According to the 2001 Census, Andhra Pradesh in the previous decade showed the sharpest deceleration in population growth amongst the major states since independence. However, the evidence does not support such a decline in AP's population growth as none of the underlying factors (literacy, total fertility rate, infant mortality rate, female employment, etc) have moved in any extraordinary way as compared to the all-India figures during this period. Rather, if the 1991 population is correct, there is a distinctive probability of a substantial omission of either households or member(s) within households (or both) in the 2001 Census in the state.