Thus, for Indian demographers, differences in size and growth rates between different social groups acquire paramount importance. At the same time the issue of social group inequality is not unaffected by the issue of regional imbalances. Certain groups, for example, may have higher fertility than others but there are also significant variations among the people belonging to the same group living in different regions. One may say that hyperdifferentiation of demographic trends is the present as well as the future of India . Migration will be a major factor in hyperdifferentiation. Migration is selective of caste and communities and by opening new opportunities to some, it also affects the relative conditions of different communities, social relationships and belief systems. This is followed by hyperrationalization and further differentiation. At the same time, the new patterns are not non-independent of tradition, and continuing class differences provide enough room for conventional analysis of inequality.
RELIGION
Indian society is a plural society. People belonging to all religions and faiths are found here. 72.2 percent population of India lives in rural areas. The rural areas have the continuing influence of religious values. In urban areas too, influence of religion and customs is quite strong, though the situation is changing rapidly.
Census of India , 2001 provides data on religious composition of the population of India . According to these data, 80.5 percent of the population of India consists of Hindus. Next to them are Muslims who constitute 13.4 percent of the entire population of the country (Table 2.2). Christians constitute 2.3 percent. Sikhs constitute 1.9 percent while other religions constitute less than one percent each. It may be added here that the religious composition of population is not uniform across different states and regions. Thus there are states where the national minorities constitute the majority. Also, there are districts in Hindu majority states where other religions constitute the majority or a sizeable proportion of the overall population. There are also significant religious differentials in population growth rates. However, this is a matter of debate whether these differentials are due to religious ideas or socio-economic differences or a combination of both. |
