Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Muslims, who have overtaken Christians in population, live in better houses though they lag far behind in education, says a recent study.
While 54.5 percent of Christians have tenth-standard education, 50.8 percent of Hindus have the same level of education. But Muslims are far behind at 38.7 percent as against the state average of 48.4 percent.
“On an average, the Christians are better educated than the other two religious communities. Among the Hindus, the Brahmins have a relatively high educational score,” says the study on Religious Denominations of Kerala by K.C. Zachariah of Centre for Development Studies.
DC had on Wednesday reported the study’s findings on the changing demography and projections that the Muslim population could become double that of the Christians by 1951 and the Hindu population will fall below 50 percent. The study was based on census data as well as the Kerala Migration Survey Mr Zachariah headed.
Only 3.7 percent Muslims work in government services, whereas it is 10.6 in the case of Hindus and Christians 9.5 percent. However, when it comes to emigrants, Muslims top the tally, followed by Christians and Hindus.
“While 56 percent of the population are Hindus, only 36 percent of the emigrants were Hindus. On the other hand, the Muslims and the Christians are over-represented.
Among the emigrants, 41 percent were Muslims, and 22 percent Christians. Muslims are only 25 percent, and the Christians only 19 percent of the population,” says the report.
Remittance per household of Muslims is Rs 1,49,253, Christians Rs 1,02,246 and Hindus Rs 58,993, says the study.
