A Census Picture of Indian Christians

Tiny Nagaland has the largest proportion of Christians in its State (90% of its total population), but it is the southern States of Kerala followed by Tamil Nadu, which have the largest headcounts of people of this faith.

Kerala has a total Christian population of a little over six million, while Tamil Nadu has nearly 3.8 million Christians, out of India’s total Christian population of just over 24 million.

At the other end of the scale, northern States like Himachal Pradesh have only a little over 7000 Christians, while smaller Union territories like the former Portuguese colony of Daman & Diu and the Islands of Lakshadweep have a Christian population of around 3000 and 500 respectively.

Religion–linked figures from the latest Census 2001 are slowly being released officially, and additional details about different religious groups make for an interesting study on religious diversity in the planet’s second most populous country. Overall, figures tallied showed that in all, India had 1028 million people when the latest official census was taken, in 2001.

An analysis of major religious groupings was released recently. The First Report on Religion: Census of India 2001 also looks at the state–by–state break–up of all religions, including Christians. This studies their proportion to the total population, female–to–male sex ratio, zero–to–six age–group sex ratio, and other figures.

India’s Christian population seems to be older in some States, and younger in others. In the country as a whole, some 13.5 per cent of the total Christian population is in the zero–to–six age group.

Some States with a more “youthful” Christian population include Meghalaya (21.1% in the zero–to–six age group), Arunachal Pradesh (20.5%), Dadra and Nagar Haveli (19.3%), Orissa (17.8%), Assam (17.6%), Jharkhand (16.2%), Mizoram and Punjab (both 16.1%). States like Goa where the birth rate among all communities has fallen drastically over recent decades, sees Christians too with just 9.6 per cent of its population in the zero–to–six age group, suggesting an older population overall.

Smaller regions like Daman and Diu and the Islands of Lakshadweep (which has just 509 Christians among its slightly over sixty thousand population) have fewer proportions in their zero–to–five Christian population. But it might not be appropriate to draw conclusions based on this base of small numbers involved.

India’s Christian population has a sex ratio favourable to women. Early findings on this census have drawn attention since Christians – unlike other religious communities in India – have 1009 women for every thousand men. This figure is significant in a country where a strong preference for the boy child has led the women–to–men ratio to sharply fall in some religious communities. The higher Christian women–to–men ratio could reflect either a lower bias in favour of the boy child, or migratory trends among the men folk of certain regions (such as Kerala and Goa) for overseas jobs, or a mix of both the factors.

In Kerala, the women–to–men ratio among Christians is 1031 for every thousand men, while in Goa it is an even higher 1107. Goa has the highest such ratio for Christians among all States nationwide, while Pondicherry has a high 1101 women for every thousand males in its 67,698–strong Christian community.

But when the sex ratio is considered, only in the 0–6 age group for Christians the situation changes. This figure drops to 964 girl children for every thousand boy children (in the 0–6 age group), a cause for probable concern, which could do with sociological explanations. It indicates a more–adverse ratio for girls in the younger age groups.

Literacy Among Christians: Literacy among Christians overall in India is a fairly high 80.3%. But given the rather low qualifying tests to be treated as literate in India, obviously there is no scope for self–appreciation for sometime to come.

Kerala with 94.8%, Delhi with 94%, Mizoram with 93.1%, and Maharashtra with 91% top the States with highest levels of literacy among the Christian communities in India. At the other end is Arunachal (just 47% of Christian population literate), Punjab (54.6%) and Orissa with 54.9% of its Christian population literate.

Kerala tops in terms of female literacy among Christians. Some 93.5% of its Christian women qualify as literate in that southern State. Delhi and Mizoram fight for a close second, with 91.7% and 91.4% respectively.

Workforce: Just under 40% of the Christian population in India is involved in workforce. But the “work participation rate” varies widely across States.

In Lakshadweep, some 82% of Christians are part of the workforce – but it is hard to draw conclusions since the islands have just 509 Christians.

Other states with a high Christian work participation rate include Mizoram (51.7%), Jammu and Kashmir (50.6%), Chhattisgarh (46.1%), Gujarat (45.9%), Jharkhand (45.6%), Orissa (44.6%), and Andhra Pradesh (42.8%).

In terms of the Christian percentage of population in different States, which have a higher–than–average ratio include Nagaland (90%), Mizoram (87%), Meghalaya (70.3%), Manipur (34%), Goa (26.7%), Andamans (21.7%), Kerala (19%), Arunachal (18.7%), Pondicherry (6.9%), Tamil Nadu (6.1%), Sikkim (6.7%), Assam (3.7%), Tripura (3.2%), Dadra and Nagar Haveli (2.7%).

States and Union territories with a miniscule Christian presence includes Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Haryana (all 0.1% of the total population), Jammu and Kashmir (0.2%), Uttaranchal (0.3%), West Bengal (0.6%), Chandigarh (0.8%), Delhi (0.9%), Lakshadweep (1%), Maharashtra (1.1%), Punjab (1.2%), Andhra Pradesh (1.6%), Karnataka (1.9%), Daman & Diu (2.1%).

The release of a religion–based Census of India’s population some weeks ago caused a major political controversy, with some groups alleging that the “minority” population was growing faster than those classified as Hindus, the majority.

Explaining the methodology followed, official updates caution that “data users should adopt caution and be careful before drawing any conclusions in respect of trends in the proportions and growth at the all–India level (of different religious communities)”.

Figures are available on the official website http://www.censusindia.net.