Human Rights

Human rights

In general, Tamil Nadu has a good human rights record when it comes to religious minorities. There have been exceptions - for example during the anti-Sikh riots following Indira Gandhi's assassination, Tamil Nadu saw its share of anti-Sikh violence. Also, after the Coimbatore blasts of 1998, Muslim institutions and businesses were violently attacked. With respect to caste discrimination, Tamil Nadu's record is fairly poor. There are allegations that Dalits are discriminated even today in the southern districts and in other rural areas, mostly by landed OBCs. Tamil Nadu's record of tolerance towards linguistic minorities has been exemplary, despite provocations from incidents occurring in other states.

Demographics

There are 350 Engineering college, 1150 Arts college , 5000 hospital and 10000 schools. Tamil Nadu's population stood at 62,110,839 as of 00.00 hours of March 1, 2001. It is the sixth most populous State of the Indian Union behind Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh. The State accounts for 6.05% of the country's population. Its population density at 478 persons per square kilometre, up from 429 in 1991, and much higher than the all-India density of 324, makes it the eleventh most densely populated State (1991 rank:10). Approximately 47% of Tamil Nadu's population live in urban areas, one of the highest percentages in India.

During the decade 1991-2001, Tamil Nadu reported the second lowest decadal growth in population after Kerala, among the group of States with population exceeding 20 million in 2001. While Kerala's population grew by 9.42% between 1991 and 2001, Tamil Nadu's grew by 11.19%. In fact, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Orissa are the only three States in this group to have shown a decline in decadal percentage change in population in every decade since 1971.