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Conclusion
The Jains have always been a minority community in India in modern times. Since the 1881 census the Jains seldom constituted more than half a percent of the total population of India. The current population of Jains is estimated around 5.0 million. They are heavily concentrated in the western half of India, particularly Maharastra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. About 250,000 Jains are in diaspora, mainly in North America, the UK and East Africa. Estimatedly about 80% of the Jain population belongs to the Shvetambar sect and the rest are Digambars. Close to 75% of Jains live in urban areas. Other demographic features include very high level of literacy, the lowest infant mortality rate and the medium level of sex ratio (940 in 2001 compared to 931 for Hindus and 950 for Muslims. During the 19811991 decade, the Jain population had increased very slowly, that is, at the rate of only 4.42% compared to 23.17% for the previous decade. This firmly confirmed the urban middle class character of the community.
Two major demographic challenges that the Jain community in India is facing today are the very low rate of population growth and the declining sex ratio not only among the adults but also among the younger generation. Both these trends are quite evident from the data available from the 1991 and 2001 census reports. Although due to ethnic revivalism the decadal growth rate of the Jain population during the 1991-2001 decade has jumped to 26.0 per cent, in all probability it will come down to around 4.0 per cent by the next census date in 2011. The sex ratio among the Jains is also likely to further drop slightly by that time.
69 Jains in India and Abroad
