Jharkhand
DATA
HIGHLIGHTS: THE SCHEDULED TRIBES
Census of India 2001
1.The
Scheduled Tribe (ST) population of Jharkhand State is as per 2001 census
7,087,068 constituting 26.3 per cent of the total population (26,945,829) of
the State. Among all Sates and UTs, Jharkhand holds 6th and 10th
ranks terms of the ST population and the percentage share of the ST population
to the total population of the State respectively. The growth of the ST
population has been 17.3 per cent which is lower by 6 per cent if compared with the growth of the
State’s total population (23.3 per cent) during 1991-2001. The state has a
total of thirty (30) Scheduled Tribes and all of them have been enumerated at
2001 census
2.The Scheduled Tribes are primarily rural
as 91.7per cent of them reside in villages. District wise distribution of ST
population shows that Gumla district has the highest proportion of STs (68.4per cent). The STs constitute more than half of the total population in Lohardaga
and Pashchimi Singhbhum districts whereas Ranchi and Pakaur districts have 41.8
– 44.6 per cent tribal population. Kodarma district (0.8 per cent) preceded by
Chatra (3.8 per cent) has the lowest proportion of the STs Population.
Population- Size &
Distribution
3.
Out of thirty (30) Scheduled
Tribes notified for the State, Santhal is the most populous tribe having a population
of 2,410,509, constituting 34 per cent of the total ST population of the State.
Oraon, Munda and Ho, the 2nd, 3rd and 4th
largest tribes constitute 19.6, 14.8 and 10.5 per cent respectively of the
total ST population of the State. Four other major tribes, Kharia, Bhumij,
Lohra and Kharwar having population ranging
from 164,022 -192,024
along with Santhal,
Oraon, Munda and Ho, constitute
89.1 per cent of
the total tribal population. The tribes namely, Chero, Bedia, Mal Pahariya and Mahli in the population range from 75,540 to 121,174 account for another
5.6 per cent;
the remaining 18 tribes, along with the generic tribes constitute the balance
5.3 per cent of
the total ST population.
4. District wise distribution of the individual ST shows that Santhal
have the highest population in Dumka district followed by Purbi Singhbhum,
Pakaur and Sahibganj districts but they constitute the highest proportion of
the total ST population in Giridih (90.8 per cent), followed by Dumka (89.7 per
cent) and Pakaur (85 per cent) districts. Oraon have returned the highest
population in Ranchi district followed by Gumla. They have the highest
percentage share in the total tribal population (81per cent) in Lohardaga district. Other six major
tribes, namely Munda, Ho, Kharwar, Lohra, Bhumij and Kharia are concentrated in
Ranchi, Pashchimi Singhbhum, Palamu, Ranchi, Purbi Singhbhum and Gumla
districts respectively.
Sex Ratio
5. The
over all sex ratio of the ST population in Jharkhand is 987 females per 1000
males which is higher than the national average (978) for the total ST population.
6.
Among the major tribes, Kharia and Ho
have females who outnumber the males in their total population. While Munda,
Oraon, Santhal, Bhumij have their overall sex ratio above national average,
Lohra and Kharwar have their over all sex ratio below the national average.
7.
The sex ratio among tribes in the age
group 0-6 years (979) is marginally higher than that of all STs at the national
level (973). At the individual level, except Oraon, other seven major tribes
have registered the child sex ratio higher than the national average.
Statement - 1: Sex Ratio
|
Age groups
|
All STs
(India)
|
All STs
(Jharkhand)
|
Kharia
|
Ho
|
Munda
|
Oraon
|
Santhal
|
Bhumij
|
Lohra
|
Kharwar
|
|
All ages
|
978
|
987
|
1026
|
1010
|
994
|
992
|
985
|
983
|
970
|
944
|
|
0 – 6
|
973
|
979
|
977
|
986
|
983
|
966
|
980
|
984
|
982
|
991
|
Literacy
& Educational Level
8.
The overall literacy rate among the STs
has increased from 27.5 per cent at 1991 census to 40.7 per cent at 2001census.
Despite this improvement, the literacy rate among the tribes is much below in
comparison to that of all STs at the national level (47.1per cent). Like the
over all literacy rate among the STs, male and female literacy rates (54 per
cent and 27.2 per cent) are also considerably lower than those at the national
level (59.2 per cent & 34.8 per cent).
9.
Among the numerically larger tribes,
Oraon and Kharia have more than half of the population in the age of seven (7)
years and above are literates while Munda have the literacy rate almost equal
to that of all STs at the national level. Remaining five larger tribal groups
have shown the over all literacy rates lower than that of the national average.
Statement - 2 : Literacy Rate
|
Literacy rate
|
All STs
(state)
|
Oraon
|
Kharia
|
Munda
|
Bhumij
|
Ho
|
Lohra
|
Santhal
|
Kharwar
|
|
Persons
|
40.7
|
52.5
|
51.0
|
47.9
|
41.5
|
39.2
|
38.9
|
33.4
|
29.6
|
|
Females
|
27.2
|
40.8
|
42.2
|
34.9
|
24.0
|
23.9
|
25.0
|
19.5
|
13.9
|
10. Among the total tribal literates, 33.6
per cent are either without any educational level or have attained education
below primary level. The proportions of literates who have attained education
up to primary level and middle level are 28.6 per cent & 17.7 per cent
respectively. Persons educated up to matric / secondary / higher secondary
constitute 16.5 percent. This implies that every 6th tribal literate
is a matriculate. Graduates and above are 3.5 per cent while non-technical
& technical diploma holders constitute a negligible 0.1 per cent only.
Statement - 3: Levels of Education among
the major Scheduled Tribes
|
Names of STs
|
Literate without educational level
|
Below Primary
|
Educational
levels attained
|
|
Primary
|
Middle
|
Matric/
Secondary Higher Secondary/Intermediate etc.
|
Technical & Non- technical diploma
etc.
|
Graduate &
above
|
|
All
Scheduled Tribes
|
3.0
|
30.6
|
28.6
|
17.7
|
16.5
|
0.1
|
3.5
|
|
Santhal
|
3.5
|
34.3
|
30.0
|
17.0
|
13.2
|
0.1
|
2.0
|
|
Oraon
|
2.4
|
26.9
|
25.3
|
18.5
|
20.8
|
0.2
|
5.9
|
|
Munda
|
2.8
|
27.9
|
29.6
|
18.9
|
17.1
|
0.1
|
3.7
|
|
Ho
|
2.4
|
26.4
|
28.4
|
19.9
|
19.7
|
0.1
|
3.1
|
|
Kharwar
|
5.5
|
38.2
|
32.3
|
11.3
|
10.8
|
0.1
|
1.8
|
|
Lohra
|
3.5
|
35.5
|
30.5
|
16.1
|
12.5
|
0.1
|
1.9
|
|
Bhumij
|
2.9
|
36.1
|
32.8
|
15.7
|
11.1
|
0.0
|
1.4
|
|
Kharia
|
2.0
|
26.0
|
26.5
|
18.3
|
21.4
|
0.1
|
5.6
|
11. While Kharia, Oraon and Ho have the
highest proportion of matriculates i.e. every 5th literates of these
tribes are matriculates closely followed by Munda who have every 6th
literate a matriculate. Kharwar have the lowest percentage of matriculates,
preceded by Bhumij, Lohra and Santhal. While Oraon and Kharia have the highest
percentage of graduates, Bhumij have the lowest proportion of degree holders,
preceded by Kharwar, Lohra and Santhal.
12. The data show that the proportion of
tribal literates decline sharply in higher level of education as the percentage
of students after matriculation drops down to almost one third in higher
secondary level.
13. Out
of the total 19.8 lakh tribal children in the age group 5 -14 years, only 8.5
lakh children have been attending school constituting 43.1 per cent.
Alarmingly, as many as 11.3 lakh (56.9
per cent) children in the corresponding age group have not been going to
school. The Statement below shows that among the major STs, Oraon, Kharia and
Munda have more than 50 per cent school going children whereas Santhal, Ho,
Lohra have 36 – 47 per cent children attending
school.
Statement - 4: Percentage of school
going children in the age group 5-14 yrs.
|
Age
group
|
All STs
|
Oraon
|
Kharia
|
Munda
|
Bhumij
|
Lohra
|
Ho
|
Santhal
|
Kharwar
|
|
5-14 yrs.
|
43.1
|
55.0
|
53.3
|
50.1
|
46.6
|
44.1
|
37.6
|
36.3
|
28.6
|
Work
Participation Rate (WPR)
14.
The Work Participation Rate (WPR) of the
ST population is 46.3 per cent which is lower than that of all STs at the
national level (49.1 per cent). While there has been a slight decline in male
WPR from 53.4 to 51.9 per cent, female WPR has increased
from 38.3 per cent up to 40.6 per cent during 1991-2001. Among the total
workers, 59.4 per cent are main workers and this proportion is quite below the
national average for all STs (68.9 per cent).
15.
Among the major tribal groups, only
Kharia have over all WPR (51.6per cent) higher than the national average
whereas other seven major tribal groups have recorded WPR lower than the
national average.
Category of Workers
16.
‘Cultivators’ constitute more than half
of the total workers and this figure is significantly higher than the national
average of 44.7 per cent recorded by all STs in this category. ‘Agricultural
Labourers’ account for 31 per cent which is less than that recorded for all STs at the national
level (36.9 per cent). ‘Other Workers’ form 13.5 per cent which is comparable
with the national average of 16.3 per cent whereas workers engaged in Household
Industry (HHI) constitute 3 per cent which is marginally higher than that of
the national average (2.1 per cent).
17.
Among the major tribes, Oraon, Munda and
Kharia have 62-71 per cent workers engaged as ‘Cultivators’ followed by Kharwar
and Santhal. Bhumij and Lohra have recorded the highest proportion of
‘Agricultural Labourers’ in their total working population. Lohra have also
registered the higher percentage of ‘Other Workers’ as well as ‘HHI’ workers in
comparison to other major tribes.
Statement-
5 : Percentage Distribution of Workers in four Economic Categories
|
Ecnomic category
|
All STs
|
Santhal
|
Oraon
|
Munda
|
Ho
|
Kharwar
|
Lohra
|
Bhumij
|
Kharia
|
|
Cultivators
|
52.6
|
48.6
|
62.1
|
64.6
|
49.4
|
52.5
|
28.3
|
35.5
|
70.5
|
|
Agricultural Labourers
|
31.0
|
38.4
|
21.0
|
21.2
|
34.1
|
39.7
|
33.5
|
47.3
|
20.5
|
|
HHI Workers
|
3.0
|
1.4
|
1.1
|
1.3
|
3.0
|
1.0
|
14.7
|
1.7
|
1.1
|
|
Other
Workers
|
13.5
|
11.6
|
15.8
|
12.8
|
13.4
|
6.9
|
23.5
|
15.4
|
7.9
|
Marital
Status
18. The
data on marital status show that ‘never married’ persons with a proportion of
53.2 per cent exceed the ‘married’ persons (41.1per cent) in total ST
population. ‘Widowed’ persons form 5.3 per cent while a negligible 0.4 per cent
is of ‘divorced and separated’ persons.
19.
Marriages of girls and boys below the
legal age for each, are not in common practice among the tribal of Jharkhand.
Married girls below 18 years and married boys below 21 years constitute 2.1 per
cent and 2.5 per cent respectively. These proportions are almost same as those
recorded for the total STs at the national level (2.1 per cent & 2.8 per cent respectively). Among the larger groups, Kharwar and
Santhal have registered
higher proportions of married girls and boys below the legal age if compared to
those of all STs at the national level.
20. The
mean number of children ever born per ever married ST woman (age- group 45 – 49
years) is 4 which is same as that of all STs at the national level (4).
Religion
21. Although,
Hinduism is the predominant religion of the State (68.6 per cent), the Hindu
tribes constitute 39.8 per cent only. As many as 45.1 per cent of the tribal
population follow ‘other religions and persuations’. Christian tribes are 14.5
per cent and less than half per cent (0.4 per cent) are Muslims. Among the
major tribes, Santhal have more than half of the total population (56.6 per
cent) professes Hinduism. Oraon and Munda have more than 50 per cent of
population follow ‘other religions and persuasions’ followed by Christianity.
Ho tribe has the highest proportion (91per cent) of persons professing ‘other
religions and persuations’.
