8 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
provinces the Hindus went to the length of denying that there were any Untouchables at all. This is due to the fact that the Hindus had by now realized the danger of admitting the existence of the Untouchables. For it meant that a part of the representation enjoyed by the Hindus will have to be given up by them to the Untouchables.
The Census of 1941 must be left out of consideration. It was taken during the war and it was a sort of a rough measure.
The latest Census is that of 1951. The following figures are taken from the statement issued by the Census Commissioner. The Census Commissioner gives the population of the Scheduled Castes in India as
513 lakhs.
The total population of India, as shown by the 1951 census is 3,567 lakhs, excluding 1.35 lakhs, the enumeration records in whose case were destroyed by fire in the Census Tabulation Office at Jullundur.
Out of the total population of 3,567 lakhs, 2,949 lakhs live in rural areas and 618 lakhs in the urban areas. The Scheduled Castes in rural areas total 462 lakhs and in urban areas their figures are 51 lakhs.
Non-agricultural classes for the whole population total 1,076 lakhs, the Scheduled Castes 132 lakhs.
Cultivators of land, wholly or mainly owned, and their dependents total 1,674 lakhs for the whole population, 174 lakhs for the Scheduled Castes.
Cultivators of land, wholly or mainly unowned and their dependants are 316 lakhs for the whole of India, 56 lakhs for the Scheduled Castes.
Cultivating labourers and their dependants are 448 lakhs for the whole of India, 148 lakhs for the Scheduled Castes.
Figures for non-agricultural classes are as follows :
Production other than Cultivation: Total 377 lakhs, Scheduled Castes
53 lakhs.
Commerce: Total 213 lakhs, Scheduled Castes 9 lakhs.
Transport: Total 56 lakhs. Scheduled Castes 6 lakhs.
Other services and miscellaneous sources: Total 430 lakhs, Scheduled Castes 64 lakhs.
Out of a total Scheduled Caste population of over 513 lakhs, 114 lakhs live in North India (Uttar Pradesh); 128 lakhs in East India (Bihar, Orissa, West Bengal, Assam, Manipur and Tripura); 110 lakhs in South India (Madras, Mysore, Travancore-Cochin and Coorg); 31 lakhs in West India (Bombay, Saurashtra and Kutch); 76 lakhs in Central India (Madhya Pradesh, Madhya Bharat, Hyderabad, Bhopal and Vindhya Pradesh); and 52 lakhs in North-West India (Rajasthan, Punjab, Patiala and East Punjab States Union, Ajmer, Delhi, Bilaspur and Himachal Pradesh).
��