan centres and other developed increasing incidence of diseases and accidents.
enclaves that have all the modern facilities This, in turn, has adverse effects on their quality
available to a small section of its population. At of life and human development.
the other extreme of it, there are large rural Based on the above experiences, it can be
areas and the slums in the urban areas that do said that the present development has not been
not have basic amenities like potable water, able to address the issues of social injustice,
education and health infrastructure available regional imbalances and environmental
to majority of this population. The situation is degradation. On the contrary, it is being widely
more alarming if one looks at the distribution considered as the prime cause of the social
of the development opportunities among distributive injustices, deterioration in the
different sections of our society. It is a well- quality of life and human development,
established fact that majority of the scheduled ecological crisis and social unrest. Does
castes, scheduled tribes, landless agricultural development create, reinforce and perpetuate
labourers, poor farmers and slums dwellers, etc. these crises? Thus, it was thought to take up
are the most marginalised lot. A large segment human development as a separate issue against
of female population is the worst sufferers the prevalent western views of development
among all. It is also equally true that the relative which considers development as the remedy to
as well as absolute conditions of the majority all the ills including human development,
of these marginalised sections have worsened regional disparities and environmental crisis.
with the development happening over the years. Concerted efforts were made to look at
Consequently, vast majority of people are development critically at various times in the
compelled to live under abject poverty and sub- past. But, most systematic effort towards this
human conditions. was the publication of the First Human
There is yet another inter-related aspect Development Report by United Nations
of development that has direct bearings on the Development Programme (UNDP) in 1990.
deteriorating human conditions. It pertains to Since then, this organisation has been bringing
the environmental pollution leading to out World Human Development Report every
ecological crisis. Air, soil, water and noise year. This report does not only define human
pollutions have not only led to the ‘tragedy of development, make amendments and changes
commons’ but these have also threatened the its indicators but also ranks all the countries

What is Human Development?

“Human development is a process of enlarging the range of people’s choices, increasing their
opportunities for education, health care, income and empowerment and covering the full range of
human choices from a sound physical environment to economic, social and political freedom.”
Thus, enlarging the range of people’s choices is the most significant aspect of human development.
People’s choices may involve a host of other issues, but, living a long and healthy life, to be educated
and have access to resources needed for a decent standard of living including political freedom,
guaranteed human rights and personal self-respect, etc. are considered some of the non-negotiable
aspects of the human development.

24 India : People and Economy

of the world based on the calculated scores. Low scores in the HDI is a matter of serious
According to the Human Development Report concern but, some reservations have been
1993, “progressive democratisation and expressed about the approach as well as
increasing empowerment of people are seen as indicators selected to calculate the index values
the minimum conditions for human and ranking of the states/countries. Lack of
development”. Moreover, it also mentions that sensitivity to the historical factors like
“development must be woven around people, colonisation, imperialism and neo-imperialism,
not the people around development” as was the socio-cultural factors like human rights
case previously. violation, social discrimination on the basis of
You have already studied the concepts, race, religion, gender and caste, social problems
indicators and approaches to human like crimes, terrorism, and war and political
development and methods of calculating the factors like nature of the state, forms of the
index in your book, “Fundamentals of Human government (democracy or dictatorship) level
Geography.” In this chapter, let us try to of empowerment are some factors that are very
understand the applicability of these concepts crucial in determining the nature of human
and indicators to India. development. These aspects have special
significance in case of India and many other
Human Development in India developing countries.
Using the indicators selected by the UNDP,
India with a population of over 1.09 billion is the Planning Commission of India also
ranked 127 among 172 countries of the world prepared the Human Development Report for
in terms of the Human Development Index India. It used states and the Union Territories
(HDI). With the composite HDI value of O.602 as the units of analysis. Subsequently, each
India finds herself grouped with countries state government also started preparing the
showing medium human development state level Human Development Reports, using
(UNDP 2005). districts as the units of analysis. Although, the
final HDI by the Planning Commission of India
Table 3.1 : Human Development Index has been calculated by taking the three
Values of India and some other Countries indicators as discussed in the book entitled,
“Fundamentals of Human Geography”, yet,
Country HDI value Country HDI value this report also discussed other indicators like
Norway 0.963 Thailand 0.778 economic attainment, social empowerment,
Australia 0.955 Sri Lanka 0.751 social distributive justice, accessibility, hygiene
and various welfare measures undertaken by
Sweden 0.949 Iran 0.736
the state. Some of the important indicators have
Indonesia 0.697
Switzerland 0.947 been discussed in the following pages.
Egypt 0.659
U.S.A. 0.944
India 0.602
Indicators of Economic Attainments
Japan 0.943
Myanmar 0.578 Rich resource base and access to these
U.K. 0.939 resources by all, particularly the poor, down
Pakistan 0.527
France 0.938 trodden and the marginalised is the key to
Nepal 0.526
Germany 0.93
productivity, well-being and human
Bangladesh 0.52 development. Gross National Product (GNP)
Argentina 0.863 Kenya 0.474 and its per capita availability are taken as
Cuba 0.817 Zambia 0.394 measures to assess the resource base/
Russia 0.795 Chad 0.341 endowment of any country. For India, it is
Niger 0.281
estimated that its GDP was Rs. 3200 thousand
Brazil 0.792
crores (at current Price) and accordingly, per
Source: UNDP Human Development Report 2005, Oxford capita income was Rs. 20,813 at current prices.
University Press. pp.219-222.
Apparently, these figures indicate an impressive
Human Development 25
performance but, prevalence of poverty, Table 3.2 : Poverty in India, 1999-2000
deprivation, malnutrition, illiteracy, various
types of prejudices and above all social State % of Population
below
distributive injustices and large-scale regional
poverty line
disparities belie all the so-called economic
achievements. Andhra Pradesh 15.77
There are a few developed States like Arunachal Pradesh 33.47
Maharashtra, Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat and Assam 36.09
Delhi that have per capita income more than Bihar 42.60
Rs. 4,000 (figure at 1980-81 prices) per year Goa 4.40
and there are a large number of poorer States Gujarat 14.07
like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa, Madhya Haryana 8.47
Pradesh, Assam, Jammu and Kashmir, etc. Himachal Pradesh 7.63
which have recorded per capita income less West Bengal 27.02
than Rs. 2,000. Corresponding to these Andaman & Nicobar 20.99
disparities, the developed states have higher per Chandigarh 5.75
capita consumption expenditure as compared Jammu & Kashmir 3.48
to the poorer states. It was estimated to be more Karnataka 20.04
than Rs. 690 per capita per month in States Kerala 12.72
like Punjab, Haryana, Kerala, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh 37.43
Gujarat and below Rs. 520 per capita per Maharashtra 25.02
month in States like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Manipur 28.54
Orissa and Madhya Pradesh, etc. These Meghalaya 33.87
variations are indicative of some other deep- Mizoram 19.47
seated economic problems like poverty, Dadra & Nagar Haveli 17.14
unemployment and under-employment. Daman & Diu 4.44
The disaggregated data of poverty for
Delhi 8.23
the states show that there are States like
Nagaland 32.67
Orissa and Bihar which have recorded more
Orissa 47.15
than 40 per cent of their population living
Punjab 6.16
below the poverty line. The States of Madhya
Rajasthan 15.28
Pradesh, Sikkim, Assam, Tripura, Arunachal
Sikkim 36.55
Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland have more
Tamil Nadu 21.12
than 30 per cent of their population below
Tripura 34.44
poverty line. “Poverty is a state of
Uttar Pradesh 31.15
deprivation. In absolute terms it reflects the
Lakshadweep 15.60
inability of an individual to satisfy certain
Pondichery 21.67
basic needs for a sustained, healthy and
India 26.10
reasonably productive living.” Employment
rate for educated youth is 25 per cent. Jobless Source: Planning Commission of India, (2001): India
National Human Development Report, p.166.
growth and rampant unemployment are some

Which one of the states in India has the highest proportion of population below poverty line?

Arrange the states on the basis of their percentage of population below poverty line in ascending order.

Select 10 states which have the high proportion of population below poverty line and represent the data by bar
diagram.

26 India : People and Economy

of the important reasons for higher incidences Table 3.3 : India Literacy Rates, 2001
of poverty in India.
State Total Female
literacy literacy
Indicators of a Healthy Life
Andaman & Nicobar 81.18 75.29
Life free from illness and ailment and living a
Andhra Pradesh 61.11 51.17
reasonably long life span are indicative of a
healthy life. Availability of pre and post natal Arunachal Pradesh 54.74 44.24
health care facilities in order to reduce infant Assam 64.28 56.03
mortality and post delivery deaths among Bihar 47.53 33.57
mothers, old age health care, adequate nutrition Chandigarh 85.65 76.65
and safety of individual are some important Chhattisgarh 65.18 52.4
measures of a healthy and reasonably long life. Dadra & Nagar Haveli 60.03 42.99
India has done reasonably well in some of the Daman & Diu 81.09 70.37
health indicators like decline in death rate from Delhi 81.82 75
25.1 per thousand in 1951 to 8.1 per thousand Goa 82.32 75.51
in 1999 and infant mortality from 148 per
Gujarat 69.97 58.6
thousand to 70 during the same period.
Haryana 68.59 56.31
Similarly, it also succeeded in increasing life
Himachal Pradesh 77.13 68.08
expectancy at birth from 37.1 years to 62.3
years for males and 36.2 to 65.3 years for Jammu & Kashmir 54.46 41.82
females from 1951 to 1999. Though, these are Jharkhand 54.13 39.38
great achievements, a lot needs to be done. Karnataka 67.04 57.45
Similarly, it has also done reasonably well in Kerala 90.92 87.86
bringing down birth rate from 40.8 to 26.1 Lakshadweep 87.52 81.56
during the same years, but it still is much higher Madhya Pradesh 64.11 50.28
than many developed countries. Maharashtra 77.27 67.51
The situation is more alarming when seen Manipur 68.87 59.7
in the context of gender specific and rural and
Meghalaya 63.31 60.41
urban health indicators. India has recorded
Mizoram 88.49 86.13
declining female sex ratio. The findings of 2001
Nagaland 67.11 61.92
Census of India are very disturbing particularly
in case of child sex ratio between 0-6 age Orissa 63.61 50.97
groups. The other significant features of the Pondicherry 81.49 74.13
report are, with the exception of Kerala, the Punjab 69.95 63.55
child sex ratio has declined in all the states Rajasthan 61.03 44.34
and it is the most alarming in the developed Sikkim 69.68 61.46
state of Haryana and Punjab where it is Tamil Nadu 73.47 64.55
below 800 female children per thousand Tripura 73.66 65.41
male children. What factors are responsible for Uttar Pradesh 57.36 42.98
it? Is it the social attitude or scientific methods Uttaranchal 72.28 60.26
of sex-determination?
West Bengal 69.22 60.22
Indicators of Social Empowerment India 65.38 54.16
Source: Census of India, 2001; Provisional Population
“Development is freedom”. Freedom from
Tables Series -1, p.142.
hunger, poverty, servitude, bondage,
ignorance, illiteracy and any other forms of
domination is the key to human development. of the people in the exercise of their capabilities
Freedom in real sense of the term is possible and choices in the society. Access to knowledge
only with the empowerment and participation about the society and environment are

Human Development 27
fundamental to freedom. Literacy is the Table 3.4 : India – Human Development
beginning of access to such a world of Index-2001
knowledge and freedom.
State HDI Value

Andhra Pradesh 0.416

Assam 0.386
Represent the literacy rates for states having more than Bihar 0.367
the national average by bar diagram after arranging the Gujarat 0.479
data in descending order. Haryana 0.509
Karnataka 0.478
Why is the total literacy rates in Kerala, Mizoram,
Kerala 0.638
Lakshadweep and Goa are higher than other states?
Madhya Pradesh 0.394
Maharashtra 0.523
Can literacy reflect the status of Human Developments?
Debate. Orissa 0.404
Punjab 0.537
Table 3.3 showing the percentage of Rajasthan 0.424
literates in India reveals some interesting Tamil Nadu 0.531
features: Uttar Pradesh 0.388
• Overall literacy in India is West Bengal 0.472
approximately 65. 4 per cent (2001). Source: Planning Commission of India (2001): India
while female literacy is 54.16 per cent. National Human Development Report 2001, p.25
• Total literacy as well as female literacy
is higher than the national average in India has been placed among the
most of the states from south India. countries showing medium human
• There are wide regional disparities in development. What is the rank of India among
literacy rate across the states of India. the 172 countries of the world? As indicated
There is a state like Bihar which has in table 3.4 Kerala with the composite index
very low (47.53 per cent) literacy and value of 0.638 is placed at the top rank
there are states like Kerala and followed by Punjab (0.537), Tamil Nadu (0.531)
Mizoram which have literacy rates of Maharashtra (0.523) and Haryana (0.509). As
90.92 and 88.49 per cent respectively. expected, states like Bihar (0.367), Assam
Apart from the spatial variations, (0.386), Uttar Pradesh (0.388), Madhya
percentage of literates in the rural areas and Pradesh (0.394) and Orissa (0.404) are at the
among the marginalised sections of our society bottom among the 15 major states in India.
such as females, scheduled castes, scheduled There are several socio-political, economic
tribes, agricultural labourers, etc. is very low. and historical reasons for such a state of
It is worth mentioning here that though, there affairs. Kerala is able to record the highest value
has been improvement in the percentage of in the HDI largely due to its impressive
literates among the marginalised section yet the performance in achieving near hundred per
gap between the richer and the marginalised cent literacy (90.92 per cent) in 2001. In a
sections of the population has increased over different scenario the states like Bihar, Madhya
the years. Pradesh, Orissa, Assam and Uttar Pradesh
have very low literacy. For example, total
Human Development Index in India literacy rate for Bihar was as low as 60.32 per
cent during the same year. States showing
In the backdrop of the above-mentioned higher total literacy rates have less gaps
important indicators the Planning Commission between the male and female literacy rates. For
calculated the human development index by Kerala, it is 6.34 per cent, while it is 26.75 per
taking states and union territories as the unit cent in Bihar and 25.95 per cent in Madhya
of analysis. Pradesh.

28 India : People and Economy

 Can you find out the
causes of the above
problems?

Apart from the educational attainment, the Population, Envir

opulation, onment and De
vironment velopment
Dev
levels of economic development too play
Development in general and human
significant impacts on HDI. Economically
development in particular is a complex concept
developed states like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu
and Punjab and Haryana have higher value of used in social sciences. It is complex because
HDI as compared to states like Assam, Bihar, for ages it was thought that development is a
Madhya Pradesh, etc. substantive concept and once it is achieved it
Regional distortions and social will address all the socio-cultural and
disparities which developed during the environmental ills of the society. Though,
colonial period continue to play an important development has brought in significant
role in the Indian economy, polity and society. improvement in the quality of life in more than
The Government of India has made concerted one way but increasing regional disparities,
efforts to institutionalise the balanced social inequalities, discriminations, deprivations,
development with its main focus on social displacement of people, abuse of human rights
distributive justice through planned and undermining human values and
development. It has made significant environmental degradation have also increased.
achievements in most of the fields but, these Considering the gravity and sensitivity of
are still below the desired level. the issues involved, the UNDP in its Human

Human Development 29
Development Report 1993, tried to amend some scarcity of resources as compared to the human
of the implicit biases and prejudices which were population. Apparently this argument looks
entrenched in the concept of development. logical and convincing, but a critical look will
People’s participation and their security were the reveal certain intrinsic flaws such as resources
major issues in the Human Development Report are not a neutral category. It is not the
of 1993. It also emphasised on progressive availability of resources that is as important as
democratisation and increasing empowerment their social distribution. Resources everywhere
of people as minimum conditions for human are unevenly distributed. Rich countries and
development. The report recognised greater people have access to large resource baskets
constructive role of ‘Civil Societies’ in bringing while the poor find their resources shrinking.
about peace and human development. The civil Moreover, unending pursuit for the control of
more and more resources by the powerful and
society should work for building up opinion for
use of the same for exhibiting ones prowess is
reduction in the military expenditure, de-
the prime cause of conflicts as well as the
mobilisation of armed forces, transition from
apparent contradictions between population-
defence to production of basic goods and services
resource and development.
and particularly disarmament and reduction in
Indian culture and civilisation have been
the nuclear warheads by the developed
very sensitive to the issues of population,
countries. In a nuclearised world, peace and
resource and development for a long time. It
well-being are major global concerns. would not be incorrect to say that the ancient
At the other extreme of this approach lie scriptures were essentially concerned about the
the views expressed by the Neo-Malthusians, balance and harmony among the elements of
environmentalists and radical ecologists. They nature. Mahatma Gandhi in the recent times
believe that for a happy and peaceful social life advocated the reinforcement of the harmony and
proper balance between population and balance between the two. He was quite
resources is a necessary condition. According apprehensive about the on-going development
to these thinkers, the gap between the resources particularly the way industrialisation has
and population has widened after eighteenth institutionalised the loss of morality, spirituality,
century. There have been marginal expansion self-reliance, non-violence and mutual co-
in the resources of the world in the last three operation and environment. In his opinion,
hundred years but there has been phenomenal austerity for individual, trusteeship of social
growth in the human population. Development wealth and non-violence are the key to attain
has only contributed in increasing the multiple higher goals in the life of an individual as well as
uses of the limited resources of the world while that of a nation. His views were also re-echoed
there has been enormous increase in the demand in the Club of Rome Report “Limits to Growth”
for these resources. Therefore, the prime task (1972), Schumacher’s book “Small is
before any development activity is to maintain Beautiful” (1974), Brundtland Commission’s
parity between population and resources. Report “Our Common Future” (1987) and
Scholar like Sir Robert Malthus was the first finally in the “Agenda-21 Report of the Rio
one to voice his concern about the growing Conference” (1993).

30 India : People and Economy

 EXERCISES
1. Choose the right answers of the following from the given options.
(i) Which one of the following is India’s rank in terms of Human Development
Index among the countries of the world in 2005?
(a) 126 (c) 128
(b) 127 (d) 129
(ii) Which one of the following states of India has the highest rank in the
Human Development Index?
(a) Tamil Nadu (c) Kerala
(b) Punjab (d) Haryana
(iii) Which one of the following states of India has the lowest female literacy?
(a) Jamu and Kashmir (c) Jharkhand
(b) Arunachal Pradesh (d) Bihar
(iv) Which one of the following states of India has the lowest female child sex
ratio 0-6 years?
(a) Gujarat (c) Punjab
(b) Haryana (d) Himachal Pradesh
(v) Which one of the following Union Territories of India has the highest
literacy rate?
(a) Lakshadweep (c) Daman and Diu
(b) Chandigarh (d) Andaman and Nicobar Islands
2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words.
(i) Define Human Development.
(ii) Give two reasons for low levels of Human Development in most of the
Northern States of India.
(iii) Give two reasons for declining child sex ratio in India.
3. Answer the following questions in about 150 words.
(i) Discuss the spatial patterns of female literacy in India in 2001 and bring
out the reasons responsible for it.
(ii) Which factors have caused spatial variations in the levels of Human
Development among the 15 major states in India?

Human Development 31
 Human Settlement means cluster of dwellings
Unit II of any type or size where human beings live.
Chapter 4 For this purpose, people may erect houses and
other structures and command some area or
territory as their economic support-base. Thus,
the process of settlement inherently involves
grouping of people and apportioning of territory
as their resource base.
Settlements vary in size and type. They
range from a hamlet to metropolitan cities. With
size, the economic character and social structure
of settlements changes and so do its ecology and
technology. Settlements could be small and
sparsely spaced; they may also be large and
HUMAN closely spaced. The sparsely located small
settlements are called villages, specialising in
SETTLEMENTS agriculture or other primary activities. On the
other hand, there are fewer but larger settlements
which are termed as urban settlements
specialising in secondary and tertiary activities.
The basic differences between rural and urban
settlements are as follows :
• The rural settlements derive their life
support or basic economic needs from
land based primary economic activities,
whereas, urban settlements, depend on
processing of raw materials and
manufacturing of finished goods on the
one hand and a variety of services on the
other.
• Cities act as nodes of economic growth,
provide goods and services not only to
urban dwellers but also to the people of
the rural settlements in their hinterlands
in return for food and raw materials. This
functional relationship between the urban
and rural settlements takes place through
transport and communication network.
• Rural and urban settlements differ in
terms of social relationship, attitude and
outlook. Rural people are less mobile and
therefore, social relations among them are
intimate. In urban areas, on the other
hand, way of life is complex and fast, and
social relations are formal.

Types of Rur
Rural Settlement
ural
Types of the settlement are determined by the
extent of the built-up area and inter-house
distance. In India compact or clustered village Semi-Clustered Settlements
of a few hundred houses is a rather universal
Semi-clustered or fragmented settlements may
feature, particularly in the northern plains.
result from tendency of clustering in a
However, there are several areas, which have
restricted area of dispersed settlement. More
other forms of rural settlements. There are
often such a pattern may also result from
various factors and conditions responsible for
segregation or fragmentation of a large compact
having different types of rural settlements in
village. In this case, one or more sections of
India. These include: (i) physical features –
the village society choose or is forced to live a
nature of terrain, altitude, climate and
little away from the main cluster or village. In
availability of water (ii) cultural and ethenic
such cases, generally, the land-owning and
factors – social structure, caste and religion
dominant community occupies the central part
(iii) security factors – defence against thefts and
of the main village, whereas people of lower
robberies. Rural settlements in India can
strata of society and menial workers settle on
broadly be put into four types:
the outer flanks of the village. Such settlements
• Clustered, agglomerated or nucleated,
are widespread in the Gujarat plain and some
• Semi-clustered or fragmented,
parts of Rajasthan.
• Hamleted, and
• Dispersed or isolated.

Clustered Settlements
The clustered rural settlement is a compact or
closely built up area of houses. In this type of
village the general living area is distinct and
separated from the surrounding farms, barns
and pastures. The closely built-up area and its

Fig. 4.2 : Semi-clustered settlements

Hamleted Settlements
Sometimes settlement is fragmented into several
units physically separated from each other
bearing a common name. These units are locally
Fig. 4.1 : Clustered Settlements in the North-eastern states called panna, para, palli, nagla, dhani, etc. in
various parts of the country. This segmentation
intervening streets present some recognisable of a large village is often motivated by social
pattern or geometric shape, such as and ethnic factors. Such villages are more
rectangular, radial, linear, etc. Such settlements frequently found in the middle and lower Ganga
are generally found in fertile alluvial plains and plain, Chhattisgarh and lower valleys of the
in the northeastern states. Sometimes, people Himalayas.
live in compact village for security or defence
reasons, such as in the Bundelkhand region of Dispersed Settlements
central India and in Nagaland. In Rajasthan,
scarcity of water has necessitated compact Dispersed or isolated settlement pattern in India
settlement for maximum utilisation of available appears in the form of isolated huts or hamlets
water resources. of few huts in remote jungles, or on small hills

Human Settlements 33
 Ancient Towns
There are number of towns in India having
historical background spanning over 2000
years. Most of them developed as religious and
cultural centres. Varanasi is one of the important
towns among these. Prayag (Allahabad),
Pataliputra (Patna), Madurai are some other
examples of ancient towns in the country.

Medieval Towns
Fig. 4.3 : Dispersed settlements in Nagaland About 100 of the existing towns have their roots
with farms or pasture on the slopes. Extreme in the medieval period. Most of them developed
dispersion of settlement is often caused by as headquarters of principalities and kingdoms.
extremely fragmented nature of the terrain and These are fort towns which came up on the
land resource base of habitable areas. Many ruins of ancient towns. Important among them
areas of Meghalaya, Uttaranchal, Himachal are Delhi, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Agra
Pradesh and Kerala have this type of settlement. and Nagpur.

Urban Settlements Modern Towns

Unlike rural settlements, urban settlements The British and other Europeans have
are generally compact and larger in size. developed a number of towns in India.
They are engaged in a variety of non- Starting their foothold on coastal locations,
agricultural, economic and administrative they first developed some trading ports such
functions. As mentioned earlier, cities are as Surat, Daman, Goa, Pondicherry, etc. The
functionally linked to rural areas around British later consolidated their hold around
them. Thus, exchange of goods and services three principal nodes – Mumbai (Bombay),
is performed sometimes directly and Chennai (Madras), and Kolkata (Calcutta) –
sometimes through a series of market towns and built them in the British style. Rapidly
and cities. Thus, cities are connected directly
as well as indirectly with the villages and also
with each other. You can see the definition of
towns in Chapter 10 of the book,
“Fundamentals of Human Geography.”

Evolution of Towns in India

Towns flourished since prehistoric times in
India. Even at the time of Indus valley
civilisation, towns like Harappa and
Mohanjodaro were in existence. The following
period has witnessed evolution of towns. It
continued with periodic ups and downs until
the arrival of Europeans in India in the
eighteenth century. On the basis of their Fig. 4.4 : A view of the modern city
evolution in different periods, Indian towns may
extending their domination either directly or
be classified as:
through control over the princely states, they
• Ancient towns, • Medieval towns, and
established their administrative centres, hill-
• Modern towns.
towns as summer resorts, and added new civil,

34 India : People and Economy

Fig. 4.5 : India – Metropolitan Cities, 2001

Human Settlements 35
 Table 4.1 : India – Trends of Urbanisation 1901-2001
Year Number of Urban Population % of Total Decennial
Towns/UAs (in Thousands) Population Growth (%)

1901 1,827 25,851.9 10.84 —-

1911 1,815 25,941.6 10.29 0.35
1921 1,949 28,086.2 11.18 8.27
1931 2,072 33,456.0 11.99 19.12
1941 2,250 44,153.3 13.86 31.97
1951 2,843 62,443.7 17.29 41.42
1961 2,365 78,936.6 17.97 26.41
1971 2,590 1,09,114 19.91 38.23
1981 3,378 1,59,463 23.34 46.14
1991 4,689 2,17,611 25.71 36.47
2001 5,161 2,85,355 27.78 31.13

administrative and military areas to them. Classification of Towns on the basis of

Towns based on modern industries also Population Size
evolved after 1850. Jamshedpur can be cited
as an example. Census of India classifies urban centres into
After independence, a large number of six classes as presented in Table 4.2. Urban
towns have been developed as administrative centre with population of more than one lakh
headquarters, e.g. Chandigarh, Bhubaneswar, is called a city or class I town. Cities
Gandhinagar, Dispur, etc. and industrial accommodating population size between one
centres such as Durgapur, Bhilai, Sindri, to five million are called metropolitan cities and
Barauni. Some old towns also developed more than five million are mega cities. Majority
as satellite towns around metropolitan of metropolitan and mega cities are urban
cities such as Ghaziabad, Rohtak, Gurgaon agglomerations. An urban agglomeration may
around Delhi. With increasing investment consist of any one of the following three
in rural areas, a large number of medium
and small towns have developed all over India : Class-wise distribution of urban
the country. population (%), 2001

Urbanisation in India
The level of urbanisation is measured in
terms of percentage of urban population to
total population. The level of urbanisation
in India in 2001 was 28 per cent, which is
quite low in comparison to developed
countries. Total urban population has
increased eleven fold during twentieth
century. Enlargement of urban centres and
emergence of new towns have played a
significant role in the growth of urban
population and urbanisation in the
country. (Table 4.1). But the growth rate of
urbanisation has slowed down during last
Fig. 4.6 : Class-wise Distribution of Urban
two decades. Population of India, 2001

36 India : People and Economy

 Table 4.2 : India – Class-wise number of towns and cities
and their population, 2001

Class Population Size Number Population % of total % Growth

(Million) Urban 1991-2001
Population

All classes
Total 5161 285.35 100 31.13
I 1,00,000 and more 423 172.04 61.48 23.12
II 50,000 – 99,999 498 34.43 12.3 43.45
III 20,000 – 49,999 1386 41.97 15.0 46.19
IV 10,000 – 9,999 1560 22.6 8.08 32.94
V 5,000 – 9,999 1057 7.98 2.85 41.49
VI Less than 5,000 227 0.8 0.29 21.21

combinations: (i) a town and its adjoining Administrative towns and cities
urban outgrowths, (ii) two or more
Towns supporting administrative headquarters
contiguous towns with or without their
of higher order are administrative towns, such
outgrowths, and (iii) a city and one or more
as Chandigarh, New Delhi, Bhopal, Shillong,
adjoining towns with their outgrowths
Guwahati, Imphal, Srinagar, Gandhinagar,
together forming a contiguous spread.
Jaipur Chennai, etc.
Examples of urban outgrowth are railway
colonies, university campus, port area, Industrial towns
military cantonment, etc. located within the
revenue limits of a village or villages Industries constitute prime motive force of these
contiguous to the town or city. cities such as Mumbai, Salem, Coimbatore,
It is evident from Table 4.2 that more than Modinagar, Jamshedpur, Hugli, Bhilai, etc.
60 per cent of urban population in India lives
in Class I towns. Out of 423 cities, 35 cities/ Transport Cities
urban agglomerations are metropolitan cities They may be ports primarily engaged in export
(Fig.4.6). Six of them are mega cities with and import activities such as Kandla, Kochchi,
population over five million each. More than Kozhikode, Vishakhapatnam, etc. or hubs of
one-fifth (21.0%) of urban population lives in inland transport such as Agra, Dhulia, Mughal
these mega cities. Sarai, Itarsi, Katni, etc.
Among them, Greater Mumbai is the
largest agglomeration with 16.4 million Commercial towns
people. Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore
Towns and cities specialising in trade and
and Hyderabad are other mega cities in the
commerce are kept in this class. Kolkata,
country.
Saharanpur, Satna, etc. are some examples.
Functional Classification of Towns Mining towns
Apart from their role as central or nodal places,
These towns have developed in mineral rich
many towns and cities perform specialised areas such as Raniganj, Jharia, Digboi,
services. Some towns and cities specialise in
Ankaleshwar, Singrauli, etc.
certain functions and they are known for
some specific activities, products or services. Garrisson Cantonment towns
However, each town performs a number of
functions. On the basis of dominant or These towns emerged as garrisson towns such
specialised functions, Indian cities and towns as Ambala, Jalandhar, Mhow, Babina,
can be broadly classified as follows: Udhampur, etc.

Human Settlements 37
 Table 4.3 : India – Population of Million
plus Cities/Urban Agglomeration, 2001

Rank Name of Urban Population List the urban agglomerations/cities state-

Agglomeration/ (in million) wise and see the state-wise population
Cities under this category of cities.
1 Greater Mumbai 16.37
2 Kolkata 13.22
3 Delhi 12.79 Educational towns
4 Chennai 6.42
5 Bangalore 5.69
Starting as centres of education, some of the
6 Hyderabad 5.53 towns have grown into major campus towns
7 Ahmedabad 4.52 such as Roorki, Varanasi, Aligarh, Pilani,
8 Pune 3.76
9 Surat 2.81 Allahabad etc.
10 Kanpur 2.69
11 Jaipur 2.32 Religious and cultural towns
12 Lucknow 2.27
13 Nagpur 2.12 Varanasi, Mathura, Amritsar, Madurai, Puri,
14 Patna 1.71
15 Indore 1.64
Ajmer, Pushkar, T irupati, Kurukshetra,
16 Vadodara 1.49 Haridwar, Ujjain came to prominence due to
17 Bhopal 1.45 their religious/cultural significance.
18 Coimbatore 1.45
19 Ludhiana 1.39
20 Kochchi 1.36 Tourist towns
21 Vishakhapatnam 1.33
22 Agra 1.32 Nainital, Mussoorie, Shimla, Pachmarhi,
23 Varanasi 1.21 Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Udagamandalam (Ooty),
24 Madurai 1.19
25 Meerut 1.17
Mount Abu are some of the tourist destinations.
26 Nashik 1.15 The cities are not static in their function. The
27 Jabalpur 1.12 functions change due to their dynamic nature.
28 Jamshedpur 1.10
29 Asansol 1.09 Even specialised cities, as they grow into
30 Dhanbad 1.06 metropolises become multifunctional wherein
31 Faridabad 1.05
industry, business, administration, transport,
32 Allahabad 1.05
33 Amritsar 1.01 etc. become important. The functions get so
34 Vijayawada 1.01 intertwined that the city can not be categorised
35 Rajkot 1.00
in a particular functional class.
Total 107.88

EXERCISES
1. Choose the right answers of the following from the given options.
(i) Which one of the following towns is NOT located on a river bank?
(a) Agra (c) Patna
(b) Bhopal (d) Kolkata

38 India : People and Economy

 (ii) Which one of the following is NOT the part of the definition of a town as
per the census of India?
(a) Population density of 400 persons per sq km.
(b) Presence of municipality, corporation, etc.
(c) More than 75% of the population engaged in primary sector.
(d) Population size of more than 5,000 persons.
(iii) In which one of the following environments does one expect the presence
of dispersed rural settlements?
(a) Alluvial plains of Ganga
(b) Arid and semi-arid regions of Rajasthan
(c) Lower valleys of Himalayas
(d) Forests and hills in north-east
(iv) Which one of the following group of cities have been arranged in the
sequence of their ranks i.e. 1, 2, 3 and 4 in size?
(a) Greater Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai
(b) Delhi, Greater Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata
(c) Kolkata, Greater Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata
(d) Greater Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai
2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words.
(i) What are garrisson towns? What is their function?
(ii) How can one identify an urban agglomeration?
(iii) What are the main factors for the location of villages in desert regions?
(iv) What are metropolitan cities? How are they different from urban
agglomerations?
3. Answer the following questions in about 150 words.
(i) Discuss the features of different types of rural settlements. What are the
factors responsible for the settlement patterns in different physical
environments?
(ii) Can one imagine the presence of only one-function town? Why do the
cities become multi-functional?

Human Settlements 39