Demographics: India
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Youth edge
Youth edge not an Indian monopoly
Even Pak, Nepal Have Lower Average Age
Rema Nagarajan | TIG 12/03/2007
New Delhi: Much has been made of India’s large young population. Nearly 70% of India’s population is less than 35 years of age and reams have been written about how young India is. Yet, India is nowhere near having the lowest median age in the world.
The list of countries with the lowest median age is dominated almost entirely by African nations, although it is for all the wrong reasons. A look at life expectancy in most of the African nations provides a clue to why they are the youngest countries.
Very high prevalence of HIV/AIDS in many African countries, particularly in the south, seems to be taking a heavy toll. Few African countries have an average life expectancy beyond 50 years. In fact, of the 10 countries that form the southernmost part of the African mainland, seven have an average life expectancy of 40 years or less. In the case of Swaziland, it’s as low as 32.6 years.
The others have a life expectancy marginally above 40 years — Namibia tops with 43.4. With a few among the population living beyond their 40s, it’s no wonder that the median age of these countries are the lowest in the world — ranging from 15 years in Uganda to 18.6 in Rwanda.
In fact, 41 of the 50 youngest countries are African. But again, in most cases, this is essentially due to very low life expectancy. Having a young population because most die before they are even middle-aged cannot be an advantage, so it’s better to compare countries which have life expectancy of at least 60 years.
Even by this yardstick, however, India is nowhere near being the youngest nation. Of the 215 nations for which data on both median age and life expectancy is available, there are 47 which have a life expectancy of above 60 and a median age lower than India’s 24.9 years.
Many of these are very small nations like Sao Tome and Principe or Mayotte, but the list includes several not-so-small countries like Oman, Iraq, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Cambodia, Syria and Nicaragua — all with median ages ranging from 19 to 21 years.
2011: The average age of Indian states
India’s median age is much above Bangladesh’s 22.2 or Egypt’s 24. In fact, most countries in West Asia and Central America figure in the list of countries with lower median ages than India, and reasonably high life expectancy.
West Bengal
The Hindu, February 15, 2016
Muslims in West Bengal more deprived, disproportionately poorer: Amartya Sen
Amartya Sen released the report of the survey carried out in 325 villages and 75 urban wards.
Muslims, who form 27.01 per cent of West Bengal’s population, “constitute a very large proportion of the poor” in the State, Professor Amartya Sen said.
He was releasing a voluminous report on the condition of Muslims in West Bengal titled ‘Living Reality of Muslims in West Bengal.’
“The fact that Muslims in West Bengal are disproportionately poorer and more deprived in terms of living conditions is an empirical recognition that gives this report an inescapable immediacy and practical urgency,” Prof. Sen said, releasing the report with long chapters dedicated to education, health, economic conditions and gender of Muslims of Bengal who constitute a majority in 65 of 341 blocks in the State.
The survey — the most extensive one on Bengal’s Muslims — was carried out in 325 villages and 75 urban wards from a sample of 81 community development blocks and 30 municipal bodies. The 368-page report was produced by two Kolkata-based research organisations, Association SNAP and Guidance Guild, in association with Prof. Sen’s trust, Pratichi India.
Low literacy rate
The report points to little improvement in areas such as literacy, health or participation in work. For example, Muslims have a literacy rate seven per cent lower than the State’s average.
“Around five per cent of those who discontinued education admitted lack of motivation as the factor behind dropping out of school as they did not see any future benefits from education,” the synopsis said. However, the report has not named any political party or held any government institution responsible.
In the health sector, the condition of, Muslims is no better and the report observes on the basis of State government data and field-level survey that “when Muslim population percentage increases in the blocks, the hospital facilities dwindle down.”
As a result “almost double the number of hospital beds is available in blocks with less than 15 per cent population share of Muslims in comparison with blocks having 50 per cent or above of (Muslim population).” Such discrimination is underscored in nearly every page of the report.
