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Bhubaneswar, August 30: Census data released recently has shown a marginal increase in Muslim and Christian populations in the state.
While the Muslim community increased from 2.07 per cent in 2001 to 2.17 per cent in 2011, the Christian population rose from 2.44 per cent in the last Census to 2.77 per cent in 2011.
Hindu population in the state however saw a decline from 94.35 per cent in 2001 to 93.63, according to the Census data.
The growth rate of Hindus has been on a continuous decline starting from the 1971 Census. The growth rate of the largest demographic in the state was 23.35 per cent in 1961-71, 19.13 per cent in 1971-81, 19.11 per cent in 1981-91, 15.86 per cent in 1991-2001 and 13.17 per cent in 2001-2011. The Jain and Sikh communities remained the same as of the 2001 Census.
The growth rates of Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Jains, Buddhists and Sikhs during 2001 to 2011 are 13.17, 19.64, 29.39, 2.91, 40.44 and 25.72 per cent respectively in the state.
The fastest growth was recorded by the Buddhist community in the state.
With the increase, the number of Hindus in the state reached 3.93 crore, with Muslims reaching 9.11 lakh, Christians 11.61 lakh, Jains 9,420, Buddhists 13,852 and Sikhs 21,991.
Ganjam is the most populous district in the state. Cuttack district had the most number of Muslims followed by Bhadrak district in both Censuses.
Sundargarh district is home to the most number of Christians in the state followed by Gajapati and Kandhamal districts. The highest number of Sikhs was recorded in Sundargarh district while Cuttack district is home to the most number of Buddhists followed by Gajapati. Jains are concentrated in Bolangir district followed by Kalahandi and Cuttack, the Census said.
The highest growth rate of 23.32 per cent was recorded in Bolangir district while the lowest growth rate of 7.50 per cent was recorded in Jagatsinghpur district.
Among Hindus, the highest growth of 23.25 per cent was recorded in Bolangir while the lowest rate of 7.02 was recorded in Jagatsinghpur district. The highest Muslim population growth rate of 38.50 per cent was recorded in Kalahandi.
Similarly, the highest growth rate of Christian population was recorded in Boudh district (118.41 per cent) and negative growth of -4.25 per cent was recorded in Nayagarh district.
The Census report stated that the highest proportion of 99.65 per cent Hindus was reported in Baudh district in 2001, with Dhenkanal district overtaking it in 2011. The lowest percentage of Hindus was reported in Gajapati district in both Censuses. The highest portion of Muslim population was reported in Bhadrak district (6.92 per cent) and the lowest in Boudh district (0.23 per cent) in the 2011 Census.
Similarly, the highest proportion of Christian, Sikh, Buddhist and Jain populations live in Gajapati district (37.98 per cent), Sundargarh (0.27 per cent), Gajapati (0.38 per cent) and Nuapada (0.15 per cent) districts respectively.
