THE CENSUS report on religion released on Monday shows that the growth rate of Muslims has increased to 36 per cent while that of the Hindus declined to 20.3 per cent between 1991 and 2001.
The data on religion was collected during the 2001 census, and the figures have been compared with the 1991 census. The report was presented to Minorities Commission chairman Tarlochan Singh on Monday.
The data shows that the Hindu growth rate declined from 25.1 per cent during 1981-1991 to 20.3 per cent between 1991-2001. The Muslim growth rate, on the other hand, has increased from 34.5 per cent between 1981-1991 to 36 per cent during 1991-2001. Of the total population of 102.8 crore in 2001, Hindus were 82.7 crore, constituting 80.5 per cent. The number of Muslims stood at 13.8 crore or 13.4 per cent. The third largest community were the Christians (2.4 crore) followed by Sikhs (1.9 crore), Buddhists (79 lakh) and Jains (42 lakh).
The government described the data as "path breaking" information, which could be used to "assess the progress made by different religious groups and devise intervention strategy and planning for their future improvements (sic) so as to lead a better quality of life".
The growth rate of Christians has increased from 21.5 to 22.6 per cent, while there's a noticeable decline in the growth rates of the Buddhists (35.3 to 24.5 per cent) and Sikhs (24.3 to 18.2 per cent). The highest percentage growth in population has been registered among Jains (4.6 to 26 per cent).
The sex ratio or the number of females per thousand males was the lowest among Sikhs at 893. The female-male imbalance in this community is worse in the 0-6 years age group — 786.
The literacy rate among Hindus (65.1 per cent) was slightly better than the national average (64.8) for all religious groups combined.