A Comparative Study of Demographic Features of the Tharu Tribals of Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh (India)

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1 A Comparative Study of Demographic Features of the Tharu Tribals of Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh (India) SAMEERA MAITI Department of Anthropology, University of Lucknow, Lucknow , Uttar Pradesh KEY WORDS: Demographic features. Tharu. Tribal. Uttarakhand. Uttar Pradesh. Transition. ABSTRACT: Demographic problems are specific to particular geographical regions or to a particular community and therefore the present study attempts to get the picture of a small tribal community the Tharu, a scheduled tribe of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand in India. The study of demographic features is of relevance since it is also linked to human development and that is the ultimate goal of all human endeavours. A sample of 300 households was selected randomly for collecting data with the help of a structure interview schedule. Data was collected in from nine villages. The study reveals that although on an aggregate level India is lagging in most demographic indicators, the Tharu have reached a stage where positive indications are clearly visible. INTRODUCTION India is known to have a high population growth rate. However, recent analysis reveals that its demographic features are showing signs of improvement. The national aggregated scenario is not the proper reflection at the disaggregated levels and the same has been acknowledged by the National Population Policy Furthermore, demographic problems are specific to particular geographical regions or to a particular community and therefore the present study attempts to get the picture of a small tribal community the Tharu, a scheduled tribe of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The study of demographic features is also of relevance since it is also linked to human development and that is the ultimate goal of all human endeavours. A sample of 300 households was selected randomly for collecting data with the help of a structure interview schedule. Data for the present study was collected in from five villages of Assistant Professor Khatima block, district Udhamsingh nagar in Uttarakhand. The villages covered here were, Amaun, Bhudai, Bigrabagh, Gosikuan and Sripur Bichwa. In Uttar Pradesh, four villages namely, Bardiya, Bisunapur, Matehi and Rampurwa of Mihipurwa block, district Bahraich were covered. Before we get down to the main topic however, a brief profile of the Tharu would be helpful understand them better. BRIEF ETHNOGRAPHIC PROFILE OF THE THARU The Tharu, who were declared a Scheduled Tribe by the President of India in 1967, are spread over a vast tract at the Indo-Nepal border and inhabit the districts of Lakhimpur-Kheri, Gonda, Bahraich, Balrampur and Gorakhpur in the state of Uttar Pradesh and Nainital and Udhamsingh Nagar in Uttaranchal. They are also found in parts of Bihar, Bengal, Assam and Nepal. According to the census report of 2001 out of the five STs of the two states, namely Tharu, Bhotia, Khasa (Jaunsari), Bhoksa and Raji, the Tharu are the most populous in both the states. In Uttar Pradesh they have a population of 83,544 and South Asian Anthropologist, 2011, 11(2): New Series SERIALS 185

2 186 Sameera Maiti comprise 77.4% of the tribal population. Similarly, in Uttarakhand too they number 85,665 and account for 33.4 per cent of its ST population. The Tharu belong to the Mongoloid race, based on their physical characteristics, and claim to be of Rajput descent from their mother s side although they could not put forward any concrete proof for this belief of theirs. The Tharu are a patrilineal and patrilocal group, with the eldest male member as the head of the family. Traditionally women were considered to be superior to men and thus dominated. In fact a story goes that so deep was the feeling of superiority engrained in the minds of the Tharu women that, earlier, men were not allowed into the kitchen and were served food outside the house in plates kicked by the wives towards them (Maiti, 99). However today, they share a near equal status with their men (Maiti, 2008). Tradition supports joint families, although today nuclear families are on a rise. Agriculture constitutes the pivot of their economy aided by fishing, occasional hunting and animal husbandry. Besides, supplementary occupations such as construction and repair of houses, basketry, pottery, net, mat and rope making keep them busy during the lull periods of agricultural work. Members of a joint family hold the agricultural land in joint ownership. Apart from this, other household objects such as fishing nets and traps, agricultural implements, utensils, furniture, etc. are commonly owned. As such, no sale proceedings can be finalised without the consent of other members in the family. The Tharu have retained much of their self-sufficiency over the years as far as their economic needs are concerned. However, there remain a few articles that have to be purchased from the market. Culture contact has brought about a change of view towards supernatural elements. Today, apart from the indigenous deities and spectral being, the Tharu have included in their pantheon several Hindu gods and goddesses and Muslim saints. Most of the Tharu religious rituals, fasts and festivals revolve around their main economic activity, i.e. agriculture, since the interval between sowing and harvesting involves several risks and dangers. Holi is the main festival, which calls for a lot of merry making among them. Satti (purification rites) held on the sixth day after childbirth, mangni (engagement), marriage, rotipani and ghara or barshi (death rituals) are the main life cycle rituals observed by the Tharu. Once declared a Scheduled Tribe, the government began to take several measures for the all round development of the Tharu. In this direction, several economic upliftment, health care, educational, family planning, etc. schemes have been started the results of which are beginning to show, though slowly (Maiti, 2004). GENERAL DEMOGRAPHIC FEATURES Village wise population distribution can be seen from Table 1. The table clearly reveals that a total of 300 households were covered of which 145 were covered in Uttarakhand and 155 in Uttar Pradesh. The total population of the 300 households amounted to 2197, which consisted of 1090 male and 1107 female members. This meant that the average family consisted of 7.3 members. However, when seen separately at the state levels, there seems to be a substantial difference between the two since the family size in U.P is high at 7.9, while in Uttarakhand it stands at 6.6. At individual village level too, the average Tharu family size varies sufficiently. The largest family size of 8.8 has been estimated in Bisunapur (U.P), while the lowest family size of 5.6 was estimated for Amaun (U.K). Sex-ratio is an important indicator of the socioeconomic conditions of a population. Here, sex-ratio (SR) is defined as the number of females per one thousand males. The current study very positively reveals that the SR for the Tharu, covered in both the states, averages at 1015 females per 1000 male. State wise too, the picture is positive since in U.K. it stands at 1000 and in U.P. it stands at an encouraging As per the census of 2001 overall SR for the ST s, at the National level stands at 978, in Uttaranchal it was reported to be 950 and in Uttar Pradesh it was 934 females per one thousand males. Table 2 reveals that the SR for the infants or 0-1 year age group is very high at 1823 and for the 1-4 years age group also it is high at Thus, it seems that the scenario of sexratio is beginning to improve and is a very encouraging indication demographically both for the tribe and country on a whole. The structure of any population is more important than its size. In this regard, on analysing Table 2 we

3 A Comparative Study of Demographic Features of the Tharu Tribals 187 TABLE 1 Village-wise population distribution of Tharus Sl. No. Village name No. of No. of Total Number of Average size Sex-ratio male female population households of households covered 1. Amaun Bhudai Bigrabagh Gosikuan Sripur-Bichwa Total (Uttarakhand) Bardiya Bisunapur Matehi Rampurwa Total (Uttar Pradesh) Grand Total TABLE 2 Age-wise distribution of the population of the Tharus Age-group Uttarakhand Uttar Pradesh All Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Total Total can find out the age structure of the households covered during field work. A description of the studied population on the basis of age group indicates the Tharu tribe is on a verge of population explosion because 53.5% of the total population belongs to the age group of 0-24 years. This is the most expansive proportion in the population pyramid and will be responsible for the rapid increase in population in the future. In Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, 52.1% and 54.6% of the population, respectively belong to the age group of The table also shows that the proportion of members in the 60+ year group is 3.9, which is much lower than the national average. Likewise, the proportion of people in the age group of less than 15 years and 60+ groups reflect the rate of the highly dependable population and stands at 36.5% for the selected group. Literacy rate among the Tharu population which has been estimated for the population of 5 years and above (Table 3), seems to be better at 50.8% when compared to the national aggregate which stood at 47.1%, and the state aggregate for U.P. which stood at a mere 35.1% for all the ST s (census of 2001). However, when compared to the overall literacy level of all the ST in U.K. which stood at 63.2%, as per the 2001 census, the selected population seem to be way behind. When separated at the state levels however,

4 188 Sameera Maiti TABLE 3 Pattern of Education and Literacy Rate (5 years and above) Level of Education Number of males Number of female Total UK UP UK UP No. % Illiterate Primary Middle High School Intermediate Graduation Post grad.; Vocational Total Grand Total Literacy Rate (%) the picture changes since the overall literacy level of the Tharu of U.K. was found to be 68.5 which is higher than the state aggregate for all ST s (63.2% according to Census 2001) while the literacy level of the Tharu studied in U.P. was calculated to be 40.7 per cent which again was higher than the state aggregate for all ST s (35.1% according to Census 2001). Thus, it is clear that on all literacy fronts, the Tharu of U.P. are much behind the Tharu of U.K. Sex-wise analysis reveals that male literacy was predominantly higher than female literacy in both the states. The overall Tharu literacy rate for male population was estimated at 60.4 % and for female, it was 48.8%. Further, a cursory glance at the table also reveals that the Tharu women of U.P. need to be encouraged on a higher level to improve their literacy level since not even 40% of such women are literate. Structure of occupation has been analyzed for 15 years and above, of the population (Table 4). More than half of such population, i.e. 54.3% (57.4% in U.K. and 51.2% in U.P.) are engaged in some kind of economically gainful activity while the remaining 45.7% do not contribute gainfully, although around 3.5% in this category are pension holders and thus do contribute to the income of the family to a certain extent. Females of the community contribute most to the category of non workers since 71.4% of the total women are included here. Among these, 47.7% women are simply housewives and another 10% are students, while nearly 8.4% per cent claim to be TABLE 4 Occupational structures among Tharus (15 years and above) Occupation Uttarakhand Uttar Pradesh Male Female Total Male Female Total No. % No. % No. %. No. % No. % No. %. Agriculture Govt. Job Pvt. Job Business Labourer Others A. Total Student Housewife Retd./ Pension Unemployed B. Total Grand Total (A+B)

5 A Comparative Study of Demographic Features of the Tharu Tribals 189 unemployed and are on the lookout for suitable work. Rate of unemployment among the males is relatively low at 5.7 per cent, and work participation rate among them is quite high at 79%. Despite this the overall work participation rate is at 54.3% due to low participation of the females, which stands at only 28.7 per cent. However, these figures are much better than the national average which shows that the work participation rate among the males is 51.7 per cent and among the females it is 25.6 per cent, as per the 2001 census. Agriculture forms the main economic activity since 75% of all the working persons are engaged in this primary activity. However, despite reservations in government jobs, only a small proportion of 2.5% of the Tharu working population is engaged in various government jobs. This can also be related to the low literacy level as Table 3 clearly indicates that of those who are literate too, the maximum education level is up to intermediate, while a very few have acquired education at graduation or higher levels. Business too ranks low in terms of work participation as only 1.3% are involved in business. Due to limited economic activities in the area, private jobs are not easily available and therefore only 3.3% are involved in it. 17.5% work as labourers and a meagre 1% are engaged in other work such as animal husbandry, carpentry, tailoring etc. After an overview of the general features, we can switch over to purely demographic phenomenon i.e, birth, death, and natural growth rates which are given in Table 5. The crude birth rate (CBR) of the Tharu is estimated at 22.7 per thousand persons while it has been 25.8 for the nation in 2000 according to Sample Registration System (SRS) data. Interestingly, female birth rate has been higher, at 26.9 per thousand, compared to male birth rate which stood at 18.4 although there is no apparent sex differentiation or any sex preference towards the female child. The crude death rate (CDR) at the aggregated level has been estimated at 6.3 per one thousand persons. The all-india average death rate during 2000 was at 8.5 whereas the highest death rate of 10.5 was recorded for Orissa followed by Uttar Pradesh (10.3) according to the SRS estimates. In Uttaranchal, the CDR for total population was 6.9. Thus, it can be argued that the Tharu are gradually improving where demographic transition is concerned. The natural growth rate (NGR) for the surveyed Tharu has been at That is, given this type of trend it allows for an annual growth rate of 1.64 per cent for the Tharu to increase their population size. Coming to basic household amenities which are essential for a descent living, we find the Tharu quite well placed to a certain extent. Although there can be numerous items that form the list of basic household amenities in modern times, especially when India is getting globalised at an accelerated pace and its impact is being felt even in the interior rural areas of the country, the study confines itself to only four of such basic amenities that form a combination of the old and modern basic needs. These are in-house toilets; electricity in the house; telephone or mobile accessibility, and T.V in the household. Out of all the said facilities, toilet within the residential area is the most important factor for a good quality of life with respect to health and sanitation. It is also an important factor in protection of women s modesty and safety, given that several crimes are committed against them when they are on their way to or from answering nature s call. Similarly, electricity is important both for a healthy living and to make day to day domestic tasks and life easy, while telephone is essential for keeping oneself connected with others and to call TABLE 5 Vital statistics of the Tharus Specification Uttarakhand Uttar-Pradesh Total Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Total Number of Births Crude Birth Rate Number of Deaths Crude Death Rate Natural Growth Rate

6 190 Sameera Maiti TABLE 6 Basic amenities in the houses of the tribal respondents District (State) In-House-Toilet Electricity Mobile/Phones T.V Total Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Udhamsingh Nagar (Uttarakhand) (38.6)* (61.4) (93.1) (06.9) (82.8) (17.2) (80.6) (19.8) (100.0) Bahraich (Uttar Pradesh) (30.3) (69.7) (86.5) (13.5) (63.9) (36.1) (62.6) (37.4) (100.0) All (34.4) (65.6) (89.7) (10.3) (73) (27) (71.4) (28.7) (100.0) *Figures in parenthesis indicate percentage. others in times of an emergency/distress or any need. T.V. on the other hand, is known to be an effective medium for both keeping oneself informed and entertained. In other words, the last three are technological advancements which enhance one s quality of life and help in a community s overall development and empowerment. The present study revealed that only 34.4% of the Tharu households had the facility of toilet within the residence and thus is an area which requires urgent attention from developmental agencies for reasons already mentioned. Given that U.K. has a higher standard of living when compared to U.P., the gap within the two states in this context is not too much since only 38.6% in U.K. had toilet facilities at home and only 30.3% had the same facility in U.P. On the other hand when the use of technological improvements is concerned, the Tharu seem to be very well placed since nearly 90% houses had electricity supply at home. 6.9% households in U.K. did not have electricity and 13.5% did not have it in U.P. A high 73% Tharu respondents had immediate access to a telephone (either landline or mobile phone at home) and 71.4% had a T.V in their house. The per centage of such households was above 80% in U.K. and above 60% in U.P. Thus these are positive signs of their movement towards a better standard of living. The major features thus brought forth from this micro-study are that Although the average family size is quite large at 7.3, there exists a great deal of inter village variation and this variation, one feels, has to do with the level of awareness, literacy and closeness to more developed areas. Probably these only were the reasons for which Amaun, which is adjacent to Khatima block, had the smallest family size of 5.6 while a relatively underdeveloped Bisnupur had the highest average family size of 8.8. The average sex-ratio and also individual state level sex-ratio for the tribe showed positive signs and indicated that there is no bias whatsoever against the female gender in the tribe. One negative point that the study revealed related to the population structure since it was noted that 53.5% of the population are in the 0-24 years. Age group and this indicates that the tribe is on a verge of population explosion. Although literacy level is showing an upward trend in general for the selected tribe, women s education needs special attention and more so for the Tharu women of Uttar Pradesh whose literacy level stood at a very low 36.7%, and of these too, the majority were educated only to the primary level. Further, there is also a need to encourage these tribal womenfolk to participate in economically gainful activities since 71.4% fell in the category of non workers. A major reason for this was probably because of the fact that no vocational training or women s co-operative society are being operated by any governmental, semi-governmental or nongovernmental agencies, in the area which could have otherwise helped encourage the womenfolk here. Crude death rate (CDR) and natural growth rate (NGR) of the selected sample both show positive results when compared to the national average. Lastly, it was found that besides in house toilets, construction of which needs urgent attention from rural developmental agencies, the Tharu possess most of the basic amenities essential for a descent living in current times, such as electricity, T.V., and telephone.

7 A Comparative Study of Demographic Features of the Tharu Tribals 191 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Data for the present paper was collected as part of the Major Research Project titled Quality of Life among Women and Children conducted with financial assistance provided by the UCG. The author is thankful to the UGC for the same which enabled this research. REFERENCES CITED Census of India Registrar General and Census Commissioner, Government of India Publications Division: Delhi. Census of India Sample Registration System (SRS) Bulletin: Various Issues. Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India: New Delhi. Maiti, Sameera The changing status of Tharu women. The Eastern Anthropologist, 52(1) The Tharu: Their Arts & Crafts. Northern Book Centre: New Delhi Supernatural and religious world of the Tharu. The Oriental Anthropologist, 8: (1-2).