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A Demographic Analysis on
Jains in India
M. K. JAIN
Numerically, Jains form a very small segment of the Indian population. Approximately, 3.19 million followers of this religion account for 0.48 percent of the total population as at 1981 and thus ranked sixth religious group after Hindus (82.63), Muslims (11.36), Christians (2.43), Sikhs (1.96) and Buddhists (0.71). It has been amply demonstrated in one of the earlier studies that "the Jains have always constituted a small religious minority of Indian society throughout their historical existence. The two other criteria of language and ethnic background that define a minority do not apply to them for they speak practically every language of India and cannot be isolated ethnically from other Indian people."
If we look at the figures on the population growth of Jains in India we notice that after an initial growth during 1881-91, the number of Jains declined continuously till 1921 and registered very slow growth thereafter during next thirty years period. In the post-independence period, the number of Jains roughly doubled i.e. from 1.62 million to 3.19 million during 1951-81. Thus, the decadal percentage growth among Jains has greatly varied from the lowest i.e., a decline of 6.47 (1901-11) to the highest growth of 28.48 (1961-71). Similarly, the strength of the Jains in total population also fluctuated in the pre-independence period and improved marginally in the latter censuses.
1 Census of India, 1981, Paper No. 3 of 1984, Household Population by Religion
of Head of Household, R. G. Office, New Delhi, 1984, p. vii (figures amended as per Errata issued subsequently by this Office).
? J. P. Sharma, 'Jains as a minority in Indian Society and History', Jain Journal :
A Quarterly on Jainology, Vol. X, April, 1976, Calcutta, pp. 137-148.
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