Censusational (BH:D241)

April 1, 2012

Some interesting statistics from the 2011 census have been reported in the newspapers recently. 90% of people in Kerala now use telephone. Out of this just 11% have landline only, 47% have mobiles and the rest have both. The national figure for telephone users is 63%. To illustrate the staggering growth of such connectivity, I guess this figure is suffice: In 2001, 8.4% of people in Wayanad used telephone; in 2011, that number is 84%!

Out of 1.12 crore homes in Kerala, a whopping 12 lakhs are uninhabited. The number reflects both the enduring 'out-of-state' bound nature of Malayalees as well as their eternal aspiration to return home. Most of my friends and relatives who live and work abroad have one among the 114,000 empty homes in Thiruvananthapuram. The highest vacancy of homes and apartments is in Kochi: 136,000. The so-called real estate boom in the state in the last decade is captured in the 20% growth in new buildings registered between 2001-2011. 7% of homes in Thiruvananthapuram still have thatched roofing. In Kochi, this number has dropped to 0.4% while concrete roofing has risen to 65%. 

30% of homes in Kerala are inhabited by 4 member families. Malappuram has the largest percentage of homes with more than 9 members: 10%. This number is high even in Kasargod (8%) and Kannur (7%) while in Ernakulam and Thiruvananthapuram such large families live only in 2% of the homes. 

While 72% of the population depended on wells for water in 2001, the number has dropped to 62% by 2011. But in Kannur even now 81% rely on wells. Ironically, it is in Idukki district which has the largest dams in the state that people have to walk the farthest on an average to fetch water. Water sources are mostly readily available in Kollam district.

Obvious boom in the number of regional television channels matches the doubling of TV viewers from 38% to 76%. Blessed are the remaining 24%, but for how long?! National average of TV accessibility is 47%. To match, the number of radio listeners in the state has plunged from 60% to 30%. Just like well water users, Kannur leads in radio listeners too with 44%.

Getting to bare necessities, the number of people with no access to domestic toilets have dropped from 17% to 5% from 2001 to 2011. The shameful national average still stands at 53%. With 98% having access to the facility, Ernakulam will soon become India's model district in this matter.

Segueing from clean toilets to dirty politics, The Hindu newspaper carried a file photograph of Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalitha giving a marigold or daffodil, I am not sure except for the yellowness of the flower, to her BFF Sasikala. Last month Jaya had thrown Sasi and her relatives out of the party. Now she has welcomed her back. Perhaps it was the name Sasi, I was suddenly reminded of Shashi Tharoor's recent quip that diplomacy in India is like two elephants mating. There is a lot of noise but one has to wait a fairly long time for any result. I hope The Hindu has more such photos in stock.

Talking of Shashi Tharoor, his long standing ambition of erecting India's tallest flagpole with the largest flag in Thiruvananthapuram would be limping some more. After enough chatter on twitter, last week, authorities from the tourism and revenue department finally got together with cranes, pullers and workers to put the huge steel cylindrical frame together on the base in front of Kanakunnu Palace. A morning-walker woman passing by casually asked the officials if they had obtained permission from the airport authority of India. A reasonable question from a knowledgeable citizen! After all, a 61m tall structure naturally needs approval from the air transport authoritiy. Apparently, the officials and planners and Mr. Tharoor himself hadn't thought of that. So the pieces of the pole are back on the road. Airport authority is known to take its sweet time, of the order of years, to make up its mind. In the meantime, Freud can continue to smile from his grave. Good luck to Mr. Tharoor with his other planned tall lamp posts to be erected all over the city.