Which census year is known as the Great Divide in the demographic history of India?

The correct answer is D, Haryana. In Census 2011 Haryana recorded a sex ratio of 879 females per 1,000 males, the lowest among all the states of India, against the national figure of 943; among the union territories the lowest was Daman and Diu. Option A is wrong because Maharashtra recorded a sex ratio of about 929, below the national average but well above Haryana. Option B is wrong because Rajasthan recorded about 928, again higher than Haryana despite a similarly adverse child sex ratio. Option C is wrong because Bihar recorded about 918, which is low but still above the Haryana figure; Bihar is remembered instead for the highest density of population, 1,106 persons per square kilometre. Learn the pair together: Kerala highest at 1,084 and Haryana lowest at 879, and read the question to see whether it asks about states or union territories.

The correct answer is B, 1881. The census of 1881, taken during the viceroyalty of Lord Ripon, was the first in which the whole country was enumerated with reference to a single date, and from that year the census has been held every ten years without a break. Option A is wrong, and is the usual trap, because 1872 was the year of the first census attempt, made under Lord Mayo, but it was conducted in different provinces at different times and so was not synchronous. Option C is wrong because 1891 was simply the next decennial round after 1881 and marks no first. Option D is wrong because 1901 is remembered for the administrative reports of the period, not for any change in census method. In an examination read the word synchronous carefully, because it decides between 1872 and 1881.

The correct answer is C, about 121 crore. Census 2011 counted 1,210.8 million people, that is about 121 crore, of whom roughly 62.37 crore were males and 58.65 crore females, giving India about 17.5 per cent of the world's population on about 2.4 per cent of its land area. Option A is wrong because about 102 crore was the figure of Census 2001, and the difference between the two is the decadal growth of 17.70 per cent. Option B is wrong because no census recorded a figure of 110 crore; it falls between the two census years. Option C stands because the census is the only authoritative count. Option D is wrong because figures above 130 crore are later projections and estimates, not census data, and an examination asking for Census 2011 expects the census figure. Learn the two together: 102 crore in 2001 and 121 crore in 2011.

The correct answer is D, 943 females per 1,000 males. Census 2011 recorded an overall sex ratio of 943, an improvement over 933 in 2001, while the child sex ratio in the age group of nought to six years fell to 919 girls per 1,000 boys, the lowest recorded since independence. Option A is wrong because 927 was the child sex ratio recorded in Census 2001, a figure often set against the 919 of 2011 to show the decline. Option B is wrong because 933 was the overall sex ratio of Census 2001 and is the commonest distractor in this question. Option C is wrong because 940 is simply a near value with no place in the census tables. The safest way to hold these numbers is as a set of four: 933 and 927 for 2001, 943 and 919 for 2011.

The correct answer is B, 74.04 per cent. Census 2011 recorded an overall literacy rate of 74.04 per cent, made up of 82.14 per cent among males and 65.46 per cent among females, the gap of nearly seventeen percentage points being a favourite point for questions. Option A is wrong because 64.83 per cent was the literacy rate of Census 2001 and is the standard distractor. Option C is wrong because 77.70 per cent is a later survey estimate and not a census figure, and a question on Census 2011 expects census data. Option D is wrong because 82.14 per cent is the male literacy rate of 2011, offered here as the overall rate, which is the trap in the question. Remember the three numbers of 2011 in order: 74.04 overall, 82.14 male and 65.46 female, with Kerala highest at 93.91 per cent and Bihar lowest at 61.80 per cent.