Paradip port town. Telegraph picture

Paradip, April 10: The Paradip port township and its adjoining urban clusters are experiencing a downward demographic trend.

In this disturbing trend, the provisional figures of the 2011 census show a decrease of 5,315 people within the Paradip municipality, compared to 2001.“It’s baffling to note that the population has climbed down in a growing industrial hub like Paradip. A rise in population was on cards because of the surge in industrial activity. The downward trend is a cause of worry. A multiplicity of factors must be responsible for it. The fall in population in the bustling port town needs intense study,” said Bhagaban Jena, an academician.

The latest census has found 67,310 people within the Paradip municipality limits. In 2001, the figure was 73,625.

Of the enumerated people, 37,146 are men and 31,164 women, projecting a sharp decline in male-female ratio. Similarly an imbalance in the sex ratio in the 0-6 age-group has come to light. Of the enumerated 6,986 children, 3,751 are male children, while only 3,285 are girls. The literacy rate is also hardly encouraging. Of the 53,380 literates, 30,517 are male and 22,803 female.

“The census exercise covered 18 wards of Paradip municipality. The drop in population here might be attributed to retirement of a large number of port trust employees since 2001. As they left with their families, the population in the town dipped,” said Surath Mallick, executive officer, Paradip Municipality. As many as 1,182 port trust employees have retired since 2001 when the last census was conducted. But vacancies that were created after the retirement have not been filled up. A total of just 238 posts have been filled up. Mallik felt there was no cause of worry based on the census’s findings because the enumeration did not cover areas on Paradip’s periphery that are undergoing an industrialisation growth spree. The headcount did not touch areas like IFFCO fertiliser Complex Township and Indian Oil Company Limited. “Had those areas come under census purview, the figure would have registered a surge,” he said.

On the literacy front, the clusters of slum colonies housing a sizeable bulk of the manual labour force of Paradip are on a reverse gear. The Paradip Municipality areas accounts for 13,930 illiterate people. A majority of them are from slum colonies, said officials.