Demographic Dynamics of India

What the official syllabus says

General Studies-III (Main Examination, Paper VI), (C) Geography:

• Demographic Dynamics of India and Gujarat: Population distribution, density, age-sex, composition, growth, Rural-urban composition, Race, Composition of Scheduled Tribe and Scheduled Caste, religion, language, literacy, education. Migration-urbanisation, population policies and issues, etc.

This page takes the India part of the line. Gujarat's population is on Gujarat: Population and Demographic Dynamics.

Topics in detail

Population size, growth and distribution

• Census of India: history (first synchronous census 1881), the Census Act, 1948; National Population Register
• Phases of growth: 1901-1921 stagnant, 1921-1951 steady, 1951-1981 rapid, after 1981 slowing
• 1921 as the 'year of great divide'
• Distribution and density: dense plains, sparse deserts and mountains; factors
• Demographic transition theory and India's stage; fertility (Total Fertility Rate), mortality, life expectancy
• Sample Registration System and National Family Health Surveys as data sources

Composition

• Age structure: population pyramid, dependency ratio, the demographic dividend, ageing
• Sex ratio and child sex ratio: causes of imbalance, the PCPNDT Act, 1994, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao
• Rural-urban composition
• Race: older classifications of India's people (such as B.S. Guha's) and why ethnicity and language are now preferred
• Religion and language: the Eighth Schedule, language families (Indo-Aryan, Dravidian, Austro-Asiatic, Tibeto-Burman)
• Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes: distribution, Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups
• Literacy and education: gaps by gender, region and social group; the Right to Education Act, 2009; National Education Policy 2020
• Occupational structure: workers, main and marginal workers, sectoral shares

Migration and urbanisation

• Types of migration: rural-urban, inter-State, seasonal, international; push and pull factors
• Effects on source and destination areas; remittances
• Urbanisation: trends, census towns, million-plus cities, metropolitan regions
• Problems: slums, housing, transport, water, waste; urban governance
• Missions: Smart Cities, AMRUT, PMAY-Urban, Swachh Bharat (Urban)

Population policies and issues

• Family planning programme (1952), National Population Policy, 2000 and its goals
• Shift from targets to choice and reproductive health; Mission Parivar Vikas
• Fertility decline and replacement-level fertility; regional differences between States
• Ageing population, youth unemployment, skills; population and the environment
• Delimitation and population (the freeze under Article 82 and Article 170)

India at a glance

Overlaps

• Prelims General Studies: Social Geography in relation to World, India and Gujarat; and trends and patterns in structure of population under Economy.
• General Studies-I: Indian society and its diversity.