Chhattisgarh - People
The total population of the State according to the 2001 Census, is 2.08 crore. Of this, 80 percent of the people live in rural areas and 20 percent live in urban areas. The bulk of its people are concentrated in the central plains region, while the northern and the southern regions have a considerably lower density of population. The State has a low density of population, 151 persons per square kilometer.
Chhattisgarh can be divided into four major regions on the basis of language/dialect: Surguja and Korea in the north; Bilaspur, Raipur, Durg and Rajnandgaon in the central region; the ancient Dandakaranya region of Bastar to the south; and Jashpur and Raigarh in the west. People of the Scheduled Tribes dominate the regions of North and South Chhattisgarh, and these regions depend on agriculture and forestry.
Well over half the children in the State are chronically undernourished and more than 18 percent are acutely undernourished. The State has one of the highest death rates in the nation, 9.6 per 1,000 in the year 2000, as compared to 8.5 for all of India. The high death rate, especially in rural Chhattisgarh, presents a challenge for the health delivery system, the supply of potable water and the availability of sanitation facilities. It also raises the issue of food security and livelihoods.
Low-income levels are the prime determinant of people’s health, directly or indirectly. This is especially true when looking at ailments and disease. Poverty causes people to be undernourished; they have low resistance and are vulnerable to a variety of illnesses. Their habitat exposes them to conditions that are conducive to the spread of infectious diseases. The lack of money makes access to good health care difficult.
Lack of drains and the presence of ditches create unsanitary conditions, which contaminate water, breed mosquitoes and cause water-borne diseases. Diarrhoea, jaundice and typhoid are among the more common illnesses that occur in Chhattisgarh. Sometimes in the monsoon season they take on epidemic proportions. These illnesses are water-borne.
Chhattisgarh has the second place in the country in terms of gender ratio in the male and female population. Here, the number of women in every 1000 men is about 990. In rural Chhattisgarh, however, there are more women than men, and the ratio is 1,004 women per 1,000 men, while in urban Chhattisgarh the ratio is 932 women per 1,000 men. Rajnandgaon (1,023 women per 1,000 men) and Dantewada (1,016 women per 1,000 men) districts have the highest sex ratios in the State. Fertility trends suggest that son preference exists in most families4. This, together with the increased availability and accessibility to methods like ultrasound which can be misused for sex selection, will lead to a further decline in the sex ratio, unless urgent steps are immediately taken.
There are two sections in society; the elite group, which is literate and the comparatively disadvantaged group which is largely illiterate. The expectation that education is a means to get gainful employment is creating problems. There are a large number of ‘educated unemployed’ youth who do not want to pursue the same occupations as their parents. For many rural young people education has not widened opportunities but has led to disillusionment and frustration. School based education as well as information and exposure to the outside world through television and magazines has led to a growing gap between parents and children.
Due to the patriarchal structure of society, women usually possess knowledge related to their assigned gender roles - the care of animals, childcare, housing and hygiene, nursing and tending the sick, cooking and the use of forest produce. Men on the other hand have knowledge relating to land, land types, seeds, soil types, seed adaptability, measuring land areas, and traditional irrigation methods. Society assigns these roles not only on the basis of gender but also on the basis of caste or community. The knowledge of making products from bamboo, for instance, rests primarily with the basods, many of who are trying to switch to other occupations on account of shrinking markets and declining supply of bamboo.
Almost a third of the population belongs to Scheduled Tribes and about 11.61 percent of the population is listed as Scheduled Castes. Other communities including a large number of people belonging to the Backward Classes constitute the rest of the population. Scheduled Tribes refer to communities listed in the Constitution of India as such, because they reside largely in areas that are designated as part of the Fifth and Sixth Schedules of the Constitution. Their social and economic backwardness stems from their long term habitation in geographically remote areas. The Scheduled Castes are notified in a separate schedule of the Constitution of India. They have been at the lowest end of the Hindu social caste hierarchy, based on birth and have been disadvantaged for generations. The term Backward Classes refer to other communities who are considered to be particularly disadvantaged both socially and economically.
Chhattisgarh enjoys a unique culture, peopled as it is by a number of tribes and communities, each with its distinct identity and way of life. In spite of a number of tribes, its people share certain commonalities and a philosophy which is central to many tribal cultures; the veneration of natural resources – water, forests and land on which life is dependent – a regard for community values and traditions, a practical recognition of the interdependence between different communities and peoples, and a refreshing spirit.
Richly endowed with resources like forests and minerals (diamonds, gold, iron-ore, coal, corundum, bauxite, dolomite, lime, tin and granite to name a few), the people hold the earth and its forests in high regard and esteem. Over centuries, they have evolved a way of life, which while dependent on these resources uses them in a sustainable way. Indigenous knowledge regarding the growing of rice and herbal medicines is well developed but is disappearing fast, due to the influx of modern scientific practices and medicines as well as the absence of any documentation of these valuable systems.
The Forest Department estimates that about 2,00,000 tribal families are associated with the forest based economic activities of the department. This number is expected to go up, as all economically significant minor forest produce, including medicinal plants, are brought under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement.
From a literacy rate of 42.91 percent in 1991 as against the national average of 54.21 percent, the literacy rate in Chhattisgarh has climbed to 64.7 percent in 2001, and it is at par with the national average of 64.8 percent. The literacy rate for women has improved significantly in the last ten years, moving up from 27.52 percent to 51.9 percent. Girls constitute about 47 percent of the total enrolment in schools. The number of teachers in these schools is 73,871 and the average teacherpupil ratio is 1:45. This average figure does not reflect the extremely high teacher-pupil ratios in some districts. The Jan Rapats state that in many villages, one teacher looks after 50 to 70 students and may even teach multiple classes simultaneously.
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