New Delhi: Under attack over its methodology that reflected in "high growth" figures of Muslim population, the Census Commission today (Sep 9, 2004) excluded the data of Jammu and Kashmir and Assam in the 2001 Census figures to show that the Muslim growth rate has actually declined over 1991 figures.

In a damage-control exercise after Monday's publication of the Census figures on the basis of "First Report on Religion" that showed a 1.5 per cent increase in the Muslim population's growth rate from 34.5 per cent in 1991, the Commission today released two sets of figures classifying them as "unadjusted" and "adjusted".

"Adjusted" figures released show the growth rate of Muslims at 29.3 per cent as against 32.9 per cent in the 1991 Census and not 36 per cent as brought out earlier. Monday's "unadjusted" figures showed that the Muslim community was growing at a rate of 36 per cent against 34.5 per cent in 1991.

Denying that the revision of data was done "under pressure", Census Commissioner J K Banthia said there were several ways to interpret data and "the simplest is not to make any interpolation."

Since no census was conducted in Assam in 1981 and in Jammu and Kashmir in 1991, the Commission had deleted entire data for these two States from all the census figures conducted since 1961, he said.

Under the "adjusted" data, Hindus recorded a decline of 2.8 per cent in growth rate from 22.8 in 1991 to 20 in 2001 and Sikhs' growth rate also declined by 8.6 per cent from 25.5 per cent in 1991 to 16.9 per cent in 2001.

According to the "adjusted" figures, the growth rate of Christians had gone up by 5.1 per cent over the 1991 Census and stood at 22.1 per cent in 2001 against 17.0 per cent.

For Jains, there was a quantum jump in the growth rate from 4 per cent in 1991 to 26 per cent in 2001, but that of Buddhists fell drastically from 36 to 23.2 per cent.

While the figures for Sikhs, Buddhists and Jains were almost identical in the "unadjusted" figures, they showed only a 1.1 per cent in the growth rate of Christians between 1991 and 2001, from 21.5 to 22.6 per cent.

"The Census Commission is not there to prove or disprove anything, we only give data as they are," Banthia said.

He denied that the Commission had withdrawn data posted on the Internet after the controversy broke, saying, "there was only a temporary suspension to include the adjusted figures."

Banthia also took umbrage at a section of the media ascribing "ulterior motives" to the Commission's interpretation of the data. "A hundred-year-old organisation is being destroyed because of this," he said.

On whether there was delay in publication of the report, he said, "It normally takes four to five years to come out with the religion-based data. Our first priority was to release figures on Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes after which the Lok Sabha election process stalled things further."

There were no printed copies of the Census based on religion available with the Commission today, with officials claiming that the first print run had been exhausted.

"New prints showing the adjusted figures will be available from Monday," said Deputy Registrar General R G Mitra.