Census: Dip in Nilgiris; Kanchi surges ahead

Published in The New Indian Express, Chennai, on April 02, 2011:

LINK:http://expressbuzz.com/states/tamilnadu/census-dip-in-nilgiris;-kanchi-surges-ahead/261813.html

CHENNAI: The hilly district of Nilgiris recorded a sharp decline in its headcount, while Chennai's neighbouring districts - Tiruvallur and Kanchee puram - saw an upward trend, according to the provisional figures of Census 2011.

Unveiling State-specific figures from a month-long census exercise here on Friday, S Gopalakrishnan, director of Census OperationsTamil Nadu, said, "Except for the Nilgiris that recorded a slump of 3.6 per cent when compared to 2001 headcount of 7,62,141, all other districts in the State have recorded an upward trend."

The census officials attributed the fall in population in the Nilgiris to migration of people to neighbouring areas and other cities.
The highest population growth rate among the districts was recorded in Kancheepuram, where the headcount was 39,90,897 in 2011 Census as against the 2001 figure of 28,77,468. In terms of percentage, the growth was an astonishing 38.7 per cent, against the 2001 figure of 19.2 per cent.

While Tiruvallur district stood second with a growth percentage of 35.2 (from 27,54, 756 in 2001 to 37,25,697 in 2011), the industry-major Tiruppur district recorded 28.7 per cent (from 19,20,154 in 2001 to 24,71,222 in 2011) increase and stood third among all districts.

Briefing the media about the trends in literacy, Gopalakrishnan said, "Like in the 2001 census, the coastal districts of Kanyakumari, Chennai and Thoothukudi emerged the top three districts with a literacy rate of 92.1, 90.3 and 86.5, respectively."

However, Ariyalur, Krishnagiri, Perambalur, Salem, Cuddalore and Villupuram districts continued to be way behind in literacy rate, sex ratio and human index, the figures revealed.

These backward districts have not witnessed any major growth in the population index for the last 10 years.