Jains in India and Abroad

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

Page 67

Decadal Percentage Growth of Jains in India, 1961-2001
Percentage to total Population
1961 -11-1971
1981
1991
2001
M.P
Delhi
Gujarat
Rajasthan
Karnataka
Maharashtra
Figure: 4
Population Variation by States/Union Territories Table 3.3 presents data regarding distribution of Jain population by States and Union Territories for five consecutive census years since 1961. The variation in Jain population across the states and union territories has not obviously been uniform. Data in this table clearly suggest that as per the 1991 census data, in 14 States and five union territories there was varying increase in Jain population over the 1981 figures. These states and union territories are: Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Nagaland, Tamil Nadu, Tripura and Uttar Pradesh, Andman & Nicobar, Dadar & Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Delhi, and Pondicherry. In the 2001 census, however, all the states and union territories showed varying percentage of increase in the Jain population. No Jains were reported in Lakshadweep in any census year. There was no census taking in Assam in 1981 and in Jammu and Kashmir in 1991.
As per 1991 census, in nine States and one Union Territory Jain population varyingly had declined during the decade 1981-1991. These States and the Union Territory along with percent decrease in population are listed as follows: Bihar (-16.53), Haryana (-0.52), Meghalaya (-17.90), Mizoram (-63.64), Orissa (-5.12), Punjab (-23.24), Rajasthan (-9.85), Sikkim (-62.96), West Bengal (-11.14), Chandigarh
53 | Jains in India and Abroad