New Census reveals steady growth of Christian population in South India

New Delhi – In spite of the controversy surrounding Jayalalitha’s government in Tamil Nadu that attempted to curb Christian activities in the state by imposition of the draconic (and now repealed) anti–conversion law, a recent census taken on Christian population shows that they are the second highest in the state.

The Hindus dominated the figures with their population of 5,49,85,079 (88.1%) out of the total population of 6,24,05,679 in the State. There are 37,85,060 (6.1%) Christians followed by 34,70,647 (5.6%) Muslims. The population of Buddhists, Sikhs and Jains are negligible as they are only 5,393, 9,545 and 83,359 (0.1%) respectively.

According to the data on religion collected based on the 2001 census, which was released by the Census Commissioner of India recently, the literacy rate of Christians is the highest among the three main religions. This proves that the Christian missionaries have indeed played a big role in educating the people of this south Indian state. As high as 85.8% of Christians are literate in the State followed by Muslims – 82.9% and Hindus – 72%.

Even in the female literacy rate Christians top the list with 81.6% followed by Muslims 76.2% and Hindus 62.4%. As for the sex ratio, the number of females for every 1000 males, the figures stand at 1031 for Christians, 1020 for Muslims and 983 for Hindus.

Another interesting feature is that though the Jains are only 0.1%, their literacy rate however is 92.2% Female literacy rate among them is 88.4% A look at the children sex ratio (0–6 years of age) would show that the Christians dominate with 968, followed by 957 among Muslims and 939 in Hindus.

But if you take the child population (0–6 years) proportionate to the total population it is Muslims who top the list with 12.9% followed by Hindus 11.5% and Christians 11.2%. Interestingly in the work participation rate, ie. proportion of workers or job goers, Hindus dominate the list with 45.9%, followed by Christians 39% and Muslims 31.8%.

Even in Kerala, Christian population have shown a healthy figure. Ernakulam district in Kerala has the highest percentage of the Christians in India. Kottayam district has the second largest Christian population in the country, while Thrissur and Thiruvananthapuram districts are placed at fourth and fifth place.

Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu is the district with the third largest Christian population in India.

Christians form 19 percent and Muslims 24.7 percent of the total population in Kerala. Hindus make up for 56.2 percent of the population.

However, it is not only in Tamil Nadu or Kerala that the Christian population is growing. The figures of Christian population have been very encouraging in Goa and north eastern states of Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland too. According to the new census data in India, there is a slight increase in the proportion of Christians in India, overall – and a much more marked increase in the number of Christian women.

India's 24 million Christians now account for 2.34 percent of the country's population – up from 2.32 percent at the last previous census in 1991.

The most striking finding among the new statistics, however, is the proportion of women among the Christian population. There are 1,000 women to every 1,000 Christian men in India. For the country as a whole, there are only 933 women per 1,000 men – a statistic that bears testimony to the prevalence of sex–selection abortion and female infanticide, abominable practices which remains widespread despite government efforts to combat it. In introducing the new statistics, India's census commissioner, Jayant Kumar Banthia, remarked that Christians have a “healthy” ratio of women to men.