Ahead of the Delhi Assembly elections, scheduled for February 5, improvement peculiarly successful the health and acquisition sectors has been a cardinal plank of the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). While the astir wholly municipality Delhi is among the astir populous cities successful the country, its per capita income is precocious and poorness rates low, though determination are immoderate pockets of the metropolis that proceed to struggle.
Population
As an municipality agglomeration, the Delhi-NCR portion is the 2nd astir populous successful India aft the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. As per the 2011 Census, the latest disposable colonisation data, the Union Territory of Delhi has a colonisation of 1.68 crore, a emergence of 21.2% from 2001, and projected to scope 2.25 crore successful 2026.
Of Delhi’s 9 districts, the astir populous is North West Delhi, accounting for 21.8% of the UT’s population, followed by South Delhi astatine 16.3%, and West Delhi astatine 15.15%. The New Delhi and Central districts are the smallest by population, astatine 3.5% and 0.9%, respectively. These districts are location to authorities offices and are frankincense sparsely populated. Most of Delhi is municipality – the North West and South West districts person the largest agrarian populations, but astatine conscionable 5.9% and 6.3%, respectively, with the UT’s wide agrarian colonisation astatine 2.5%.
Delhi demographics – population, SCs, Muslims, migrants
Between 2001 and 2011, South West Delhi was the fastest increasing territory by colonisation with a maturation complaint of 30.7%. Only 2 districts saw their populations autumn successful this play – New Delhi by 9.9% and Central Delhi by 20.7%.
Scheduled Castes (SCs) accounted for 16.8% of the UT’s colonisation successful 2011. The highest attraction of SCs are successful the Central and New Delhi districts, astatine 24.6% and 23.4% of the population, respectively. Between 2001 and 2011, North East Delhi saw the highest summation successful SC population, increasing by 26.7%.
A breakdown by religion arsenic per the 2011 Census shows that Hindus are astatine 81.7% of the population, portion Muslims astatine 12.9% are the largest number group. The highest attraction of Muslims is successful the Central and North East Delhi districts, astatine 33.4% and 29.3%, portion their lowest concentration, of 4.9%, is successful South West Delhi. Muslims relationship for much than a tenth of the colonisation successful 4 districts – North, North East, East, Central, and South.
Delhi has an estimated 22.6 lakh migrants, arsenic of 2011. The South West, New Delhi and South districts person the highest attraction of migrants, astatine 46.4%, 44.7% and 42.1%, respectively. The apical reasons for migration are household and employment.
Income and poverty
As the administrative and governmental centre of the country, Delhi unsurprisingly has among the highest per capita incomes crossed India, arsenic per information from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Delhi Economic Surveys.
At Rs 2.59 lakh per annum successful 2022-23, lone Goa and Sikkim’s per capita incomes exceeded that of Delhi. In 2023-24, Delhi’s Rs 2.74 lakh per capita income was much than doubly the nationalist mean of Rs 1.05 lakh. Given its already precocious level, per capita income successful Delhi grew by a mean 17.4% betwixt 2015-16 and 2023-24, arsenic compared to the maturation successful nationalist per capita income by 34.6%.
Per capita income, Delhi vs India
Similarly, Delhi’s monthly per capita expenditure, which is simply a measurement of spending capacities, stood astatine Rs 8,217, good supra the India mean of Rs 6,459.
Unemployment, arsenic per information compiled by the RBI, successful Delhi was beneath the nationalist mean for municipality regions but higher for agrarian areas. Delhi’s municipality unemployment stood astatine 20 per 1000 colonisation successful 2023-24, compared to the nationalist mean of 51. But Delhi’s agrarian unemployment, astatine 60, was much than doubly the nationalist mean of 25 per thousand.
The NITI Aayog’s Multidimensional Poverty Index shows that the grade of Delhi’s colonisation considered mediocre fell from 4.4% of the colonisation successful 2015-16 to 3.4% successful 2019-21. Only Kerala, Goa, Tamil Nadu and Sikkim had a little poorness complaint successful 2019-21. In contrast, the nationalist mean stood astatine 15% successful 2019-21, down from 24.9% successful 2015-16.
District-wise poverty
Among Delhi’s districts, the highest poorness complaint was recorded successful North Delhi astatine 6.3%, importantly higher than successful South Delhi astatine 1.29%.
Health
In Delhi, wherever the AAP government’s wellness propulsion has been astatine the centre of its caller predetermination run messaging, the per capita expenditure connected wellness stood astatine Rs 4,439 successful 2022-23, much than doubly the 2015-16 walk of Rs 1,962, arsenic per the 2023-24 Economic Survey.
Per capita wellness expenditure
While entree to electricity, cleanable drinking h2o and sanitation is mostly precocious crossed Delhi, wellness security sum remains low, stunting among children nether 5 is prevalent and astir a bulk of the city’s women are anaemic, arsenic per the 2019-21 National Family Health Survey (NFHS)
For each of Delhi’s districts, entree to energy and drinking h2o is astatine adjacent to 100%, though improved sanitation facilities are lagging astatine 81.1% of Delhi’s households. The New Delhi territory has the lowest entree to sanitation astatine 69.4%.
While 41% of Indian households person astatine slightest 1 subordinate covered by a wellness security scheme, the fig stands astatine conscionable 25% for Delhi. Among the districts, North Delhi has the lowest security sum astatine 18.1%, portion the highest is successful South West astatine 37.7%.
In presumption of nutritional outcomes, arsenic per the NFHS, 30.9% of children nether 5 are stunted (low tallness for age), 21.8% are underweight, and 11.2% are wasted (low value for height). Stunting is the astir prevalent contented among these – astatine 38.5%, North East Delhi has the highest complaint among the districts. East Delhi is the worst for underweight and wasted children, astatine 29.9% and 15.7%, respectively. Anaemia, a humor disorder, is besides a persistent contented for women aged 15 to 49 years. While 44.6% of women successful this property radical successful Delhi person anaemia, successful 4 districts – West, South West, New Delhi and North West – the fig is implicit 50%, the highest successful West Delhi astatine 57.2%.
Among the large wellness indicators is babe mortality complaint (IMR), which stands astatine 24.5 per 1,000 births, good beneath the nationalist mean of 35.2. It’s worthy noting that organization births astatine nationalist facilities person grown from 55.5% successful 2015-16 to 62.4% successful 2019-21. In the aforesaid period, the mean out-of-pocket expenditure per commencement astatine authorities hospitals fell from Rs 8,518 to Rs 2,548.
Education
Compared to different large states, the Delhi authorities has 1 of the highest acquisition expenditures arsenic a stock of full expenditure astatine 21%. While the nationalist mean is 13.3%, the adjacent highest authorities aft Delhi is Chhattisgarh astatine 18.2%. The fig for Delhi has exceeded 20% each twelvemonth since 2016-17, arsenic per the UT’s 2023-24 Economic Survey.
Though literacy complaint has exceeded 80% since 2001, Delhi figures among the highest successful the state connected respective acquisition indicators, including pupil-teacher ratio, gross enrolment ratio, mean teachers per school, and debased dropout rates, arsenic per the Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) 2023-24 report.
Across India, Delhi has the 5th highest pupil-teacher ratio astatine 28, the 2nd highest mean fig of teachers per schoolhouse astatine 29, and has the 4th lowest fig of single-teacher schools. Delhi has the 5th highest gross enrolment ratio (student attending schoolhouse arsenic a stock of those successful the eligible property group) for the secondary and mediate schoolhouse levels. However, Delhi ranks overmuch little for dropout rates – 19 states and UTs person a little dropout complaint than Delhi astatine the secondary level, though it is tied astatine 3rd lowest for mediate school.
As per district-level UDISE information from 2021-22, portion superior and upper-primary pupil-teacher ratios are mostly precocious crossed the board, South West Delhi has the lowest secondary pupil-teacher ratio astatine 23 compared to the highest astatine 31 successful North East, and New Delhi territory has the lowest ratio for higher secondary astatine 17 compared to North East Delhi’s 26.
North Delhi has the highest dropout rates for secondary students astatine 20.5%, followed by East astatine 8% and Central astatine 7.6%.
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