Bhagavana Mahavira

Author(s): Chauthmal Maharaj
Publisher: Jainoday Pustak Prakashan Samiti Ratlam

Page 50

Bhagawan Mahavir /
[ 17
in 1931, i. e. ten years after the first census, it rose upto 35 crores and above. They should not forget, moreover, that, at the time of the second census, the Civil Disobedience Movement and policy of boycotting every thing foreign had reached their highest pitch in all parts of India from North to South and East to West; and that many people of Gujrat and other provinces, being tired of Government's policy of realising taxes, had left their homes, and were taking shelter in the forest or other out-of-the-way places. It is but natural that under such circumstances it becomes utterly impossible to take complete census of the country. Many people actually Tefused to give the number of their family members; others who did gave wrong figures; while the Government itself was quite unable to reckon the number of those, who had taken their abode, like the wandering travellers, in the forests situated far from their homes and other human habitations. Moreover, number of diseases and deaths was there as usual no less than that of any other country, and they accounted for the removal of many from this land. Also, during this last decade, the import trade increased, and India poured most of her vast accumulated heaps of wealth into foreign countries; a large part of the population was, thus, rendered destitute of money altogether. Yet, inspite of all these events, population increased nearly by ten percent since the previous census. We can advance four general reasons to account for the growth of population during this time: (1) the ever increasing poverty of the land, ( 2 ) a curiosity to adopt western ways of living, which certainly prove more and more expensive, (3) absence of all means of income except service and consequently multiplication of cares and anxieties, and