Draft Annual Development Plan of Madhya Pradesh 1972-73

Abstract

Madhya Pradesh is the largest State in the Union. The State covers an area of 4,43,460 sq.kms. end has a population of 41.65 millions as per 1971 census (provisional results). The density of population is 94 per sq.kilometer which is almost half of the All-India average of 182 and lower than that of any other State except Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Nagaland. The proportion of urban population to total population is 16.31 percent, which means that 83.69 percent of the people live in rural areas. There is a large concentration of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes who account for more than 33 percent of the total population of the State. 26 percent of the area of the State is scheduled area. The State's economy is predominantly agricultural. According to 1971 census (provisional 78.4 percent of the workers in the State are engaged in agriculture and the percentage of persons engaged in mining, industry, commerce, transport, communications and other services is 21.6.