India’s number of atheists a drop in the ocean at barely 0.0027% of the total population

Mumbai, July 28: The computing of Census figures in India is a herculean task, but it often throws up interesting tid-bits that prove the rich blend of elements that make up a country such as India. A rather intriguing one is the table collating figures of the individuals that make up a particular sect and religion or the lack of one.

According to the 2011 census, in a country with a population of 121.09 crore, the number of people who did not believe in the presence of a divine power or were atheists stood at 33,000. And nearly half of them were women and more interestingly, seven out of every 10 athiests lived in rural india, according to research on the census data.

Atheism is broadly described as the lack of belief in any Gods or deities. Atheists are of the opinion that human beings can devise their own suitable moral codes to conduct their lives without the aid of scriptures or the dogmas of faith.

The shift to a secular or an atheist view of things can come thanks to a variety of reasons. These may also include the fact that they once had a religion and have now lost faith in it or the logic does not fully convince them.

The 2011 census points out that more people from the rural areas of the country form part of the figures compiled on atheists. Surprisingly,Maharashtra is home to the highest number of atheists with 9,652 people and more than 70% of them lived in the villages.

Meghalaya come second with 9,089. Kerala, a state that has traditionally been a communist bastion reported 4,896 atheists almost six times more than West Bengal’s 784. The number of atheists in Delhi stood at 541.

However, officials believe that the true figures could be much more as nearly 2.9 million or 0.24% of the population did not tell enumerators their religion or confused it with other identities. They were listed under the category “religion not stated”.

Nevertheless, the census figures contradict numbers in an online global census that put the number of atheists in India at 66000, half of what the census noted.

Experts familiar with the decadal headcount cautioned that though the current figures were an indication of the actual numbers it needed to be kept in mind that the census questionnaires were often filled on the basis of information given by the head of the family, and not the younger individuals who may be leaning towards atheism.