1.88 lakh people in Tamil Nadu state ‘no religion’ in 2011 census
Shubhra Singh, Director Census Operations Shubhra Singh, Director Census Operations
An interesting figure in the 2011 census data released is that 1.88 lakh people in Tamil Nadu chose ‘no religion’ under religion preference in the form. Of these 1.88 lakh people, 53% were revealed to be women.
According to the 2011 census data, there are 6,31,88,168 Hindus and 44,18,331 Christians in Tamil Nadu.
A Deccan Herald report says that 5.82 lakh people in Uttar Pradesh, 4.04 lakh in Andhra Pradesh, 2.86 lakh in Maharashtra, 2.52 lakh in Bihar, 2.28 lakh in West Bengal, 1.88 lakh in Tamil Nadu and 1.66 lakh in Karnataka did not reveal their religion in the Census.
While Dravidar Kazhagam (DK) leader K Veeramani said that there should be other religious preferences like atheist and rationalist added in the census table, this is an interesting finding that has emerged.
It is unclear whether the people chose not to reveal their religion or did not find a suitable option in the census form.