According to the 2011 Census, which of the following districts had the highest decadal growth rate of population ?
- (a)Singrauli
- (b)Bhopal
- (c)Indore
- (d)Barwani
Correct — C, Indore. All four options are Madhya Pradesh districts, and Census 2011 puts Indore at the top of the state on decadal growth for 2001-11 — roughly 33%, against Madhya Pradesh's 20.35% and India's 17.7%. Indore is the state's largest city and its most populous district, and its growth comes from net in-migration into a commercial, industrial and educational hub (the Pithampur industrial belt, trade and services, and a cluster of higher-education institutions) piled on top of natural increase.
- (a)Singrauli — Singrauli did draw in migrants on the back of its coal and thermal-power belt, but its decadal growth stayed below Indore's. Note also that Singrauli was carved out of Sidhi only in 2008, so Census 2011 is the first census in which it appears as a separate district.
- (b)Bhopal — The state capital is the other fast-growing urban district, but Census 2011 places it third at 28.62% — behind Indore (32.88%) and also behind Jhabua (30.70%).
- (d)Barwani — Barwani is a tribal-majority district of the Nimar region with high natural increase, and it did grow faster than the state average, but with no large urban-industrial magnet pulling migrants in it still finishes below Indore.
Decadal growth rate is the percentage change in population between two censuses — here 2001 to 2011. It combines natural increase (births minus deaths) with net migration. Districts built around a big city grow fastest because in-migration adds to natural increase, while remote rural districts can have higher fertility yet grow more slowly overall if people move out. That is a tendency, not a rule — in Madhya Pradesh the tribal districts of Jhabua and Barwani both grew faster than the state average in 2001-11. Madhya Pradesh as a whole grew 20.35% in 2001-11, above the national figure of 17.7%.
The trap is to reason only from fertility, which points to a tribal district like Barwani, or only from a headline project, which points to Singrauli's power belt. Indore does lead, but the list is not purely urban: Jhabua, a tribal district, comes second at 30.70% and Bhopal third at 28.62%. So the city logic picks the winner without being the whole story.
- India's decadal growth in 2001-11 was 17.7%; Madhya Pradesh's was 20.35%, above the national average.
- Indore recorded the highest decadal growth among Madhya Pradesh's districts, roughly 33% for 2001-11, and is also the state's most populous district.
- Decadal growth = natural increase + net migration, which is why urban-industrial districts head the list.
- Census 2011 was the 15th Census of India and the 7th since Independence.
- Reading 'highest growth rate' as 'largest population' — they need not be the same district, though in Madhya Pradesh both happen to be Indore
- Assuming tribal districts always top growth because of higher fertility; out-migration offsets it
- Confusing decadal growth rate with population density or with level of urbanisation
MPPSC returns to Census 2011 district and state extremes almost every year — highest/lowest growth, density, sex ratio, literacy — often as an odd-one-out or an ordering question. UPSC asks the same census metrics at state or national level, usually inside statement-based questions.
Consider the following statements : 1. Between Census 1951 and Census 2001, the density of the population of India has increased more than three times. 2. Between Census 1951 and Census 2001, the annual growth rate (exponential) of the population of India has doubled. Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?
- (a) 1 only
- (b) 2 only
- (c) Both 1 and 2
- (d) Neither 1 nor 2
Answer(d) Neither 1 nor 2
The national counterpart of the same Census metric — how India's population growth rate and density moved across censuses, which the MPPSC question applies at district level.
Arrange the following districts of Madhya Pradesh in order of their decennial population growth rate during 2001–2011, as per the 2011 census. Arrange from the lowest to highest.
- (a) Anuppur, Mandsaur, Betul, Chhindwara
- (b) Anuppur, Betul, Chhindwara, Mandsaur
- (c) Betul, Chhindwara, Mandsaur, Anuppur
- (d) Betul, Anuppur, Chhindwara, Mandsaur
Answer(b) Anuppur, Betul, Chhindwara, Mandsaur
Exactly the same data point — district-wise decadal growth in Madhya Pradesh from Census 2011 — asked two years earlier in ordering form.
According to the 2011 Census, which of the following States has the highest growth rate of population?
- (a) Arunachal Pradesh
- (b) Bihar
- (c) Meghalaya
- (d) Punjab
Answer(c) Meghalaya
The state-level version of the same Census 2011 decadal-growth question — MPPSC alternates between state extremes and district extremes on this metric.
- practice — not a real PYQ
As per Census 2011, the decadal growth rate of Madhya Pradesh's population (2001-11) was closest to:
- (a)12 per cent
- (b)16 per cent
- (c)20 per cent
- (d)26 per cent
Answer(c) about 20 per cent — 20.35%, above India's 17.7%.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which factor best explains why a district such as Indore records a much higher decadal growth rate than its state average?
- (a)A higher birth rate alone
- (b)Net in-migration into a large urban-industrial centre, added to natural increase
- (c)Redrawing of district boundaries alone
- (d)A falling death rate alone
Answer(b) Net in-migration into a large urban-industrial centre, added to natural increase — migration, not fertility, is what pushes big-city districts to the top.