HINDI, BENGALI, ODIA SPEAKERS

SURGE IN SOUTH INDIA

HIGHLIGHTS

• Just-released data from the 2011 census on mother

tongues seems to indicate a reverse migration trend
from earlier decades.

• Maharashtra, once a favoured destination for south

Indians, mostly because of Mumbai, witnessed a
decline in Kannada, Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam
speakers.

(File photo for representation purpose only)

NEW DELHI: Tamil and Malayalam speaking populations
are falling across most states in north India even as Tamil
Nadu and Kerala are seeing a huge jump in the number of
Hindi, Bengali, Assamese and Odia speakers. Just-released
data from the 2011 census on mother tongues seems to
indicate a reverse migration trend from earlier decades
when people from the two southern states migrated in large
numbers to the north.

Hindi mother tongue of 44% in India, Bangla second

most spoken

Instead, a large number of people from the two states are

now migrating within the south, with Karnataka seeing a
significant influx. Delhi saw a fall in numbers of both
Tamil and Malyali speakers between the 2001 and 2011
censuses.
Every 5th Bengali speaker lives outside Bengal

Maharashtra, once a favoured destination for south Indians,

mostly because of Mumbai, witnessed a decline in
Kannada, Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam speakers. In the
north, the highest growth in Malayali population between
the 2001 and 2011 censuses was in Uttar Pradesh, perhaps
because of Noida, while that of the Tamilian population
was in Haryana, which might be because of Gurgaon.

But the absolute numbers involved are small compared

with the migration of Tamilians and Malayalis within south
India. While Tamil Nadu and Kerala saw the highest
growth in Hindi speakers among all states, all of south
India is witnessing a steady increase, with the highest
absolute number of Hindi speakers in the region being in
Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
Kerala also saw the highest growth in Assamese and
Bengalis even if the absolute numbers were not as high as
in Maharashtra or Karnataka. The number of Nepali
speakers too is growing fast in the south. In both cases,
there is a growth of about 24% in populations speaking the
respective languages.