DEMOGRAPHIC CONDITION
Various details about the population
of British India were first collected through a census in 1881. Though
suffering from certain limitations, it revealed the unevenness in India’s
population growth. Subsequently, every ten years such census operations were
carried out. Before 1921, India was in the first stage of demographic
transition. The second stage of transition began after 1921. However, neither
the total population of India nor the rate of population growth at this stage
was very high. The various social development indicators were also not quite
encouraging. The overall literacy level was less than 16 per cent. Out of this,
the female literacy level was at a negligible low of about seven per cent.
Public health facilities were either unavailable to large chunks of population
or, when available, were highly inadequate. Consequently, water and air-borne
diseases were rampant and took a huge toll on life. No wonder, the overall
mortality rate was very high and in that, particularly, the infant mortality
rate was quite alarming—about 218 per thousand in contrast to the present
infant mortality rate of 33 per thousand. Life expectancy was also very low—32
years in contrast to the present 69 years. In the absence of reliable data, it
is difficult to specify the extent of poverty at that time but there is no
doubt that extensive poverty prevailed in India during the colonial period
which contributed to the worsening profile of India’s population of the time.
