Society

Indices

Sex, violence, wars, communalism, attitudes, grim gender and ground realities ... how do we measure up?

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Indices
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Ranking among 10 status symbols for elite Indians :

1. Edu. Degree
2. Car
9. Job/Business
10. Membership of club

Number of times an average man has sex in a year :

Worldwide : 109
India : 92

Percentage change in the sperm count of Indian men since 1986 : 

- 30

Chances that suicides committed in India on account of ‘Ideological causes/HeroWorship’ occur in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh :

50%

Source: Survey by A&M magazine and AC Nielsen, New Delhi; NationalCrime Records Bureau; Durex-Mode Usage and Attitudes Study on Contraception in India andIRI, Mumbai

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Number of years it would take for a rural household in Bihar to escape from incomepoverty

Scheduled caste/Scheduled tribe : 30
Non-SC/ ST : 2

Percentage of Indians who said they disapprove of politics ofviolence:

1971 : 39
Today : 65

Percentage of Indians who prefer to put their savings in:

Banks and FDs: 62
Real estate: 21
Stocks & Shares: 2

Source: Human Development Report, UNDP; Indian Council of SocialScience Research, CSDS; Survey by Sofres-Mode for Intelligent Investor, Mumbai

Number of wars India fought in 25 years, from1947-1972:

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4

Average annual defence spending during this period(1947-72) :

Rs 600 crores

Number of wars India fought during the 25 years from 1973-1998:

0

Average annual defence spending during this period (1973-98) :

Rs11,500 crores

Number of Indians who have been displaced by dams since 1950s:

14-22 million

Percentage of total displaced people who have been resettled:

25

Source: Budget documents and Reserve Bank of India’s Report onCurrency and Finance ‘State of India’s Environment: the Citizens’ FifthReport,’ Centre for Science and Environment

Change in number of people below poverty line of one dollar per day since 1990 : (inmillion)

India : +40
China : -155

Average per capita cereal consumption of Indians: ( in Kg)

1950 : 17
Today : 13

People who say they indulge in physical exercises in their spare time: ( in per cent)

Indian : 19
Chinese : 34

Source : World Bank Poverty Update 1998, Washington; EPW and NationalSample Survey Organisation; ORG-Marg/ Roper Global Survey, 1998

Percentage of Indian husbands who get upset if their wives refuse to have sex :

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58

Percentage of wives who say they are forced to have sex with their husbands at times :

23

Percentage of married men who say it is alright to have sex before marriage :

For Sons : 29
For Daughters : 4

Percentage of male and female students who consider it acceptable for a woman to engagein casual sex before marriage :

58

Source : Research paper by Mira Savara, C.R. Sridhar and Dr ParagMankekar, Mumbai and ‘University students in Delhi, A study’ by Dr Paul Sachdev,Prof, SSW, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada

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Number of communal riots and incidents that have occurred in India since 1950 :

13,000

Percentage of Muslim victims in every communal riot :

80

Percentage of Muslims among those arrested in communal riots :

90

Percentage of police officials who say they have noticed communal bias in behaviour ofpolicemen during a communal riot :

48

Percentage of urban Indians who can be considered completely healthy and who adhere torules of good health :

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15

Percentage of urban Indians who are overweight :

65

Source : Statement by Dr M. Manzoor Alam, Chairman, Institute ofObjective Studies, New Delhi and Combating Communal Conflicts; ‘Perception of PoliceNeutrality during Hindu-Muslim Riots in India’, Vibhuti Narain Rai, InspectorGeneral, BSF;National Urban Health Survey, New Delhi

Number of judges recommended by Law Commission per million population in 1987:

50

Number of judges per million population:

10.5

Cases pending in Indian courts:

25 million

Number of years it would take Indian courts to clear existing backlog if they stoptaking new cases:

324

Percentage of schools in India which are without drinking water facilities :

58

Percentage of schools in India that have functioning toilets :

11

Percentage of schools in India which have leaking roofs :

66

Source : Statement by the Chief Justice of India A.S. Anand andNewsweek, New York; Public Report on Basic Education, Delhi School of Economics and IndianSocial Institution

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Percentage of India’s total Viagra-like drugs sold in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh :

33

Percentage of India’s total Viagra-like drugs used by men in the age group of35-55 :

75

Number of men who underwent vasectomy for family planning (in million) :

1961 : 0.06
1999 : 0.07

Number of women who underwent sterilisation for family planning (in million) :

1961 : 0.10
1999 : 30.2

Source : ORG-Marg findings quoted in The Economic Times, Mumbai;National Population Commission, New Delhi

Percentage of students who say they have already experienced pre-marital sex :

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Male Students : 25
Female Students : 20

Ratio of Uttar Pradesh population to entire population of Pakistan :

1:1

Out of 100 persons living on the Earth, Three are from Uttar Pradesh

Percentage of Indian married women who need permission to go to themarket:

68

Percentage of Indian married women who do not have any access to money which they canuse as they wish:

40

Source : Research paper by Mira Savara, C.R. Sridhar and Dr ParagMankekar, Mumbai and study by Dr Paul Sachdev; Second National Family Health Survey, NewDelhi; Census of India 2001

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