INDIA 2011A REFERENCE ANNUAL

Compiled by

RESEARCH, REFERENCE AND TRAINING DIVISION

PUBLICATIONS DIVISIONMINISTRY OF INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

2011 (Saka 1932) 55th Edition Research, Reference and Training Division ISBN : 978-81-230-1674-0 REF-ENG-OP-045-2010-11

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Contents1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. Land and the People National Symbols The Polity Agriculture Culture and Tourism Basic Economic Data Commerce Communications and Information Technology Defence Education Energy Environment Finance Corporate Affairs Food and Civil Supplies Health and Family Welfare Housing India and the World Industry Justice and Law Labour Mass Communication Planning Rural and Urban Development Scientific and Technological Developments Transport Water Resources Welfare Youth Affairs and Sports States and Union Territories Diary of National Events Appendices 1 22 26 66 116 137 164 182 220 243 278 318 346 430 440 476 527 545 593 673 695 721 764 798 833 925 954 982 1035 1060 1170 1173

32. General Information

iv Blank

Land and the People

1

1 Land and the People"INDIA is the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend and the great grandmother of tradition. Our most valuable and most instructive materials in the history of man are treasured up in India only."Mark Twain India has a unique culture and is one of the oldest and greatest civilizations of the world. It stretches from the snow-capped Himalayas in the North to sun drenched coastal villages of the South, the humid tropical forests on the south-west coast, the fertile Brahamputra valley on its East to the Thar desert in the West. It covers an area of 32,87,263 sq. km. It has achieved all-round socio-economic progress during the last 63 years of its Independence. India is the seventh largest country in the world and ranks second in population. The country stands apart from the rest of Asia, marked off as it is by mountains and the sea, which give her a distinct geographical entity. Bounded by the Great Himalayas in the north, it stretches southwards and at the Tropic of Cancer, tapers off into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal on the east and the Arabian Sea on the west. Lying entirely in the northern hemisphere, the mainland extends between latitudes 84' and 376' north, longitudes 687' and 9725' east and measures about 3,214 km from north to south between the extreme latitudes and about 2,933 km from east to west between the extreme longitudes. It has a land frontier of about 15,200 km. The total length of the coastline of the mainland, Lakshadweep Islands and Andaman & Nicobar Islands is 7,516.6 km.

PHYSICAL BACKGROUNDCountries having a common border with India are Afghanistan and Pakistan to the north-west, China, Bhutan and Nepal to the north, Myanmar to the far east and Bangladesh to the east of West Bengal. Sri Lanka is separated from India by a narrow channel of sea formed by the Palk Strait and the Gulf of Mannar. The country can be divided into six zones mainly North, South, East, West, Central and North-east zone. It has 28 states and seven union territories. PHYSICAL FEATURES The mainland comprises four regions, namely, the great mountain zone, plains of the Ganga and the Indus, the desert region and the southern peninsula. The Himalayas comprise three almost parallel ranges interspersed with large plateaus and valleys, some of which, like the Kashmir and Kullu valleys, are fertile, extensive and of great scenic beauty. Some of the highest peaks in the world are found in these ranges. The high altitudes admit travel only to a few passes, notably the Jelep La and Nathu La on the main Indo-Tibet trade route through the Chumbi Valley, north-east of Darjeeling and Shipki La in the Satluj valley, north-east of Kalpa (Kinnaur). The mountain wall extends over a distance of about 2,400 km with a varying depth of 240 to 320 km. In the east, between India and Myanmar and India and Bangladesh, hill ranges are much lower. Garo, Khasi, Jaintia and Naga Hills,1

Provisional as on 31 March 1982

2

India 2011

running almost east-west, join the chain to Mizo and Rkhine Hills running northsouth. The plains of the Ganga and the Indus, about 2,400 km long and 240 to 320 km broad, are formed by basins of three distinct river systems - the Indus, the Ganga and the Brahmaputra. They are one of the worlds greatest stretches of flat alluvium and also one of the most densely populated areas on the earth. Between the Yamuna at Delhi and the Bay of Bengal, nearly 1,600 km away, there is a drop of only 200 metres in elevation. The desert region can be divided into two parts - the great desert and the little desert. The great desert extends from the edge of the Rann of Kuchch beyond the Luni river northward. The whole of the Rajasthan-Sind frontier runs through this. The little desert extends from the Luni between Jaisalmer and Jodhpur up to the northern wastes. Between the great and the little deserts lies a zone of absolutely sterile country, consisting of rocky land, cut up by limestone ridges. The Peninsular Plateau is marked off from the plains of the Ganga and the Indus by a mass of mountain and hill ranges varying from 460 to 1,220 metres in height. Prominent among these are the Aravalli, Vindhya, Satpura, Maikala and Ajanta. The Peninsula is flanked on the one side by the Eastern Ghats where average elevation is about 610 metres and on the other by the Western Ghats where it is generally from 915 to 1,220 metres, rising in places to over 2,440 metres. Between the Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea lies a narrow coastal strip, while between Eastern Ghats and the Bay of Bengal, there is a broader coastal area. The southern point of plateau is formed by the Nilgiri Hills where the Eastern and the Western Ghats meet. The Cardamom Hills lying beyond may be regarded as a continuation of the Western Ghats. GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURE The geological regions broadly follow the physical features and may be grouped into three regions: the Himalayas and their associated group of mountains, the IndoGanga Plain and the Peninsular Shield. The Himalayan mountain belt to the north and the Naga-Lushai mountain in the east, are the regions of mountain-building movement. Most of this area, now presenting some of the most magnificent mountain scenery in the world, was under marine conditions about 60 crore years ago. In a series of mountain-building movements commencing about seven crore years ago, the sediments and the basement rocks rose to great heights. The weathering and erosive agencies worked on these to produce the relief seen today. The Indo-Ganga plains are a great alluvial tract that separate the Himalayas in the north from the Peninsula in the south. The Peninsula is a region of relative stability and occasional seismic disturbances. Highly metamorphosed rocks of the earliest periods, dating back as far as 380 crore years, occur in the area; the rest being covered by the coastal-bearing Gondwana formations, lava flows belonging to the Deccan Trap formation and younger sediments. RIVER SYSTEMS The river systems of India can be classified into four groups viz., (i) Himalayan rivers, (ii) Deccan rivers, (iii) Coastal rivers, and (iv) Rivers of the inland drainage basin. The Himalayan rivers are formed by melting snow and glaciers and therefore, continuously flow throughout the year. During the monsoon months, Himalayas

Land and the People

3

receive very heavy rainfall and rivers swell, causing frequent floods. The Deccan rivers on the other hand are rainfed and therefore fluctuate in volume. Many of these are non-perennial. The Coastal streams, especially on the west coast are short in length and have limited catchment areas. Most of them are non-perennial. The streams of inland drainage basin of western Rajasthan are few and far apart. Most of them are of an ephemeral character. The main Himalayan river systems are those of the Indus and the GangaBrahmaputra-Meghna system. The Indus, which is one of the great rivers of the world, rises near Mansarovar in Tibet and flows through India and thereafter through Pakistan and finally falls into the Arabian sea near Karachi. Its important tributaries flowing in Indian territory are the Sutlej (originating in Tibet), the Beas, the Ravi, the Chenab and the Jhelum. The Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna is another important system of which the principal sub-basins are those of Bhagirathi and the Alaknanda, which join at Dev Prayag to form the Ganga. It traverses through Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal states. Below Rajmahal hills, the Bhagirathi, which used to be the main course in the past, takes off, while the Padma continues eastward and enters Bangladesh. The Yamuna, the Ramganga, the Ghaghra, the Gandak, the Kosi, the Mahananda and the Sone are the important tributaries of the Ganga. Rivers Chambal and Betwa are the important sub-tributaries, which join Yamuna before it meets the Ganga. The Padma and the Brahmaputra join at Bangladesh and continue to flow as the Padma or Ganga. The Brahmaputra rises in Tibet, where it is known as Tsangpo and runs a long distance till it crosses over into India in Arunachal Pradesh under the name of Dihang. Near Passighat, the Debang and Lohit join the river Brahmaputra and the combined river runs all along the Assam in a narrow valley. It crosses into Bangladesh downstream of Dhubri. The principal tributaries of Brahmaputra in India are the Subansiri, Jia Bhareli, Dhansiri, Puthimari, Pagladiya and the Manas. The Brahmaputra in Bangladesh fed by Tista, etc., finally falls into Ganga. The Barak river, the head stream of Meghna, rises in the hills in Manipur. The important tributaries of the river are Makku, Trang, Tuivai, Jiri, Sonai, Rukni, Katakhal, Dhaleswari, Langachini, Maduva and Jatinga. Barak continues in Bangladesh till the combined GangaBrahmaputra join it near Bhairab Bazar. In the Deccan region, most of the major river systems flowing generally in east direction fall into Bay of Bengal. The major east flowing rivers are Godavari, Krishna, Cauvery, Mahanadi, etc. Narmada and Tapti are major West flowing rivers. The Godavari in the southern Peninsula has the second largest river basin covering 10 per cent of the area of India. Next to it is the Krishna basin in the region, while the Mahanadi has the third largest basin. The basin of the Narmada in the uplands of the Deccan, flowing to the Arabian Sea and of the Kaveri in the south, falling into the Bay of Bengal are about the same size, though with different character and shape. There are numerous coastal rivers, which are comparatively small. While only handful of such rivers drain into the sea near the delta of east coast, there are as many as 600 such rivers on the west coast. A few rivers in Rajasthan do not drain into the sea. They drain into salt lakes and get lost in sand with no outlet to sea. Besides these, there are the desert rivers which flow for some distance and are lost in the desert. These are Luni, Machhu, Rupen, Saraswati, Banas, Ghaggar and others.

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India 2011

CLIMATE The climate of India may be broadly described as tropical monsoon type. There are four seasons: (i) winter (January-February), (ii) hot weather summer (March-May); (iii) rainy south-western monsoon (June-September) and (iv) post-monsoon, also known as north-east monsoon in the southern Peninsula (October-December). Indias climate is affected by two seasonal winds - the north-east monsoon and the south-west monsoon. The north-east monsoon commonly known as winter monsoon blows from land to sea whereas south-west monsoon known as summer monsoon blows from sea to land after crossing the Indian Ocean, the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. The south-west monsoon brings most of the rainfall during the year in the country.

FLORAIndia is rich in flora. Available data place India in the tenth position in the world and fourth in Asia in plant diversity. From about 70 per cent geographical area surveyed so far, over 46,000 species of plants have been described by the Botanical Survey of India (BSI), Kolkata. The vascular flora, which forms the conspicuous vegetation cover, comprises 15,000 species. With a wide range of climatic conditions from the torrid to the arctic, India has a rich and varied vegetation, which only a few countries of comparable size possess. India can be divided into eight distinct-floristic-regions, namely, the western Himalayas, the eastern Himalayas, Assam, the Indus plain, the Ganga plain, the Deccan, Malabar and the Andamans. The Western Himalayan region extends from Kashmir to Kumaon. Its temperate zone is rich in forests of chir, pine, other conifers and broad-leaved temperate trees. Higher up, forests of deodar, blue pine, spruce and silver fir occur. The alpine zone extends from the upper limit of the temperate zone of about 4,750 metres or even higher. The characteristic trees of this zone are high-level silver fir, silver birch and junipers. The eastern Himalayan region extends from Sikkim eastwards and embraces Darjeeling, Kurseong and the adjacent tract. The temperate zone has forests of oaks, laurels, maples, rhododendrons, alder and birch. Many conifers, junipers and dwarf willows also grow here. The Assam region comprises the Brahamaputra and the Surma valleys with evergreen forests, occasional thick clumps of bamboos and tall grasses. The Indus plain region comprises the plains of Punjab, western Rajasthan and northern Gujarat. It is dry, hot and supports natural vegetation. The Ganga plain region covers the area which is alluvial plain and is under cultivation for wheat, sugarcane and rice. Only small areas support forests of widely differing types. The Deccan region comprises the entire table land of the Indian Peninsula and supports vegetation of various kinds from scrub jungles to mixed deciduous forests. The Malabar region covers the excessively humid belt of mountain country parallel to the west coast of the Peninsula. Besides being rich in forest vegetation, this region produces important commercial crops, such as coconut, betelnut, pepper, coffee, tea, rubber and cashewnut. The Andaman region abounds in evergreen, mangrove, beach and diluvial forests. The Himalayan region extending from Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh through Sikkim, Meghalaya and Nagaland and the Deccan Peninsula is rich in endemic flora, with a large number of plants which are not found elsewhere. The flora of the country is being studied by BSI and its nine circle/field offices located throughout the country along with certain universities and research institutions.

Land and the People

5

Ethno-botanical study deals with the utilisation of plants and plant products by ethnic races. A scientific study of such plants has been made by BSI. A number of detailed ethno-botanical explorations have been conducted in different tribal areas of the country. More than 800 plant species of ethno-botanical interest have been collected and identified at different centres. Owing to destruction of forests for agricultural, industrial and urban development, several Indian plants are facing extinction. About 1,336 plant species are considered vulnerable and endangered. About 20 species of higher plants are categorised as possibly extinct as these have not been sighted during the last 6-10 decades. BSI brings out an inventory of endangered plants in the form of a publication titled Red Data Book.

FAUNA1The Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), with its headquarters in Kolkata and 16 regional stations is responsible for surveying the faunal resources of India. Possessing a tremendous diversity of climate and physical conditions, India has great variety of fauna numbering over 90,000 species. Of these, protista number 2,577, mollusca 5,072, anthropoda 69,903, amphibia 240, mammalia 397, reptilia 460, members of protochordata 119, pisces 2,546, aves 1,232 and other invertebrates 8,329. The mammals include the majestic elephant, the gaur or Indian bisonthe largest of existing bovines, the great Indian rhinoceros, the gigantic wild sheep of the Himalayas, the swamp deer, the thamin spotted deer, nilgai, the four-horned antelope, the Indian antelope or black-buck the only representatives of these genera. Among the cats, the tiger and lion are the most magnificent of all; other splendid creatures such as the clouded leopard, the snow leopard, the marbled cat, etc., are also found. Many other species of mammals are remarkable for their beauty, colouring, grace and uniqueness. Several birds, like pheasants, geese, ducks, myanahs, parakeets, pigeons, cranes, hornbills and sunbirds inhabit forests and wetlands. Amongst the crocodiles and gharials, the salt water crocodile is found along the eastern coast and in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. A project for breeding crocodiles which started in 1974, has been instrumental in saving the crocodile from extinction. The great Himalayan range has a very interesting variety of fauna that includes the wild sheep and goats, markhor, ibex, shrew and tapir. The panda and the snow leopard are found in the upper reaches of the mountains. Depletion of forest cover due to expansion of agriculture, habitat destruction, over-exploitation, pollution, introduction of toxic imbalance in community structure, epidemics, floods, droughts and cyclones, contribute to the loss of flora and fauna.

DEMOGRAPHIC BACKGROUNDCENSUS The Census of India 2001, is historic and epoch making, being the first census of the twenty-first century and the third millennium. It reveals benchmark data on the state of abundant human resources available in the country, their demography, culture1

As per information available upto January 2007 on the ZSI Website.

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India 2011

and economic structure at a juncture, which marks a centennial and millenial transition. The population enumeration of 2001 census was undertaken from 9 to 28 February 2001 with a revisional round from 1 to 5 March 2001. The census moment, the referral time at which the snapshot of the population is taken was 00.00 hours of 1 March 2001. Until the 1991 Census, the sunrise of 1 March was taken to be the census moment. The houseless population, as has been the usual practice, was enumerated on the night of 28 February 2001. POPULATION Indias population as on 1 March 2001 stood at 1,028 million (532.1 million males and 496.4 million females). India accounts for a meagre 2.4 per cent of the world surface area of 135.79 million sq km. Yet, it supports and sustains a whopping 16.7 per cent of the world population. The population of India, which at the turn of the twentieth century was around 238.4 million, increased to reach 1,028 million at the dawn of the twenty-first century. The population of India as recorded at each decennial census from 1901 has grown steadily except for a decrease during 1911-21. Decadal growth of population from 1901 is shown in table 1.1. Table 1.2 gives the selected indicators of population growth in different States and Union Territories. The per cent decadal growth of population in the inter-censal period 1991-2001 varies from a low of 9.43 in Kerala to a very high 64.53 in Nagaland. Delhi with 47.02 per cent, Chandigarh with 40.28 per cent and Sikkim with 33.06 per cent registering very high growth rates. In addition to Kerala, Tamilnadu and Andhra Pradesh registered low growth rates during 1991-2001. POPULATION DENSITY One of the important indices of population concentration is the density of population. It is defined as the number of persons per sq km. The population density of India in 2001 was 324 per sq km. The density of population increased in all States and Union Territories between 1991 and 2001. Among major states, West Bengal is still the most thickly populated state with a population density of 903 in 2001. Bihar is now the second highest densely populated state pushing Kerala to the third place. Ranking of the States and Union Territories by density is shown in table 1.3. SEX RATIO Sex ratio, defined as the number of females per thousand males is an important social indicator to measure the extent of prevailing equality between males and females in a society at a given point of time. The sex ratio in the country had always remained unfavourable to females. It was 972 at the beginning of the 20th century and thereafter showed continuous decline until 1941. The sex ratio from 1901-2001 is given in table 1.4. LITERACY For the purpose of census 2001, a person aged seven and above, who can both read and write with understanding in any language, is treated as literate. A person, who can only read but cannot write, is not literate. In the censuses prior to 1991, children below five years of age were necessarily treated as illiterates.

TABLE 1.1 : POPULATION 1901-2001Decadal Growth Change in decadal growth Absolute Per cent Per cent

Census years

Population

Absolute

Average annual exponential growth rate (per cent)

Progressive growth rate over 1901 (per cent)

Land and the People

1 3 4 5 6 7 0.56 -0.03 1.04 1.33 1.25 1.96 2.22 -0.14 -0.79 -2.33 2.20 2.14 1.95 -6.05 11.31 3.22 -0.91 8.33 3.16 -1,44,69,240 2,84,28,202 1,20,27,317 27,44,168 3,57,19,171 3,07,78,200 2,62,44,564 2,79,22,497 1,92,24,455 5.75 -0.31 11.00 14.22 13.31 21.64 24.80 24.66 23.87 21.54

2

8 5.75 5.42 17.02 33.67 51.47 84.25 129.94 186.64 255.05 331.47

1901

23,83,96,327

1911

25,20,93,390

1,36,97,063

1921

25,13,21,213

-7,72,177

1931

27,89,77,238

2,76,56,025

1941

31,86,60,580

3,96,83,342

1951 1

36,10,88,090

4,24,27,510

1961 1

43,92,34,771

7,81,46,681

1971

54,81,59,652

10,89,24,881

1981 2

68,33,29,097

13,51,69,445

1991 3

84,64,21,039

16,30,91,942

2001 4

1,02,87,37,436 18,23,16,397

Notes :

1.

In working out Decadal Growth and Percentage Decadal Growth for India 1941-51 and 1951-61 the population of Tuensang district for 1951 (7,025) and the population of Tuensang (83,501) and Mon (5,774) districts for 1961 Census of Nagaland state have not been taken into account as the areas went in for census for the first time in 1951 and the same are not comparable.

2.

The 1981 Census could not be held owing to disturbances in Assam. Hence the population figures for 1981 of Assam have been worked out by interpolation.

3.

The 1991 Census could not be held owing to disturbances in Jammu and Kashmir. Hence the population figures for 1991 of Jammu and Kashmir have been worked out by interpolation.

4.

The population figures of 2001 includes estimated figures for those of the three sub-divisions, viz., Mao Maram, Paomata and Pural of Senapati district of Manipur as census result of 2001 in these three sub-divisions were cancelled due to technical and administrative reasons.

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TABLE 1.2 : TOTAL POPULATION AND POPULATION GROWTH DURING 1991-2001, INDIA/STATE/UNION TERRITORYTotal Population 1991 Males 4439,358,440 4,142,082 2,617,467 10,778,034 358,614 3,640,895 8,827,474 5,155,512 23,042,780 70,396,062 33,838,238 216,427 465,004 641,282 938,359 358,978 1,417,930 907,687 11,657,989 35,510,633 190,030 399,554 568,264 898,790 330,778 1,339,275 867,091 10,756,333 32,567,332 30,692,316 61,665,591 20,963,210 4,265,132 7,636,174 3,409,739 8,489,349 21,144,564 13,850,507 56,507,188 166,197,921 82,998,509 540,851 1,097,968 1,990,036 2,293,896 888,573 3,199,203 2,318,822 26,655,528 80,176,197 283,401 900,635 9,503,935 24,358,999 2,553,410 6,077,900 3,694,969 10,143,700 407,062,599 1,028,737,436 532,223,090 5,360,926 3,087,940 12,985,045 506,938 4,325,924 11,363,953 7,607,234 29,420,011 87,565,369 43,243,795 288,484 579,941 1,047,141 1,161,952 459,109 1,642,225 1,176,087 13,777,037 41,465,985

Sl. No. 2001 Females 5 6 7 Person Males Females 8496,514,346 4,782,774 2,989,960 11,373,954 393,697 4,163,425 9,780,611 6,243,273 27,087,177 78,632,552 39,754,714 252,367 518,027 942,895 1,131,944 429,464 1,556,978 1,142,735 12,878,491 38,710,212

India State/Union territory

Population growth 1991-2001

Person

1

2

3

921.54 29.43 17.54 20.10 40.28 20.41 28.43 47.02 28.41 25.85 28.62 33.06 27.00 64.53 24.86 28.82 16.03 30.65 18.92 17.77

India**

846,421,039

1.

Jammu and Kashmir*

7,837,051

2.

Himachal Pradesh

5,170,877

3.

Punjab

20,281,969

4.

Chandigarh

642,015

5.

Uttarakhand

7,050,634

6.

Haryana

16,463,648

7.

Delhi

9,420,644

8.

Rajasthan

44,005,990

9.

Uttar Pradesh

132,061,653

10.

Bihar

64,530,554

11.

Sikkim

406,457

12.

Arunachal Pradesh

864,558

13.

Nagaland

1,209,546

14.

Manipur**

1,837,149

15.

Mizoram

689,756

16.

Tripura

2,757,205

17.

Meghalaya

1,774,778

18.

Assam

22,414,322

India 2011

19.

West Bengal

68,077,965

111,363,853 16,064,146 8,872,620 25,394,673 21,355,209 51,595 70,953 40,825,618 33,724,581 22,951,917 594,790 26,618 14,288,995 28,298,975 408,081 154,369 126,292 356,152 399,704 974,345 27,559,971 62,405,679 14,809,523 31,841,374 25,089 60,650 575,003 1,347,668 687,248 31,131 15,468,614 31,400,909 486,961 192,972 22,025,284 52,850,562 26,898,918 32,783,427 76,210,007 38,527,413 38,111,569 96,878,627 50,400,596 67,524 220,490 121,666 49,991 158,204 92,512 65,692 98,824 46,478,031 37,682,594 25,951,644 660,420 29,519 16,372,760 31,004,770 487,384 163,180 19,954,373 50,671,017 26,385,577 24,285,440 23,171,569 60,348,023 31,443,652 28,904,371 8,742,308 20,833,803 10,474,218 10,369,585 15,595,590 36,804,660 18,660,570 18,144,090 10,480,058 26,945,829 13,885,037 13,060,792 23.36 16.25 18.27 24.26 22.66 55.73 59.22 22.73 14.59 17.51 15.21 17.30 9.43 11.72 20.62 26.90

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

20.

Jharkhand

21,843,911

21.

Orissa

31,659,736

22.

Chhattisgarh

17,614,928

23.

Madhya Pradesh

48,566,242

24.

Gujarat

41,309,582

Land and the People

25.

Daman and Diu

101,586

26.

Dadra and Nagar Haveli

138,477

27.

Maharashtra

78,937,187

28.

Andhra Pradesh

66,508,008

29.

Karnataka

44,977,201

30.

Goa

1,169,793

31.

Lakshadweep

51,707

32.

Kerala

29,098,518

33.

Tamilnadu

55,858,946

34.

Puducherry

807,785

35.

Andaman and

280,661

Nicobar Islands

Note :

*

The 1991 census figures of Jammu & Kashmir are interpolated as no census was conducted there due to disturbances.

**

India and Manipur figures include estimated figures for those of the three sub-divisions viz., Mao Maram, Paomata and Puru of Senapati district of Manipur as census results of 2001 in these three sub-divisions were cancelled due to technical and administrative reasons.

Source : Office of the Registrar General, India

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10

India 2011

The results of 2001 census reveal that there has been an increase in literacy in the country. The literacy rate in the country is 64.84 per cent, 75.26 for males and 53.67 for females. The steady improvement in literacy is apparent from the table 1.5. Kerala retained its position by being on top with a 90.86 per cent literacy rate, closely followed by Mizoram (88.80 per cent) and Lakshadweep (86.66 per cent). Bihar with a literacy rate of 47.00 per cent ranks last in the country preceded by Jharkhand (53.56 per cent) and Jammu and Kashmir (55.52 per cent). Kerala also occupies the top spot in the country both in male literacy with 94.24 per cent and female literacy with 87.72 per cent. On the contrary, Bihar has recorded the lowest literacy rates both in case of males (59.68 per cent) and females (33.12 per cent). Table 1.6 shows the literacy rate among persons, male and female in States and UTs, and their ranking. TABLE 1.3 : STATES AND UNION TERRITORIES BY DENSITYRank in 2001 1 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. State/ Union territories 2 Delhi Chandigarh Puducherry Lakshadweep Daman and Diu West Bengal Bihar Kerala Uttar Pradesh Punjab Tamilnadu Haryana Dadra and Nagar Haveli Goa Assam Jharkhand Maharashtra Tripura Andhra Pradesh Karnataka Gujarat Orissa Madhya Pradesh Rajasthan Uttarakhand Chhattisgarh Nagaland Himachal Pradesh Manipur* Meghalaya Jammu and Kashmir Sikkim Andaman and Nicobar Islands Density 2001 3 9,340 7,900 2,034 1,895 1,413 903 881 819 690 484 480 478 449 364 340 338 315 305 277 276 258 236 196 165 159 154 120 109 111 103 100 76 43 1991 4 6,352 5,632 1,683 1,616 907 767 685 749 548 403 429 372 282 316 286 274 257 263 242 235 211 203 158 129 133 130 73 93 82 79 77 57 34 Rank in 1991 5 1 2 5 3 4 6 7 9 8 10 11 12 14 13 15 17 16 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 30 29 31 32 33

Land and the People34 . 35. Notes : Mizoram Arunachal Pradesh 42 13 33 10 34 35

11

*

Manipur figures include estimated figures for those of the three sub-divisions, viz., Mao Maram, Paomata and Purul of Senapti district of Manipur as census results of 2001 in these three sub-divisions were cancelled due to technical and administrative reasons.

TABLE 1.4 : SEX RATIO : 1901-2001Census Year 1 901 1911 1921 1931 1941 1951 1961 1971 1981 1991 2001 Notes : 1. 2. 3. For 1981, interpolated figures for Assam have been used. For 1991, interpolated figures based on final population of 2001 census for Jammu and Kashmir have been used. India figures for 2001 census exclude those of the three sub-divisions, viz., Mao Maram, Paomata and Purul of Senapati district of Manipur as population Census results of 2001 in these three sub-divisions were cancelled due to technical and administrative reasons. Sex Ratio (females per 1,000 males) 972 964 955 950 945 946 941 930 934 926 933

TABLE 1.5 : LITERACY RATE : 1951-2001Census Year 1951 1961 1971 1981 1991 2001 Notes : 1. Literacy rates for 1951, 1961 and 1971 Censuses relates to population aged five years and above. The rates for the 1981, 1991 and 2001 Censuses relate to the population aged seven years and above. The 1981 Literacy rates exclude Assam where the 1981 Census could not be conducted. The 1991 Literacy rates exclude Jammu and Kashmir where the 1991 Census could not be conducted due to disturbed conditions. Persons 18.33 28.3 34.45 43.57 52.21 64.84 Males 27.16 40.40 45.96 56.38 64.13 75.26 Females 8.86 15.35 21.97 29.76 39.29 53.67

2. 3.

12

TABLE 1.6 : RANKING OF STATES/UTs BY LITERACY RATE AMONG PERSONS, MALES AND FEMALES, 2001 CENSUSMales State/ Union Territories 4 Kerala Lakshadweep Mizoram Puducherry Goa Delhi Daman and Diu Andaman and Nicobar Islands Chandigarh Maharashtra Himachal Pradesh Uttarakhand Tamilnadu Tripura Manipur1 Gujarat Haryana Chhattisgarh West Bengal Karnataka 85.97 85.35 83.28 82.42 81.02 80.33 79.66 78.49 77.38 77.02 76.10 86.14 86.33 86.76 87.33 Delhi Puducherry Himachal Pradesh Maharashtra Daman and Diu Tripura Tamilnadu Punjab Nagaland Manipur1 Sikkim Uttarakhand West Bengal Meghalaya 88.42 Goa Andaman & Nicobar Islands 88.62 Chandigarh 90.72 Lakshadweep 92.53 Mizoram 94.24 Kerala 5 6 Literacy Rate State/ Union Territories Females Literacy Rate 7 87.72 86.75 80.47 76.47 75.37 75.24 74.71 73.90 67.42 67.03 65.61 64.91 64.33 63.36 61.46 60.53 60.40 59.63 59.61 59.61

Persons

Rank 3 90.86 88.80 86.66 82.01 81.94 81.67 81.30 81.24 78.18 76.88 76.48 73.45 73.19 71.62 70.53 69.65 69.14 68.81 68.64 67.91

State/ Union Territories

Literacy Rate

1

2

1.

Kerala

2.

Mizoram

3.

Lakshadweep

4.

Goa

5.

Chandigarh

6.

Delhi

7.

Andaman and Nicobar Islands

8.

Puducherry

9.

Daman and Diu

10.

Maharashtra

11.

Himachal Pradesh

12.

Tamilnadu

13.

Tripura

14.

Uttarakhand

15.

Manipur1

16.

Punjab

17.

Gujarat

18.

Sikkim

19.

West Bengal

India 2011

20.

Haryana

1 66.64 66.59 64.66 63.74 63.25 63.08 62.56 60.47 60.41 57.63 56.27 55.52 54.34 53.56 47.00 Bihar Arunachal Pradesh Meghalaya 65.43 63.83 59.68 Jammu and Kashmir 66.60 Jharkhand 67.30 Uttar Pradesh 68.82 Andhra Pradesh 70.32 Nagaland 71.16 Dadra and Nagar Haveli 71.18 Assam 71.28 Orissa Andhra Pradesh Madhya Pradesh Rajasthan Arunachal Pradesh Jammu and Kashmir Uttar Pradesh Dadra and Nagar Haveli Jharkhand Bihar Punjab 75.23 Chhattisgarh Orissa 75.35 Assam Rajasthan 75.70 Haryana Sikkim 76.04 Karnataka Madhya Pradesh 76.06 Gujarat 57.80 56.87 55.73 54.61 51.85 50.51 50.43 50.29 43.85 43.53 43.00 42.22 40.23 38.87 33.12

2

3

4

5

6

7

21.

Karnataka

22.

Nagaland

23.

Chhattisgarh

Land and the People

24.

Madhya Pradesh

25.

Assam

26.

Orissa

27.

Meghalaya

28.

Andhra Pradesh

29.

Rajasthan

30.

Dadra and Nagar Haveli

31.

Uttar Pradesh

32.

Jammu

and Kashmir

33.

Arunachal Pradesh

34.

Jharkhand

35.

Bihar

Notes :

1

Manipur figures exclude those of the three sub-divisions, viz., Mao Maram, Paomata and Purul of Senapati district of Manipur as census results of 2001 in these three sub-divisions were cancelled due to technical and administrative reasons.

Literacy rates relate to the population aged seven years and above.

13

14

India 2011 TABLE 1.7 : TOTAL POPULATION AND PERCENTAGE OF SCHEDULED CASTES AND SCHEDULED TRIBES : 2001 CENSUS

Sl. No.

India/State/ Union Territory

Total Population (000) 3

Scheduled Caste Population Percentage (000) of total population 4 166,636 770 1,502 7,029 158 1,517 4,091 2,343 9,694 35,148 13,049 27 6 0 60 0 556 11 1,826 18,453 3,189 6,082 2,419 9,155 3,593 5 4 9,882 12,339 8,564 24 0 3,124 11,858 158 0 5 16.20 7.59 24.72 28.85 17.50 17.87 19.35 16.92 17.16 21.15 15.72 5.02 0.56 0.00 2.77 0.03 17.37 0.48 6.85 23.02 11.84 16.53 11.61 15.17 7.09 3.06 1.86 10.20 16.19 16.20 1.77 0.00 9.81 19.00 16.19 0.00

Scheduled Tribe Population Percentage (000) of total population 6 84,326 1,106 245 0 0 256 0 0 7,098 108 758 111 705 1,774 741 839 993 1,993 3,309 4,407 7,087 8,145 6,617 12,233 7,481 14 137 8,577 5,024 3,464 1 57 364 651 0 29 7 8.20 10.90 4.02 0.00 0.00 3.02 0.00 0.00 12.56 0.06 0.91 20.60 64.22 89.15 34.20 94.46 31.05 85.94 12.41 5.50 26.30 22.13 31.76 20.27 14.76 8.85 62.24 8.85 6.59 6.55 0.04 94.51 1.14 1.04 0.00 8.27

1

2 INDIA Jammu and Kashmir Himachal Pradesh Punjab Chandigarh Uttarakhand Haryana Delhi Rajasthan Uttar Pradesh Bihar Sikkim Arunachal Pradesh Nagaland Manipur 1 Mizoram Tripura Meghalaya Assam West Bengal Jharkhand Orissa Chhattisgarh Madhya Pradesh Gujarat Daman and Diu Dadra and Nagar Haveli Maharashtra Andhra Pradesh Karnataka Goa Lakshadweep Kerala Tamilnadu Puducherry1

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. Note :

1,028,610 10,144 6,078 24,359 901 8,489 21,145 13,851 56,507 166,198 82,999 541 1,098 1,990 2,167 889 3,199 2,319 26,656 80,176 26,946 36,805 20,834 60,348 50,671 158 220 96,879 76,210 52,851 1,348 61 31,841 62,406 974 356

Andaman & Nicobar Islands

1.

India and Manipur figures exclude those of the three sub-divisions, viz., Mao Maram, Paomata and Purul of Senapati district of Manipur as census results of 2001 in these three sub-divisions were cancelled due to technical and administrative reasons.

Land and the People TABLE 1.8 : RURAL AND URBAN POPULATIONCensus Year Population (Million) Rural 1 1901 1911 1921 1931 1941 1951 1961 1971 1981 1991 2001 Note : 1. 2 213 226 223 246 275 299 360 439 524 629 743 Urban 3 26 26 28 33 44 62 79 109 159 218 286 Percentage of total population Rural Urban 4 89.2 89.7 88.8 88.0 86.1 82.7 82.0 80.1 76.7 74.3 72.2 5 10.8 10.3 11.2 12.0 13.9 17.3 18.0 19.9 23.3 25.7 27.8

15

India and Manipur figures are final and include estimated figures for those of the three subdivisions, viz., Mao Maram, Paomata and Purul of Senapati district of Manipur as census results of 2001 in these three sub-divisions were cancelled due to technical and administrative reasons. The 1991 Census could not be held owing to disturbed conditions prevailing in Jammu and Kashmir. Hence the population figures for 1991 of Jammu and Kashmir have been worked out by 'interpolation' on the basis of 2001 final population. The 1981 census could not be held in Assam. The figures for 1981 for Assam have been worked out by interpolation.

2.

3.

TABLE 1.9 : POPULATION BY CLASS OF TOWN, INDIA-2001 CENSUS(in 000's) Class of Town I II III IV V VI 1,00,000 and above 50,000-99,999 20,000-49,999 10,000-19,999 5,000-9,999 Less than 5,000 All Classes Urban population as percentage to total population 2001 178,224 34,452 42,119 22,614 7,890 821 286,120 27.82

16

TABLE 1.10 : DISTRIBUTION OF VILLAGES ACCORDING TO POPULATION 2001 CENSUS AND TOTAL NUMBER OF INHABITED VILLAGES5,000 9,999 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 2,0004,999 1,0001,999 500-999 200-499 Less than 200 Total No. of inhabited villages.

Sl. No. 3

States/UTs

10000 and above

1

2

1. 2. 3. 2 13 97 24 661 2,266 2,306 9 3 50 28 1 106 4 185 1,526 174 180 2,495 6,819 1,642 2,404 5,439 8,490 4,173 6,814 171 157 31 370 60 253 202 76 188 185 372 326 198 99 690 6,233 8,930 7,442 11,428 4,660 16,573 8,571 40 26 8,777 27,218 10,113 120 126 11,058 25,614 8,498 157 266 504 26 2,015 60 2,091 29 1,205 9 6 69 7 350 2 752 2 1,890 1 4,912 582 4 9,151 16,879 5,662 82 682 323 731 258 55 2,090 6,018 7,553 9,234 14,054

Jammu and Kashmir @ Himachal Pradesh Punjab 10 1 26 135 8 273 886 174 1,987 1,546 660 3,405 1,664 2,094 3,378 1,499 5,645 2,130

677 8,913 1,079 3 7,775 270 6 5,346 9,096 3,235 42 2,760 104 749 142 12 2,753 4,735 4,273 6,661 12,644

6,417 17,495 12,278 23 15,761 6,764 158 39,753 97,942 39,015 450 3,863 1,278 2,199 707 858 5,782 25,124 37,945 29,354 47,529

4. 5.

Chandigarh Uttarakhand

6. 7.

Haryana Delhi

8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 5 6 1 28 0

Rajasthan Uttar Pradesh Bihar Sikkim Arunachal Pradesh

100 296 630 0 0

13. 14. 15. 16. 17.

Nagaland Manipur * Mizoram Tripura Meghalaya

18. 19. 20. 21.

Assam West Bengal Jharkhand Orissa

19 354 28 5

India 2011

1 6 362 807 5 7 1,018 1,788 703 23 2 207 1,254 20 2 23 52 62 90 272 501 3,551 4,154 5 28 5,862 6,915 4,024 96 3 69 4,870 45 10,434 5,615 4 15 11,570 6,475 6,378 77 0 10 4,484 18 16,277 4,262 5 12 12,074 4,467 7,367 56 0 0 2,801 7 14,330 2,297 2 7 7,367 3,402 5,563 60 1 4 1,344 0 7,144 778 0 1 2,942 3,068 3,315 32 1 2 479 0 52,117 18,066 23 70 41,095 26,613 27,481 347 8 1,364 15,400 92 80 1,264 4,185 6,465 5,498 2,246 19,744

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Land and the People

22.

Chhattisgarh

23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 0

Madhya Pradesh Gujarat Daman and Diu Dadra and Nagar Haveli Maharashtra Andhra Pradesh Karnataka Goa Lakshadweep Kerala Tamilnadu Puducherry

19 153 2 0 262 498 131 3 1 1,072 168 2

35.

Andaman and Nicobar Islands 14,798 80,407 129,976 145,408

ALL INDIA

3,962

127,510

91,555

593,616

Note :

@

India and Jammu & Kashmir State excludes the villages of the areas under unlawful occupation of Pakistan and China where Census could not be taken.

*

India and Manipur excludes villages for those of the three sub-divisions viz. Mao Maram, Paomata and Purul of Senapati district of Manipur as census results of 2001 in these three sub-divisions were cancelled due to technical and administrative reasons.

Source : Office of the Registrar General India.

17

18

TABLE 1.11 : POPULATION OF MILLION PLUS CITIES/TOWNSPopulation Person 3 11,978,450 9,879,172 4,572,876 4,343,645 4,301,326 3,637,483 3,520,085 2,551,337 2,538,473 2,433,835 2,185,927 2,052,066 2,322,575 1,474,968 1,437,354 1,398,467 793,142 757,408 774,540 1,237,765 1,084,810 700,428 679,946 605,325 1,059,765 992,301 1,156,151 1,029,776 1,372,415 1,061,420 340,582 273,401 249,827 352,661 200,081 208,587 169,273 1,321,338 1,217,135 302,960 1,374,121 1,177,216 317,756 1,867,249 1,652,836 441,022 240,797 171,263 158,672 186,746 143,232 129,283 187,351 105,478 108,172 93,050 1,883,064 1,754,419 463,150 238,386 2,242,835 2,058,491 484,982 249,652 235,330 224,764 200,225 146,493 144,288 153,836 130,169 120,544 165,310 94,603 100,415 76,223 2,219,539 2,124,106 433,340 219,720 213,620 2,500,040 2,072,836 390,282 202,527 187,755 5,412,497 4,466,675 1,352,656 724,171 628,485 7,075,280 3,382,103 3,336,695 3,265,702 2,498,234 2,552,731 1,758,807 1,930,063 1,736,939 1,474,733 1,609,126 1,537,850 1,064,912 979,770 981,383 6,619,966 5,358,484 1,364,423 709,777 654,646 9,207,877 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Male Female Person Male Female Person Male 0-6 Population Literates Female 11

Sl.No. City/Town

1

2

1.

Greater Mumbai (M Corp.)

5,388,552 3,819,325 4,110,213 2,965,067 1,925,008 1,457,095 1,799,981 1,536,714 1,787,677 1,478,025 1,374,955 1,123,279 1,447,380 1,105,351 997,001 1,064,508 1,043,703 827,793 873,739 908,969 598,339 555,051 573,886 761,806 865,555 693,236 646,940 735,387 628,881 466,573 424,719 407,497

2.

DMC (U) (M Corp.)

3.

Kolkata (M Corp.)

4.

Chennai (M Corp.)

5.

Bangaluru (M Corp.)

6.

Hyderabad (M Corp.)

7.

Ahmedabad (M Corp.)

8.

Kanpur (M Corp.)

9.

Pune (M Corp.)

10.

Surat (M Corp.)

11.

Lucknow (M Corp.)

12.

Nagpur (M Corp.)

13.

Jaipur (M Corp.)

14.

Indore (M Corp.)

15.

Bhopal (M Corp.)

India 2011

16.

Ludhiana (M Corp.)

Population Person 3 1,366,444 1,306,227 1,275,134 1,262,551 1,193,512 1,091,918 1,077,236 1,068,772 1,055,938 1,012,472 1,007,532 547,068 460,464 547,050 465,422 143,034 94,330 581,069 474,869 158,603 568,081 500,691 163,570 87,893 85,805 75,688 48,678 575,737 501,499 147,919 78,579 582,096 509,822 161,172 84,256 76,916 69,340 75,677 72,798 67,346 45,652 633,508 560,004 144,097 75,256 68,841 675,147 587,404 161,698 84,334 77,364 690,599 584,535 179,411 96,850 82,561 766,860 973,195 944,745 670,367 802,695 610,636 714,578 745,317 768,655 684,013 622,214 148,034 80,610 67,424 1,014,014 746,344 620,100 182,037 96,034 86,003 961,681 564,625 557,051 452,770 551,086 525,907 392,103 458,005 355,282 430,274 431,785 438,450 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Male Female Person Male Female Person Male Female 11 397,056 456,963 314,090 422,109 418,838 278,264 344,690 255,354 284,304 313,532 330,205

0-6 Population

Literates

Sl.No. City/Town

1

2

Land and the People

17.

Patna (M Corp.)

18.

Vadodara (M Corp.)

19.

Agra (M Corp.)

20.

Thane (M Corp.)

21.

Kalyan-Dombivli (M Corp.)

22.

Varanasi (M Corp.)

23.

Nasik (M Corp.)

24.

Meerut (M Corp.)

25.

Faridabad (M Corp.)

26.

Pimpri Chinchwad (M Corp.)

27.

Howrah (M Corp.)

19

20

India 2011 TABLE 1.12 : STATES AND UNION TERRITORIES BY POPULATION IN DESCENDING ORDER AND RANK IN 1991 AND 2001 CENSUSPer cent to total Population of India 2001 1991 4 16.16 9.42 8.07 7.79 7.41 6.07 5.87 5.49 5.14 4.93 3.58 3.10 2.62 2.59 2.37 2.06 2.03 1.35 0.99 0.83 0.59 0.31 0.23 0.22 0.19 0.13 0.11 0.09 0.09 5 15.59 9.33 7.62 8.04 7.86 6.60 5.74 5.20 5.31 4.88 3.74 3.44 2.58 2.65 2.40 1.95 2.08 1.11 0.93 0.84 0.61 0.33 0.21 0.22 0.14 0.14 0.10 0.10 0.08

Rank State/ in 2001 Union territories 1 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 2 Uttar Pradesh Maharashtra Bihar West Bengal Andhra Pradesh Tamilnadu Madhya Pradesh Rajasthan Karnataka Gujarat Orissa Kerala Jharkhand Assam Punjab Haryana Chhattisgarh Delhi Jammu and Kashmir Uttarakhand Himachal Pradesh Tripura Meghalaya Manipur1 Nagaland Goa Arunachal Pradesh Puducherry Chandigarh2

Population 2001 3 166,197,921 96,878,627 82,998,509 80,176,197 76,210,007 62,405,679 60,348,023 56,507,188 52,850,562 50,671,017 36,804,660 31,841,374 26,945,829 26,655,528 24,358,999 21,144,564 20,833,803 13,850,507 10,143,700 8,489,349 6,077,900 3,199,203 2,318,822 2,293,896 1,990,036 1,347,668 1,097,968 974,345 900,635

Rank in 1991 6 1 2 5 3 4 6 7 9 8 10 11 12 14 13 15 17 16 18 19 20 21 22 24 23 25 26 27 28 29

Land and the People30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. Notes : 1. India and Manipur figures include estimated figures for those of the three sub-divisions viz., Mao Maram, Paomata and Purul of Senepati district of Manipur as census results of 2001 in these three sub-divisions were cancelled due to technical and administrative reasons. The 1991 Census could not be held owing to disturbed conditions prevailing in Jammu and Kashmir. Hence the population figures for 1991 of Jammu and Kashmir have been worked out by 'interpolation'. Mizoram Sikkim Andaman and Nicobar Islands Dadra and Nagar Haveli Daman and Diu Lakshadweep 888,573 540,851 356,152 220,490 158,204 60,650 0.09 0.05 0.03 0.02 0.02 0.01 0.08 0.05 0.03 0.02 0.01 0.01 30 31 32 33 34 35

21

2.

22

India 2011

2 National SymbolsNATIONAL FLAG THE National flag is a horizontal tricolour of deep saffron (kesaria) at the top, white in the middle and dark green at the bottom in equal proportion. The ratio of width of the flag to its length is two to three. In the centre of the white band is a navy-blue wheel which represents the chakra. Its design is that of the wheel which appears on the abacus of the Sarnath Lion Capital of Ashoka. Its diameter approximates to the width of the white band and it has 24 spokes. The design of the National Flag was adopted by the Constituent Assembly of India on 22 July 1947. Apart from non-statutory instructions issued by the Government from time to time, display of the National Flag is governed by the provisions of the Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act, 1950 (No. 12 of 1950) and the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971 (No. 69 of 1971). The Flag Code of India, 2002 is an attempt to bring together all such laws, conventions, practices and instructions for the guidance and benefit of all concerned. The Flag Code of India, 2002, has taken effect from 26 January 2002 and supercedes the Flag Codeas it existed. As per the provisions of the Flag Code of India, 2002, there shall be no restriction on the display of the National Flag by members of general public, private organisations, educational institutions, etc., except to the extent provided in the Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act, 1950 and the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971 and any other law enacted on the subject. STATE EMBLEM The state emblem is an adaptation from the Sarnath Lion Capital of Ashoka. In the original, there are four lions, standing back to back, mounted on an abacus with a frieze carrying sculptures in high relief of an elephant, a galloping horse, a bull and a lion separated by intervening wheels over a bell-shaped lotus. Carved out of a single block of polished sandstone, the Capital is crowned by the Wheel of the Law (Dharma Chakra) . In the state emblem, adopted by the Government of India on 26 January 1950, only three lions are visible, the fourth being hidden from view. The wheel appears in relief in the centre of the abacus with a bull on right and a horse on left and the outlines of other wheels on extreme right and left. The bell-shaped lotus has been omitted. The words Satyameva Jayate from Mundaka Upanishad , meaning 'Truth Alone Triumphs', are inscribed below the abacus in Devanagari script. The use of the state emblem of India, as the official seal of the Government of India, is regulated by the state of India (Prohibition of Improper Use) Act, 2005. NATIONAL ANTHEM The song Jana-gana-mana, composed originally in Bengali by Rabindranath Tagore, was adopted in its Hindi version by the Constituent Assembly as the National Anthem of India on 24 January 1950. It was first sung on 27 December 1911 at the Kolkata Session of the Indian National Congress. The complete song consists of five stanzas. The first stanza contains the full version of the National Anthem :

National Symbols Jana-gana-mana-adhinayaka, jaya he Bharata-bhagya-vidhata. Punjab-Sindh-Gujarat-Maratha Dravida-Utkala-Banga Vindhya-Himachala-Yamuna-Ganga Uchchala-Jaladhi-taranga. Tava shubha name jage, Tava shubha asisa mange, Gahe tava jaya gatha, Jana-gana-mangala-dayaka jaya he Bharata-bhagya-vidhata. Jaya he, jaya he, jaya he, Jaya jaya jaya, jaya he!

23

Playing time of the full version of the national anthem is approximately 52 seconds. A short version consisting of the first and last lines of the stanza (playing time approximately 20 seconds) is also played on certain occasions. The following is Tagores English rendering of the anthem : Thou art the ruler of the minds of all people, Dispenser of Indias destiny. Thy name rouses the hearts of Punjab, Sind, Gujarat and Maratha, Of the Dravida and Orissa and Bengal; It echoes in the hills of the Vindhyas and Himalayas, mingles in the music of Jamuna and Ganges and is chanted by the waves of the Indian Sea. They pray for thy blessings and sing thy praise. The saving of all people waits in thy hand, Thou dispenser of Indias destiny. Victory, victory, victory to thee. NATIONAL SONG The song Vande Mataram, composed in sanskrit by Bankimchandra Chatterji, was a source of inspiration to the people in their struggle for freedom. It has an equal status with Jana-gana-mana. The first political occasion when it was sung was the 1896 session of the Indian National Congress. The following is the text of its first stanza : Vande Mataram! Sujalam, suphalam, malayaja shitalam, Shasyashyamalam, Mataram! Shubhrajyotsna pulakitayaminim, Phullakusumita drumadala shobhinim, Suhasinim sumadhura bhashinim, Sukhadam varadam, Mataram!1 As published in Volume Eight of Sri Aurobindo Birth Centenary Library, Popular Edition 1972

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India 2011 The English translation of the stanza rendered by Sri Aurobindo in prose1 is : I bow to thee, Mother, richly-watered, richly-fruited, cool with the winds of the south, dark with the crops of the harvests, The Mother! Her nights rejoicing in the glory of the moonlight, her lands clothed beautifully with her trees in flowering bloom, sweet of laughter, sweet of speech, The Mother, giver of boons, giver of bliss.

NATIONAL CALENDAR The national calendar based on the Saka Era, with Chaitra as its first month and a normal year of 365 days was adopted from 22 March 1957 along with the Gregorian calendar for the following official purposes: (i) Gazette of India, (ii) news broadcast by All India Radio, (iii) calendars issued by the Government of India and (iv) Government communications addressed to the members of the public. Dates of the national calendar have a permanent correspondence with dates of the Gregorian calendar, 1 Chaitra falling on 22 March normally and on 21 March in leap year. NATIONAL ANIMAL The magnificent tiger, Panthera tigris, a striped animal is the national animal of India, it has a thick yellow coat of fur with dark stripes. The combination of grace, strength, ability and enormous power has earned the tiger its pride of place as the national animal of India. Out of eight races of the species known, the Indian race, the Royal Bengal Tiger, is found throughout the country except in the north-western region and also in the neighbouring countries, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh. NATIONAL BIRD The Indian peacock, Pavo cristatus, the national bird of India, is a colourful, swansized bird, with a fan-shaped crest of feathers, a white patch under the eye and a long, slender neck. The male of the species is more colourful than the female, with a glistening blue breast and neck and a spectacular bronze-green trail of around 200 elongated feathers. The female is brownish, slightly smaller than the male and lacks the trail. The elaborate courtship dance of the male, fanning out the tail and preening its feathers is a gorgeous sight. NATIONAL FLOWER Lotus (Nelumbo Nucipera Gaertn) is the National Flower of India. It is a sacred flower and occupies a unique position in the art and mythology of ancient India and has been an auspicious symbol of Indian culture since time immemorial. NATIONAL TREE The Banyan Tree (Ficus benghalensis) is the National Tree of India. This huge tree towers over its neighbours and has the widest reaching roots of all known trees,

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easily covering several acres. It sends off new shoots from its roots, so that one tree is really a tangle of branches, roots, and trunks. NATIONAL FRUIT Mango (Manigifera indica) is the National fruit of India. Mango is one of the most widely grown fruits of the tropical countries. In India, mango is cultivated almost in all parts, with the exception of hilly areas. Mango is a rich source of Vitamins A, C and D. In India, we have hundreds of varieties of mangoes. They are of different sizes, shapes and colours. Mangoes have been cultivated in India since time immemorial.

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3 The PolityINDIA, a Union of States, is a Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic with a parliamentary system of government. The Republic is governed in terms of the Constitution, which was adopted by Constituent Assembly on 26 November 1949 and came into force on 26 January 1950. The Constitution which envisages parliamentary form of government is federal in structure with unitary features. The President of India is the constitutional head of executive of the Union. Article 74(1) of the Constitution provides that there shall be a Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister as its head to aid and advise the President who shall in exercise of his functions, act in accordance with such advice. The real executive power thus vests in the Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister as its head. The Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the House of the People (Lok Sabha). Similarly, in states, the Governor is the head of executive, but it is the Council of Ministers with the Chief Minister as its head in whom real executive power vests. The Council of Ministers of a state is collectively responsible to the Legislative Assembly of the state. The Constitution distributes legislative power between Parliament and state legislatures and provides for vesting of residual powers in Parliament. Power to amend the Constitution also vests in Parliament. The Constitution has provision for independence of Judiciary, Comptroller and Auditor-General, Public Service Commissions and Chief Election Commissioner.

THE UNION AND ITS TERRITORYIndia comprises 28 States and seven Union Territories. They are: Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. Union Territories are : Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, National Capital Territory of Delhi, Lakshadweep and Puducherry. CITIZENSHIP The Constitution of India provides for a single citizenship for the whole of India. Every person who was at the commencement of the Constitution (26 January 1950) domiciled in the territory of India and: (a) who was born in India; or (b) either of whose parents was born in India; or (c) who has been ordinarily resident in India for not less than five years became a citizen of India. The Citizenship Act, 1955, deals with matters relating to acquisition, determination and termination of Indian citizenship after the commencement of the Constitution. FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS The Constitution offers all citizens, individually and collectively, some basic freedoms. These are guaranteed in the Constitution in the form of six broad categories of Fundamental Rights which are justiciable. Article 12 to 35 contained in Part III of the Constitution deal with Fundamental Rights. These are : (i) right to equality including equality before law, prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste,

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sex or place of birth and equality of opportunity in matters of employment; (ii) right to freedom of speech and expression; assembly; association or union; movement; residence; and right to practice any profession or occupation (some of these rights are subject to security of the State, friendly relations with foreign countries, public order, decency or morality); (iii) right against exploitation, prohibiting all forms of forced labour, child labour and traffic in human beings; (iv) right to freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion; (v) right of any section of citizens to conserve their culture, language or script and right of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice; and (vi) right to constitutional remedies for enforcement of Fundamental Rights. FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES By the 42nd Amendment of the Constitution, adopted in 1976, Fundamental Duties of the citizens have also been enumerated. Article 51 A contained in Part IV A of the Constitution deals with Fundamental Duties. These enjoin upon a citizen among other things, to abide by the Constitution, to cherish and follow noble ideals, which inspired Indias struggle for freedom, to defend the country and render national service when called upon to do so and to promote harmony and spirit of common brotherhood transcending religious, linguistic and regional or sectional diversities. DIRECTIVE PRINCIPLES OF STATE POLICY The Constitution lays down certain Directive Principles of State Policy, which though not justiciable, are fundamental in governance of the country and it is the duty of the State to apply these principles in making laws. These lay down that the State shall strive to promote the welfare of people by securing and protecting as effectively as it may a social order in which justicesocial, economic and politicalshall form in all institutions of national life. The State shall direct its policy in such a manner as to secure the right of all men and women to an adequate means of livelihood, equal pay for equal work and within limits of its economic capacity and development, to make effective provision for securing the right to work, education and to public assistance in the event of unemployment, old age, sickness and disablement or other cases of undeserved want. The State shall also endeavour to secure to workers a living wage, humane conditions of work, a decent standard of life and full involvement of workers in management of industries. In the economic sphere, the State is to direct its policy in such a manner as to secure distribution of ownership and control of material resources of community to subserve the common good and to ensure that operation of economic system does not result in concentration of wealth and means of production to common detriment. Some of the other important directives relate to provision of opportunities and facilities for children to develop in a healthy manner, free and compulsory education for all children up to the age of 14; promotion of education and economic interests of scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and other weaker sections; organisation of village panchayats; separation of judiciary from executive, promulgation of a uniform civil code for whole country; protection of national monuments; promotion of justice on a basis of equal opportunity; provision of free legal aid; protection and improvement of environment and safeguarding of forests and wildlife of the country and promotion of international peace and security, just and honourable relations between nations, respect for international law, treaty obligations and settlement of international disputes by arbitration.

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THE UNIONEXECUTIVE The Union executive consists of the President, the Vice-President and the Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister as the head to aid and advise the President. PRESIDENT The President is elected by members of an electoral college consisting of elected members of both Houses of Parliament and Legislative Assemblies of the states in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of single transferable vote. To secure uniformity among state inter se as well as parity between the states, as a whole, and the Union, suitable weightage is given to each vote. The President must be a citizen of India, not less than 35 years of age and qualified for election as member of the Lok Sabha. His term of office is five years and he is eligible for re-election. His removal from office is to be in accordance with procedure prescribed in Article 61 of the Constitution. He may, by writing under his hand addressed to the Vice-President, resign his office. Executive power of the Union is vested in the President and is exercised by him either directly or through officers subordinate to him in accordance with the Constitution. Supreme command of defence forces of the Union also vests in him. The President summons, prorogues, addresses, sends messages to Parliament and dissolves the Lok Sabha; promulgates Ordinances at any time, except when both Houses of Parliament are in session; makes recommendations for introducing financial and money bills and gives assent to bills; grants pardons, reprieves, respites or remission of punishment or suspends, remits or commutes sentences in certain cases. When there is a failure of the constitutional machinery in a state, he can assume to himself all or any of the functions of the government of that state. The President can proclaim emergency in the country if he is satisfied that a grave emergency exists whereby security of India or any part of its territory is threatened whether by war or external aggression or armed rebellion. VICE-PRESIDENT The Vice-President is elected by members of an electoral college consisting of members of both Houses of Parliament in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of single transferable vote. He must be a citizen of India, not less than 35 years of age and eligible for election as a member of the Rajya Sabha. His term of office is five years and he is eligible for re-election. His removal from office is to be in accordance with procedure prescribed in Article 67 b. The Vice-President is ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha and acts as President when the latter is unable to discharge his functions due to absence, illness or any other cause or till the election of a new President (to be held within six months when a vacancy is caused by death, resignation or removal or otherwise of President). While so acting, he ceases to perform the function of the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha. COUNCIL OF MINISTERS There is a Council of Ministers, headed by the Prime Minister, to aid and advise the President in exercise of his functions. The Prime Minister is appointed by the President who also appoints other ministers on the advice of Prime Minister. The Council is collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha. It is the duty of the Prime Minister to

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communicate to the President all decisions of Council of Ministers relating to administration of affairs of the Union and proposals for legislation and information relating to them. The Council of Ministers comprises Ministers who are members of Cabinet, Ministers of State (independent charge), Ministers of State and Deputy Ministers. LEGISLATURE Legislature of the Union which is called Parliament , consists of President and two Houses, known as Council of States (Rajya Sabha) and House of the People (Lok Sabha). Each House has to meet within six months of its previous sitting. A joint sitting of two Houses can be held in certain cases. RAJYA SABHA The Constitution provides that the Rajya Sabha shall consist of 12 members to be nominated by the President from amongst persons having special knowledge or practical experience in respect of such matters as literature, science, art and social service; and not more than 238 representatives of the States and of the Union Territories. Elections to the Rajya Sabha are indirect; members representing States are elected by elected members of legislative assemblies of the States in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote, and those representing Union Territories are chosen in such manner as Parliament may by law prescribe. The Rajya Sabha is not subject to dissolution; one-third of its members retire every second year. Rajya Sabha, at present, has 244 seats. Of these, 233 members represent the States and the Union Territories and 11 members have been nominated by the President and one seat under nomination category is vacant. The names of members of Rajya Sabha and party affiliation are given in Appendices. LOK SABHA The Lok Sabha is composed of representatives of people chosen by direct election on the basis of adult suffrage. The maximum strength of the House envisaged by the Constitution is now 552 (530 members to represent the States, 20 members to represent the Union Territories and not more than two members of the Anglo-Indian community to be nominated by the President, if, in his opinion, that community is not adequately represented in the House). The total elective membership of the Lok Sabha is distributed among the States in such a way that the ratio between the number of seats allotted to each State and the population of the State is, as far as practicable, the same for all States. The Lok Sabha at present consists of 545 members. Of these, 530 members are directly elected from the States and 13 from Union Territories while two are nominated by the President to represent the Anglo-Indian community. This includes one vacant seat of Banka Constitutency of Bihar and the seat of MP Smt. Meira Kumar who has become Speaker of Lok Sabha and two nominated members of Anglo-Indian community. It means after excluding the vacant seat and the seat of the speaker, there are at present 543 seats of the House. Following the Constitution 84th Amendment Act, 2001 the total number of existing seats as allocated to various States in the Lok Sabha on the basis of the 1971 census shall remain unaltered till the first census to be taken after the year 2026.

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The term of the Lok Sabha, unless dissolved earlier is five years from the date appointed for its first meeting. However, while a Proclamation of Emergency is in operation, this period may be extended by Parliament by law for a period not exceeding one year at a time and not extending in any case, beyond a period of six months after the Proclamation has ceased to operate. Fifteen Lok Sabhas have been constituted so far. The term of each Lok Sabha and its Speaker(s) is given in table 3.1. The names of members of the Fifteen Lok Sabha, their constituencies and party affiliations are given in Appendices. QUALIFICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP OF PARLIAMENT In order to be chosen a member of Parliament, a person must be a citizen of India and not less than 30 years of age in the case of Rajya Sabha and not less than 25 years of age in the case of Lok Sabha. Additional qualifications may be prescribed by Parliament by law. FUNCTIONS AND POWERS OF PARLIAMENT As in other parliamentary democracies, the Parliament in India has the cardinal functions of legislation, overseeing of administration, passing of the Budget, ventilation of public grievances and discussing various subjects like development plans, national policies and international relations. The distribution of powers between the Union and the States, followed in the Constitution, emphasises in many ways the general predominance of Parliament in the legislative field. Apart from a wide-range of subjects, even in normal times, the Parliament can, under certain circumstances, assume legislative power with respect to a subject falling within the sphere exclusively reserved for the States. The Parliament is also vested with powers to impeach the President and to remove the Judges of Supreme Court and High Courts, the Chief Election Commissioner and the Comptroller and Auditor General in accordance with the procedure laid down in the Constitution. All legislation require consent of both the Houses of Parliament. In the case of money bills, however, the will of the Lok Sabha prevails. Delegated legislation is also subject to review and control by Parliament. Besides the power to legislate, the Constitution vests in Parliament the power to initiate amendment of the Constitution. PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEES The functions of Parliament are not only varied in nature, but considerable in volume. The time at its disposal is limited. It cannot make very detailed scrutiny of all legislative and other matters that come up before it. A good deal of Parliamentary business is, therefore, transacted in the committees. Both Houses of Parliament have a similar committee structure, with a few exceptions. Their appointment, terms of office, functions and procedure of conducting business are also more or less similar and are regulated as per rules made by the two Houses under Article 118(1) of the Constitution. Broadly, Parliamentary Committees are of two kindsStanding Committees and ad hoc Committees. The former are elected or appointed every year or periodically and their work goes on, more or less, on a continuous basis. The latter are appointed on an ad hoc basis as need arises and they cease to exist as soon as they complete the task assigned to them. Standing Committees : Among the Standing Committees, the three Financial CommitteesCommittees on Estimates, Public Accounts and Public Undertakings

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constitute a distinct group as they keep an unremitting vigil over Government expenditure and performance. While members of the Rajya Sabha are associated with Committees on Public Accounts and Public Undertakings, the members of the Committee on Estimates are drawn entirely from the Lok Sabha. The Estimates Committee reports on what economies, improvements in organisation, efficiency or administrative reform consistent with policy underlying the estimates may be effected. It also examines whether the money is well laid out within limits of the policy implied in the estimates and suggests the form in which estimates shall be presented to Parliament. The Public Accounts Committee scrutinises appropriation and finance accounts of Government and reports of the Comptroller and Auditor-General. It ensures that public money is spent in accordance with Parliaments decision and calls attention to cases of waste, extravagance, loss or nugatory expenditure. The Committee on Public Undertakings examines reports of the Comptroller and Auditor-General, if any. It also examines whether public undertakings are being run efficiently and managed in accordance with sound business principles and prudent commercial practices. Besides these three Financial Committees, the Rules Committee of the Lok Sabha recommended setting-up of 17 Department Related Standing Committees (DRSCs). Accordingly, 17 Department Related Standing Committees were set up on 8 April 1993. In July 2004, rules were amended to provide for the constitution of seven more such committees, thus raising the number of DRSCs from 17 to 24. The functions of these Committees are : (a) to consider the Demands for Grants of various Ministries/ Departments of Government of India and make reports to the Houses; (b) to examine such Bills as are referred to the Committee by the Chairman, Rajya Sabha or the Speaker, Lok Sabha, as the case may be, and make reports thereon; (c) to consider Annual Reports of ministries/departments and make reports thereon; and (d) to consider policy documents presented to the Houses, if referred to the Committee by the Chairman, Rajya Sabha or the Speaker, Lok Sabha, as the case may be, and make reports thereon. Other Standing Committees in each House, divided in terms of their functions, are (i) Committees to Inquire: (a) Committee on Petitions examines petitions on bills and on matters of general public interest and also entertains representations on matters concerning subjects in the Union List; and (b) Committee of Privileges examines any question of privilege referred to it by the House or Speaker/Chairman; (ii) Committees to Scrutinise : (a) Committee on Government Assurances keeps track of all the assurances, promises, undertakings, etc., given by Ministers in the House and pursues them till they are implemented; (b) Committee on Subordinate Legislation scrutinises and reports to the House whether the power to make regulations, rules, sub-rules, bye-laws, etc., conferred by the Constitution or Statutes is being properly exercised by the delegated authorities; and (c) Committee on Papers Laid on the Table examines all papers laid on the table of the House by Ministers, other than statutory notifications and orders which come within the purview of the Committee on Subordinate Legislation, to see whether there has been compliance with the provisions of the Constitution, Act, rule or regulation under which the paper has been laid; (iii) Committees relating to the day-to-day business of the House: (a) Business Advisory Committee recommends allocation of time for items of Government and other business to be brought before the Houses; (b) Committee on Private Members Bills and Resolutions of the Lok Sabha classifies and allocates time to Bills introduced by private members,

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recommends allocation of time for discussion on private members resolutions and examines Constitution amendment bills before their introduction by private members in the Lok Sabha. The Rajya Sabha does not have such a committee. It is the Business Advisory Committee of that House which recommends allocation of time for discussion on stage or stages of private members bills and resolutions; (c) Rules Committee considers matters of procedure and conduct of business in the House and recommends amendments or additions to the Rules; and (d) Committee on Absence of Members from the Sittings of the House of the Lok Sabha considers all applications from members for leave or absence from sittings of the House. There is no such Committee in the Rajya Sabha. Applications from members for leave or absence are considered by the House itself; (iv) Committee on the Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, on which members from both Houses serve, considers all matters relating to the welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes which come within the purview of the Union Government and keeps a watch whether constitutional safeguards in respect of these classes are properly implemented; (v) Committees concerned with the provision of facilities to members : (a) General Purposes Committee considers and advises Speaker/Chairman on matters concerning affairs of the House, which do not appropriately fall within the purview of any other Parliamentary Committee; and (b) House Committee deals with residential accommodation and other amenities for members; (vi) Joint Committee on Salaries and Allowances of Members of Parliament , constituted under the Salary, Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament Act, 1954, apart from framing rules for regulating payment of salary, allowances and pension to Members of Parliament, also frames rules in respect of amenities like medical, housing, telephone, postal, constituency and secretarial facility; (vii) Joint Committee on Offices of Profit examines the composition and character of committees and other bodies appointed by the Central and State governments and Union Territories Administrations and recommends what offices ought to or ought not to disqualify a person from being chosen as a member of either House of Parliament; (viii) The Library Committee consisting of members from both Houses, considers matters concerning the Library of Parliament; (ix) On 29 April 1997, a Committee on Empowerment of Women with members from both the Houses was constituted with a view to securing, among other things, status, dignity and equality for women in all fields; (x) On 4 March 1997, the Ethics Committee of the Rajya Sabha was constituted. The Ethics Committee of the Lok Sabha was constituted on 16 May 2000. Ad hoc Committees : Such Committees may be broadly classified under two heads : (a) committees which are constituted from time to time, either by the two Houses on a motion adopted in that behalf or by Speaker/Chairman to inquire into and report on specific subjects, (e.g., Committees on food management in Parliament House Complex, Committee on installation of portraits/statutes of National leaders and Parliamentarians in Parliament House Complex, Committee on Security in Parliament Complex, Committee on MPLADS, Committee on Railway convention, etc.) and (b) Select or Joint Committees on Bills which are appointed to consider and report on a particular Bill. These Committees are distinguishable from the other ad hoc committees inasmuch as they are concerned with Bills and the procedure to be followed by them as laid down in the Rules of Procedure and Directions by the Speaker/Chairman. LEADERS OF OPPOSITION IN PARLIAMENT In keeping with their important role, the Leaders of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha are accorded statutory recognition. Salary and other suitable

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facilities are extended to them through a separate legislation brought into force on 1 November 1977. GOVERNMENT BUSINESS IN PARLIAMENT The Minister of Parliamentary Affairs is entrusted with the responsibility of coordinating, planning and arranging Government Business in both Houses of Parliament. In the discharge of this function, he is assisted by his Ministers of State. The Minister also keeps close and constant contact with the presiding officers, the leaders as well as chief whips and whips of various parties and groups in both the Houses of Parliament. During the period for 1 July 2009 to 31 May 2010, both Houses of Parliament passed 40 Bills. CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEES Functioning of Consultative Committees of Members of Parliament for various Ministries is one of the functions allocated to the Ministry of Parliamentary affairs under the Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1961. The main objective of these committees is to provide a forum for informal discussion between Members of Parliament, on the one hand, and Ministers and senior officers of the Government, on the other hand, on the policies, principles and programmes of the Government and the manner of their implementation. The Minister/Minister of State in-charge of the Ministry concerned acts as the Chairman of the Consultative Committee attached to that Ministry. The minimum membership of a Consultative Committee is 10 and the maximum membership is 30. The Consultative Committee stand dissolved upon dissolution of every Lok Sabha and re-constituted upon constitution of each Lok Sabha. After the Constitution of the 15th Lok Sabha, 35 Consulative Committees attached to various Ministries have been constituted on 16th September, 2009. 90 meetings of the various consultative committees were held upto 31 May 2010. NOMINATION OF MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT ON GOVERNMENT COMMITTEES/BODIES The Minister of Parliamentary Affairs nominates Members of Parliament on Committees, Councils, Boards and Commissions, etc., set-up by the Government of India in various Ministries (except in case of statutory or other bodies where the statute or the bye-laws framed thereunder provides that the Member of Parliament to be appointed thereon will be nominated by the Presiding Officers of the respective Houses or will be elected by the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha, as the case may be). The Members are nominated on such Bodies keeping in view their aptitude and special interest in the subject. YOUTH PARLIAMENT COMPETITION In order to develop democratic ethos in the younger generation the Ministry conducts Youth Parliament Competition in various categories of schools and colleges/ universities. The Youth Parliament Scheme was first introduced in the Schools in Delhi in 1966-67. Kendriya Vidyalayas located in and around Delhi were incorporated into the ongoing Scheme for Delhi Schools in 1978. Subsequently, as separate scheme of Youth Parliament for Kendriya Vidyalayas at the National Level was launched in 1988. Similarly, in 1997-98, two new Youth Parliament Schemes at the national level, one for Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas and the other for Universities/Colleges were launched.

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OTHER PARLIAMENTARY MATTERSALL INDIA WHIPS CONFERENCE

The Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, Government of India has been organising All India Whips Conference from time to time, with the purpose of establishing suitable links among the whips of various political parties at the Centre and the States who are concerned with the practical working of the legislatures to discuss matters of common interest and to evolve high standards to strengthen the institution of Parliamentary Democracy. Fifteen All India Whips' Conferences have been organized so far since 1952.MATTERS UNDER RULE 377 AND SPECIAL MENTIONS

The Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs takes follow-up action on matters raised under Rule 377 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha and by way of Special Mentions in Rajya Sabha. Also after Question Hour in both the Houses of Parliament, Members raise matters of urgent public importance. Though it is not mandatory, Ministers sometimes react to the points made by the Members. In the absence of concerned Minister the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs assures the House or the individual Members that their sentiments would be conveyed to the concerned Ministers.IMPLEMENTATION OF ASSURANCES

The Ministry culls out assurances, promises, undertakings, etc., given by Ministers in both the Houses of Parliament, from the daily proceedings and forwards them to the concerned Ministries/Departments for implementation. After due scrutiny of the implementation reports received from the various Ministries/Departments concerned, statements showing action taken by the Government in implementation of the assurances are periodically laid on the Table of the Houses by Minister/Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs. The Parliamentarians of a country play a significant role in determining the policy of the country and strengthening of relations with other countries. It is useful and necessary for a democratic and developing country like India to select some Members of Parliament and distinguished personalities and utilize their services in projecting our policies, programmes and achievement in different fields with their counterparts and other opinion makers in other countries and secure their support in favour of India. With these objectives in view, the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs sponsors Government Goodwill Delegation of Members of Parliament to other countries and receives similar Government sponsored delegations of parliamentarians under the exchange programme from other countries through the Ministry of External Affairs. During the period from1 July, 2009 to 31 May, 2010 three Parliamentary Delegations from Japan, Afghanistan and Paraguay called on Minister of Parliamentary Affairs/Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and exchanged views on functions of Parliament and other matters of mutual interest. WELFARE OF MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT The Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs looks after the welfare of ailing Members of Parliament admitted for treatment in hospitals in Delhi and render any assistance required by them. Between 01.07.2009 to 31.05.2010, it had extended assistance and

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help to 33 Members of Parliament who were admitted to hospitals, as and when required. In the unfortunate event of passing away of a Member of Parliament in Delhi, the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs renders all necessary assistance to the bereaved family members in taking the mortal remains of the decreased Member for last rites to a plae chosen by the family. During the period under report, assistance was provided on the sad demise of four Members of Parliament. ADMINISTRATIVE SET-UP The Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1961 are made by the President of India under Article 77 of the Constitution for the allocation of business of the Government of India. The Ministries/Departments of the Government are created by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister under these Rules. The business of the Government are transacted in the Ministries/Departments, Secretariats and offices (referred to as Department) as per the distribution of subjects specified in these Rules. Each of the Ministry(ies) is assigned to a Minister by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister. Each department is generally under the charge of a Secretary to assist the Minister on policy matters and general administration.CABINET SECRETARIAT

The Cabinet Secretariat in terms of provisions of the Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1961 functions directly under the Prime Minister. The administrative head of the Secretariat is the Cabinet Secretary who is also the ex-officio Chairman of the Civil Services Board. The business alloted to cabinet secretariat is (i) Secretarial assistance to Cabinet and Cabinet Committees; and (ii) Rules of Business. The Cabinet Secretariat is responsible for the administration of the Government of India (Transaction of Business) Rules, 1961 and the Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules 1961, facilitating smooth transaction of business in Ministries/ Departments of the Government by ensuring adherence to these rules. The Secretariat assists in decision-making in Government by ensuring Inter-Ministerial coordination, ironing out differences amongst Ministries/Departments and evolving consensus through the instrumentality of the standing and ad hoc Committees of Secretaries. The Cabinet Secretariat ensures that the President, the Vice-President and Ministers are kept informed of the major activities of all Ministries/Departments by means of monthly summary of their activities. Management of major crisis situations in the country and coordinating activities of various Ministries in such a situation is also one of the functions of the Cabinet Secretariat. The Cabinet Secretariat is seen as a useful mech