According to the 2011 Census, which of the following districts had the highest decadal growth rate of population ?

Question

UnlockIAS · Accepted Answer

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.

Why the other options are wrong — (a) 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) 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 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.

Concept: 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%.

State PCS 2025 Q35 — Madhya Pradesh GK PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2025 Q35 — Madhya Pradesh GK PYQ with Answer