Counting the ways

The provisional figures released by the Census of India are both heartening and challenging. Population growth has slowed this decade,by 3.9 per cent the biggest drop in the population growth rate since Independence,though it has been gently waning for the last four censuses. And for the first time ever,there are more people made literate than the number added to the population,shrinking net illiteracy by 31 million.

But once you measure it,you proceed to manage it. What these numbers reveal is that we are now firmly on the other side of the great demographic bulge,sloping downwards. They imply that a whole sea of children is growing up,moving towards primary and secondary school,then higher education and the employment market. We need to do much better by them than we have for previous generations. Literacy levels have climbed,especially for women,which means a cascade of benefits apart from simple parity of opportunity such as fewer children,lower infant mortality rates,better chances of children staying in school,and a more balanced workforce. But while the literacy spurt is a concrete,commendable improvement,it is nowhere near enough. India needs to convert this huge empty potential into something meaningful,for which it needs innovative policy in schooling,higher education and skills-training and employment. The value of schooling has clearly sunk in across India,but schools need to fulfil that aspiration. The right to education act is a good start,but is still riddled with problems,like an acute shortage of teachers. Meanwhile,we need to break free of old controlling paradigms in higher education,and expand institutional capacity and standards while opening up options for the private sector,since the states capacity to deliver is being questioned. As of now,there is a dangerous abyss between the numbers of young people lining up for higher education and jobs,and the paucity of options that confront them. We need to close that in the coming years and that also involves pushing through better and more accessible skills acquisition programmes,which must expand employer involvement in curriculum design and training.

With these preliminary numbers,we have been presented with a statistical atlas of the nation. But to turn these numbers into better numbers in the next census,we have to work desperately hard in this crucial window of time to harness the energies of a growing India.