Current Issue

Click here to see current issue
April 21-May 6, 2024

 
 

Surat population down five percent

The 2019 Surat directory shows an aging, declining yet vibrant community
Farrokh Jijina

The number of community members in Surat shrank by five percent from 3,696 in 2014 to 3,510 in 2019 (till July) according to statistics published in the sixth Directory of the Zoroastrian Residents of Surat 2019 published by the 26-year-old Zoroastrian Women’s Assembly of Surat (ZWAS). The population was equally divided between male and female members in both 2014 and 2019. While the percentage of those aged 60 and above increased from 27% to 31% between the two years, children and young adults (till age 19) fell from 17% to about 14%. The directory includes the names of family members,......



To read the entire article, you must be a Parsiana subscriber.

Already Subscribed? Sign in

Subscribe now to get Full Access

SUBSCRIBE


Post Comment

View Comment (2)

Great effort has gone in making information available in all details and publishing the directory which is very commendable. The information when generalized reflects the trend which is common for the Parsis and the Zoroastrian population in India and abroad. The median age of the community is going up as the number of those above the age of 40 years keep on going up and the under 40 keeps going down. Once one is above 40 years it is difficult to have children. Unless there is a drastic increase in the number of children resulting in more marriages the community numbers will go on decreasing until such time when in a decade or two those alive will be old men and women.
- Shapour B Badri
- 06-Nov-2019

Publishing a directory with such a broad range of information is a tedious task and any community that can accomplish it deserves congratulations! The headline grabbed my attention... "Surat population down five percent - The 2019 Surat directory shows an aging, declining yet vibrant community." This begs further analysis of the figures. Is it the usual simple arithmetic of numbers deceased being greater than numbers born? Or is there a more complex algebraic equation behind the decline? Did some young persons migrate to pursue education or employment? Did some women marry grooms in other cities and migrate? Did some women marry non-Parsis and were dropped from the count even if they continued to live in Surat? Such vital community issues need attention to help grasp underlying issues. Recording the facts and celebrating accomplishments as a significant part of the Surat metropolis in which they reside is indeed a commendable "prestigious and herculean task." Congratulations!
- Yezdyar Kaoosji
- 21-Oct-2019