Anyone with an interest in the India story will know that the new decade has brought in a fresh population census which was completed within a record span of a few months at a mammoth cost of over Rs22 billion(Dh1.8 billion).

A remarkable feat indeed, given the size of the country and the near inaccessibility of many remote areas. Across the length and breadth of the land, teachers and government college lecturers have travelled to complete the exercise and, give or take a few hiccups, a few inaccuracies and inefficiencies, the 15th census report reflects the India that is today.

This is not going to be a rundown on meaningful statistics that have emerged; it is rather a look at what still ails the social fabric of this nation of anomalies — the paradoxes, weaknesses and strengths that need the serious attention of every citizen.

The most satisfying revelation is that India's population growth is slowing down and the number of the literate is growing. For the first time the population count has grown less than in the previous decade.

Perhaps improved awareness, especially among women, and benevolent governmental family planning measures are responsible for the slowdown, particularly in the under-six age group. Yet, despite the slowdown, the current populace equals the combined population of Pakistan, Bangladesh, Japan, Brazil and the US; and within the space of this decade, notwithstanding the slower growth rate, India has added another Brazil to its people count!

While the initial figures are heartening, several distressing, even shameful, details emerge which expose the underbelly of caste and gender prejudices.

The skewed gender ratio against females goes against the very grain of a developed, equitable and civilised society. While the national sex ratio has risen to 940 women for every 1,000 men (the highest ratio since the 1971 census), the child sex ratio reveals that girls continue to lose the battle for life, and this trend has extended to several other states besides the arch-villains Punjab and Haryana.

Women's condition

This is no less than pure genocide and abettors to this fact are the continued proclivity for male offspring, the thriving illegal businesses in mobile ultrasound machines for sex determination tests, the tacit societal approval and the apathy of political and social leaders; these will ensure that female foeticide and infanticide continue to thrive.

Earlier studies have indicated that about 500,000 to 700,000 girls' lives are extinguished annually in India due to sex-selective abortion. That amounts to 2,000 girls disappearing every day — chilling news even for the most insensitive heart.

No wonder that in orphanages and rescue shelters for infants and juveniles, female children far exceed male, and the preference for adoption of a male child continues to this day. With more than 74 per cent of the people now literate (a growth of 9.21 per cent), a welcome revelation is the increase in female literacy which helps to provide a better quality of life to women and opportunities for their financial independence through greater participation in self-employment schemes.

Through the nation as a whole, it appears that various education schemes have paid off and laws such as the Right to Education Act, the Education for All, and Education for the Girl Child programmes are having a positive impact and moving the less advantaged in the right direction.

Changing mindsets

State governments would do well to note that the smaller states have performed better than their more populous counterparts (with Kerala continuing to retain the top spot with 93.91 per cent literacy); at the same time these same populous states have reduced their population growth rate — a cause for much relief and hope.

It is high time that mindsets and attitudes change and there is social and political will to address the vital issues and treat the maladies pervading the fabric of the country.

First and foremost, educate the people not just by arming them with useless degrees but in the ways that matter, with aggressive and inclusive education planning which is skill-and job-oriented.

Formulate programmes for the young population giving a proper direction, opportunities, and make available basic medical treatment for the poor.

Develop satellite towns closer to village clusters instead of concentrating all development in major cities, thereby reducing exodus to already overburdened urban areas for job opportunities.

Register and monitor ultrasound clinics and machines. India's highest judicial authority, the Supreme Court, has in a landmark ruling on April 18 directed that exemplary punishment be awarded to members of local elected bodies, who condone, even approve ‘honour killings', as also the local level police and bureaucracy, for the crime is not against the victim alone but against society and humanity.

Let India's 1.21 billion population be a boon not a bane to national progress and pride.

 

Vimala Madon is a freelance journalist based in Secunderabad, India.