Chapter 2: Socio-Economic & Demographic Data¶
India's people in numbers — population, health, education, poverty, and livelihoods.
Why This Chapter?
"To understand a place, you must understand its people." India's socio-economic datasets are among the richest in the developing world — the Census alone covers 1.4 billion people down to the village level. This chapter shows you where to find this data and how to use it.
Chapter Overview¶
| # | Dataset | Provider | Best For | Access | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Census of India | RGI / Census | Population, literacy, housing | 🟡 Login | 🟡 |
| 2 | NFHS Health Survey | IIPS / MoHFW | Health indicators, nutrition | 🟢 No Login | 🟢 |
| 3 | SECC 2011 | MoRD | Poverty, deprivation, SECC data | 🟢 No Login | 🟢 |
| 4 | NSS & PLFS Surveys | MOSPI | Employment, consumption, inequality | 🟡 Login | 🟡 |
| 5 | ASER Reports | Pratham | School learning outcomes | 🟢 No Login | 🟢 |
Geographic Coverage at Each Level¶
| Dataset | National | State | District | Block | Village |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Census PCA | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Census HH Series | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
| NFHS-5 | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
| SECC 2011 | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| NSS/PLFS | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| ASER | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
Village-Level Data
The Census Primary Census Abstracts (PCA) are the only official dataset that provides basic statistics (population, literacy, workers) at the village level for all 640,000+ villages in India. This is a goldmine for researchers.
Key Concepts in Demographic Analysis¶
Before diving in, here are some terms you'll encounter across all datasets in this chapter:
| Term | What It Means |
|---|---|
| SC/ST | Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes — constitutional categories of marginalised communities |
| Total Fertility Rate (TFR) | Average number of children per woman over her lifetime |
| Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) | Deaths per 1000 live births under age 1 |
| Main Workers | Persons who worked 183+ days in a year (Census definition) |
| Marginal Workers | Persons who worked fewer than 183 days |
| Decadal Growth Rate | Percentage population change between two Census years |
✏️ Chapter Exercise: Compare Districts¶
Exercise 2.0 — Literacy Rate Comparison
Goal: Find and compare literacy rates across districts in your state.
- Go to censusindia.gov.in
- Navigate to "Census Tables" → "Primary Census Abstracts"
- Select your state → District-level data → Download CSV
- Open in Excel → Filter to your state
- Sort by literacy rate (ascending)
Questions: - [ ] Which district in your state has the highest literacy rate? - [ ] Which district has the lowest? What might explain this? - [ ] Is there a gender gap in literacy (male vs. female)?
Start with: Census of India →