Jains in India and Abroad

Author(s): Prakash C Jain
Publisher: International Summer School for Jain Studies

Page 65

NUMBER OF JAINS ('000)
4,500
4,000
3,500
3,000
2,500
2,000
1,500 1,222
1,000
500
0
Number of Jains (in 000s) in India, 1881-2001
1,417
1,334
1,248
1,440
1,251 1,177
1,618
2,027
2,605
3,193
3,352
4,225
1881 1891 1901 1911 1921 1931 1941 1951 1961 1971 1981 1991 2001
Figure: 2
Population Growth Rate
During the decade 1881-1891 Jain population did increase by about 16% but went on declining in the 1901, 1911 and 1921 censuses. The 1891 level of the Jain population was restored only in 1941. Since then until 1981 the Jain population had been increasing continuously at varying rates ranging from 12% to over 28% per decade. Between 1981 and 1991 the Jain population grew by only 141, 065 persons, or by 4.42%. This was one of the lowest decadal growth rates in the Jain population since 1921. This is also the most striking feature of the 1991 census of India with respect of the Jain population.
The slow growth in Jain population can be attributed to the decline in fertility rate due to affluence among the Jains and their upper middle class status. When most demographers were expecting less than 4% population growth rate of Jains in the 2001 census, they were surprised to discover that it turned out to be over 26% during the decade 1991-2001. This time around "ethnic revivalism" is considered to be the main cause of population growth among the Jains. According to the Indian Census officials, the "respondents
51 Jains in India and Abroad