Current Population of India in 2011 1,210,193,422 (1.

21 billion)
Total Male Population in India 623,700,000 (623.7 million)
Total Female Population in India 586,500,000 (586.5 million)
Sex Ratio 940 females per 1,000 males
Age structure
0 to 25 years 50% of India's current population
Currently, there are about 51 births in India in a minute.
India's Population in 2001 1.02 billion
Population of India in 1947 350 million
Uttar Pradesh top the state wise population table with 19,95,81,477 (16.49%) people. Next top four States with
highest population according to 2011 census are:
1. Maharashtra has second highest population with 11,23,72,972 (9.29%) people.
2. Bihar the third highest populated state in India with 10,38,04,637 (8.58%) population.
3. West Bengal stand at fourth with 9,13,47,736 (7.55%) population.
4. Andhra Pradesh is at number five with 8,46,65, 533 (7%) population.
Five least populated states in India as of 2011 census are

1. Sikkim the lowest populated state in India has a population of 6,07,688 (0.05%).
2. Mizoram second lowest state with a population of 10,91,014 (0.09%).
3. Arunachal Pradesh has a population of 13,82,611 people and ranks third on lowest populated states
list.
4. Goa ranks fourth with 14,577,23 (0.12%) people.
5. Nagaland fifth lowest populate state in India with 19,80,602 (0.16%) people

KEY FINDINGS OF THE CENSUS

* Population grows to 1.21 billion
* 181 million people added during 2001-11
* Growth declines to 17.64% from 21.15% during 1991-2001
* There are 623.7 million males and 586.5 million females
* India accounts for 17.5% of the world’s population, China 19.4%
* First decade (with exception of 1911-1921) which saw addition of lesser people than the
previous decade.
* Child sex ratio — 914 females against 1,000 males — lowest since independence
* Overall sex ratio rises by seven points — 940 females per 1,000 males
* Literacy rate goes up from 64.83% to 74.04%
* 74% people aged seven and above are literate
* 82.14% male literacy, 65.46% female literacy
* In 2001, male literacy was 75.26%, female literacy was 53.67%
* Delhi (11,297 people per square km) has the highest population density, followed by
Chandigarh (9,252)
* Uttar Pradesh is the most populous state with 199 million people while Lakshadweep is the
least populated at 64,429

Uttar Pradesh is the most populous sate with 199 million people and Lakshadweep the least populated at
64,429.
Family Planning Programme

The Family Planning Programme is now repositioned as a “Family planning program for achieving MDG
goals” as this is one of the major means through which both maternal and child mortality and morbidity can be
reduced. Increasing age at marriage and spacing between births are major interventions for achieving both these
objectives. Intra-uterine Device (IUD) services in the country is being given a thrust as this is one of the most
effective spacing methods available in the country. An alternative training methodology in IUD is being
introduced through which expansion of services as well as ensuring their quality is being addressed. This is
expected to increase the demand on IUD along with scaling up information. Education and Communication
(IEC) on IUD is presently introduced in 12 States as a pilot project. Increasing the basket of choice in
contraceptives through introduction of newer contraceptives is essential for increasing contraceptive
acceptance. Government has now modified the earlier compensation scheme for sterilization and has increased
the payment to compensate for loss of wages to those accepting sterilization. Quality of care in family planning
is one of the major thrust areas and monitoring of quality of services in family planning is done through quality
assurance committees set up at State and district levels. Government introduced a National Family Planning
Insurance Scheme which provides compensation to sterilization acceptors as well as to provide indemnity
insurance to the provider (qualified doctors) against failures, complications and deaths following sterilizations.
These measures are introduced as confidence building mechanisms among the family planning clients.
Increased availability of infrastructure as a result of NRHM would assist in increasing access to family planning
services.

DEMOGRAPHIC DIVIDEND

Many developing countries are experiencing rapid fertility decline. As a result population growth rates are
slowing and, perhaps more importantly, population age structures are changing. Several recent studies
provide convincing evidence of important economic benefits, referring to the consequences of the change in age
structure as the ‘demographic bonus’, the ‘demographic gift’, or the ‘demographic dividend’ (Birdsall
et al., 2001; Bloom and Williamson, 1998; Mason et al., 1999; Mason, 2001; Sachs, 2002). A recent Business
Week article (March 25, 2002) summarizes current thinking. “For the next few decades, the combination of
falling fertility and death rates gives most developing nations a one-time window of opportunity to boost living
standards dramatically”.
The growth of the working-age population dominates the changes in age structure in the developing world, but
rapid fertility and mortality decline will eventually lead to rapid ageing. China is a prime example.

The arrival of aging in the demographic path is an important point, because as ageing occurs the demographic
dividend will disappear. The demographic dividend is a transitory phenomenon – a ‘window of opportunity’.
Moreover, seizing the opportunities implicit in the dividend is not just about creating opportunities for the
young. Increasingly, successful policies for stimulating economic growth and reducing poverty will be about
policies for the elderly
A strong human resource base, high rates of savings and investment, and the demographic dividend are critical
elements for accelerated economic growth, but none can stand alone. Rather, they are mutually reinforcing. A
strong human resource base is critical to attracting foreign investment and avoiding capital flight. High rates of
savings and investment are critical for creating jobs that are more productive. The demographic dividend
provides plentiful human resources and incentives for higher rates of savings and investment, but does not
guarantee their productive use.
The relatively rapid growth of the labour force is an advantage for countries that can increase employment
opportunities with sufficient speed and maintain growth in labour productivity. It is a burden, however, for
countries with high rates of unemployment and stagnant labour productivity. A population with a larger share
of its members concentrated in the working ages may be able to devote more of its public resources to raising
health and educational standards. But neither parents nor governments will necessarily choose to spend the
additional resources in a way that enhances the growth of human capital. Although women may enter the
labour force in increased numbers as their childbearing responsibilities decline, their contribution to economic
growth may be minimized by discriminatory practices in education and employment. Changing demographics
may favour higher rates of savings and investment, high rates of inflation, political instability, but the lack of
well-functioning financial markets and institutions may overwhelm favourable demographics.
India's future demographic evolution will also have significant implications for the economy, education
and the environment. Economic growth may be enhanced by the ‘demographic bonus’ deriving from
the projected diminishing age dependency ratio in the study's central projection in the period to about
the year 2031. Benefits will arise if there are consequential increases in savings and investment. But
such increases cannot be taken for granted. As Mari Bhat argued, there is nothing automatic about such
potentially positive relationships (Bhat 2001). It is virtually certain that the country's working age
population is going to grow faster than the total population, and it may be roughly 50 percent bigger in
2026 compared to 2001. McNay, Unni and Cassen (2004), among others, maintain that economic
growth during the 1990s was not very employment friendly. In terms of job generation, they contend,
the situation appears to have deteriorated, and this is reflected in increased unemployment. The quality
of the available employment also seems to have fallen—as the share of unorganized and casual work in
total employment has risen. Without rapid economic growth and gains in the employment intensity of
output these authors argue that there could be a significant rise in unemployment.

Finally in this section, as Robert Cassen has remarked, a great challenge for India’s future rests in
limiting divergence. Of course—as with much else here—this basic point is well recognized. However,
the experience of recent decades suggests strongly that the poor states are mostly growing slowly
economically and fast demographically; and, conversely, the country's better-off states are mostly
growing fast economically and slowly demographically. In both cases processes of cumulative
causality apply. That is, faster demographic change would bring about faster economic change, and
vice versa.

Continuing attention to the provision of high quality family planning and reproductive health care
services will benefit the poor—and especially women; there is a massive amount of good demographic
evidence to this effect (e.g. see Merrick 2001). Faster, rather than slower, fertility decline will make it
easier to bring education of better quality to all people. It will reduce urban population increase, and
growth of the labour force—making it easier to provide better living conditions in the urban sector and
better employment prospects. It will reduce pressure on environmental resources, and it may also
enhance economic growth. Since the large northern states are where fertility is highest, women are
most disadvantaged, and services are still weak, it is in there, but not only there, that improved services
are required.