CENSUS 1961 KERALA STATE DISTRICT CENSUS HANDBOOK 8 QUILON M. K. DEVASSY, B. A., B. L. OF THE INDIAN ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICE SUPERINTENDENT OF CENSUS OPERATIbNS, KERALA AND THE UNION TERRITORY OF LACCADIVE, MINICOY AND AMINDIVI ISLANDS 1967 PREFACE The District Census Handbooks were started for the first time in the history of the decennial censuses in India in 1951. The Handbooks of the Travancore-Cochin and Madras States in the 1951 Census contained, besides a short account of the district and the people, important census tables for the' district and a village directory consisting of the area, houses, population, number of literates, the distribution of population by livelihood classes, the number of institutions and general information on amenities etc., in respect of every village. In the 1961 Census it was decided with the concurrence of the State Govern­ ment to continue the publication of the District Census Handbooks. The contents of the District Census Handbooks of the 1961 Census are, however, a little more ambitious than those of the 1951 Census Handbooks in that besides the items of information mentioned above a large number of tables giving general information about the districts have been added. The number of such tables comes to 41 besides 47 inset tables excluding those given in respect of census data. As far as possible, an attempt has been made through these tables to give an epitome of the progress made by the district in various fields during the inter­ censal period 1951-61. The book is divided into three parts. Part A gives a general description of the district, the progress made during the last decade, a review of the population, literacy, employment and unemployment, household econ6mic data etc., of the district based on census data and a gazetteer. The a~pendices to this part contain the various tables of general information on which the revjew of progress has been based. Part B contains the census data of 1961 comprising the general population tables, economic tables including household economic tables, social and cultural tables and special tables for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Part C is the village Directory. It is hoped that this handbook win serve as a useful reference book on the Quilon district. A book of this kind could not have been compiled but for the hearty co­ operation and goodwill extended by the various departments of the State and Central Governments to whose kindness I am deeply indebted. The District Census Handbook section of my office consisting of a Statistical Assistant and a couple of Compilers has been in charge of the entire work of collection and compilation of the data for this handbook. At the time of addressing the various departments for collection of information for the District Census Hand­ books Shri H. Padmanabha Iyer of the Bureau of Economics and Statistics was the Statistical Assistant in charge of the Section. After a short period of work in this section he was transferred to the Tabulation Office, Kozhikode, as the 106j4198A. Tabulation Officer. He was succeeded by Shri S. Jayashanker of the Bureau of Economics and Statistics as Statistical Assistant in charge of this handbook. While Shri Padmanabha Iyer has rendered excellent service in piloting the work of the collection of data for the handbooks, Shri J ayashanker who succeeded him has borne the brunt of the work in the preparation of this handbook which involved a good deal of careful analysis and laborious compilation. I feel happy in acknowledging the vaiuable contribution made by them and particularly Shri Jayashanker in the compilation of this important book. I should also acknowledge the good work of the Compilers of the District Census Handbook section, Sarvashri K. N. Raman and E. V. Unnikrishnan Nair and of draftsman Shri S. Krishna Pillai who has prepared the entire set of maps given in the book. I should express my deep sense of gratitude to Shri P. K. Abdulla, LA.S., Secretary to Governmep.t and Shri K. Swaminathan, Superintendent of Govemment Presses for the warm co-operation extended by them for the timely printing of this handbook. Above all I am grateful to Shri Asok Mitra, LC.S., Registrar General, for the valuable guidance and help extended to me in this work. Trivandrum, 1st March 1967. M. K. DEVASSY ii CONTENTS PAGE PREFACE PART A GENERAL History of the district 3 Situation 3 Admini~trative ~its 3 Area, p~ysical features and natural divisions 3 River system 4 Mountains 5 Backwaters 5 Soils 6 Geology () Climate 8 Forests 9 Land tenures 10 Agriculture 22 Live-stock 27 Educational institutions 27 Public health 31 Vital statistics 33 Electrjc power 33 Communications 34 Industries 38 Trade 42 Fisheries 42 Community development 43 Revenue 44 Local self Government 44 Co-operative societies 44 Criminal justice . 45 S~llsavingsscheme 47 Printing presses and periodicals 47 Entertainments J,.7 Employment exchange activities 47 Importa~t events 47 Occupied houses and households 47 Growth of population 50 Population by taluks 50 Rural-urban distribution of population 51 Population by natural regions 51 Population density 52 Sex-ratio 53 Age 55 Marital status 55 Religion 56 Literacy and education 56 Languages 61 Birth place . 61 Workers and non-workers 62 Household economic data 70 Gazetteer 73 111 APPENDICES PAGE Appendix I Normals of rainfall and rainy days (based on available data for the period 1901 to 1950) 81 Appendix 2 Rainfall 82 ,Appendix 3 Temperature 8'1 Appendix 4 Major and minor forest products 88 Appendix 5 Production of important crops for the last six years 90 Appendix 6 Retail prices of certain commodities 91 Appendix 7 Consumer price index numbers 97 Appendix 8 Live-stock and poultry (Live-stock Census, 1961) 98 Appendix 9 Agricultural machinery and implements (Live..stock Census, 1961) lOl Appendix 10 Colleges for the academic year 1960-61 102 Appendix 11 Technical institutions 102 Appendix 12 Number of persons treated for the period 1950-51 to 1960-61 103 Appendix 13 Rural sanitation for the period 1950-51 to 1959-60 103 Appendix 14 Anti-adulteration activities for the period 1950-51 to 1960-61 103 Appendix 15 Polymetric table of distances 104 Appendix 16 Facilities at various railway stations 106 Appendix 17 List of post offices 107 Appendix 18 Connections provided from telephone exchanges 109- Appendix 19 Annual average earnings of workmen in a category of work for the period 1950-51 to 1960-61 110 Appendix 20 Handicrafts 112 Appendix 21 Number of industrial disputes resulting in work stoppages for the period 1951 to 1960 113 Appendix 22 Number ofindustrial disputes resulting in work stoppages by causes for the period 1951 to 1960 , 114 Appendix 23 Number of tonnage of vessels which entered or cleared. with cargo or in ballast at Quilon, Koilthottam portsl from foreign countries by nationalities and the tonnage of vessels which entered or cleared with cargoes at Qpilon port in casting trade by nationalities 115 Appendix 24 Import into the port of Quilon for the period 1951-52 to 1959-60 117 Appendix 25 Export from the ports of Koilthottam and Quilon 117 Appendix 26 Physical achievements and people's contribution for the period 1956-57 to 1960-61 118 Appendix 27 Receipts under exrcise revenue for the period 1950-51 to 1960-61 120 Appendix 28 Sales tax revenue for the period 1950-51 to 1960-61 121 Appendix 29 Agricultural income tax and agricultural supertax classified by grade of income for the period 1955-56 to 1960-61 122 Appendix 30 Incidence of land 'revenue assessment for the period 1950-51 to 1960-61 124 Appendix 31 Receipts under entertainment tax for the pe~iod 1950-51 to 1960-61 124 Appendix 32' Income of Quilon municipality for the period 1955-56 to 1960-61 125 IV Appendix 33 Expenditure of Quilon municipality for the period 1955-56 to 1960-61 125 Appendix 34 Income of panchayats for the period 1955-56 to 1900-61 126 Appendix 35 Expenditure ofpanchayats for the period 1955-56 to 1960-61 126 Appendix 36 Nature and length of sentence of convicts in jails for the period 1955-56 to 1960-61 127 Appendix 37 Number of police stations, strength of police personnel etc., for the period 1'958-59 to 1960-61 127 Appendix 38 Number of printing presses and periodicals for the period 1950-51 to 1960-61 127 Appendix 39 Cinemas and public entertainment halls for the period 1950-51 to 1960-61 128 Appendix 40 Employment exchange activities for the period 1958-59 to 1960-61 ' 128 Appendix 41 Important events during the last decade 129 PART B CENSUS DATA (i) STATE TABLES I AREA, HOUSES AND POPULATION 3 II VARIATION IN POPULATION DURING SIXTY YEARS 4 III WORKERS AND NON-WORKERS CLASSIFIED BY SEX 6 (ii) QUILON DISTRICT TABLES A-General Population Ta}>les A-I AREA, HOUSES AND POPULATION Fly-leaf II Table A-I 27 Appendix I Statement showing 1951 territorial units constituting the present set-up of Quilon district 29 Appendix II Number of villages with a population of 5,000 and over and towns with a population under 5,000 31 Appendix III Houseless and institutional populati~n 31 A-II VARIATION IN POPULATION DURING FORTY YEARS Fly-leaf 32 Table A-II 33 Appendix Statement showing 1951 population according to the territorial jurisdiction 1951, changes in area and the population involved in those changes 34 A-III VILLAGES CLASSIFIED BY POPULATION Fly-leaf 35 SPECIAL TABLE A-III KARAS CLASSIFIED BY POPULATION Fly-leaf 35 Table A-III 36 Special Table A-III 36 A-IV TOWNS (AND TOWN-GROUPS) CLASSIFIED BY POPULATION IN 1961 WITH VARIATION SINCE 1901 Fly-leaf 3B Table A-IV 39 Appendix I New