JOURNAL OF CRITICAL REVIEWS

ISSN- 2394-5125 VOL 7, ISSUE 12, 2020 DEMOGRAPHIC AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS OF WOMEN IN DISTRICT

Sanjoy Mili Assistant Professor, Economics Department (Contractual), UMK College, Majuli

Abstract:

Status means a social position or rank of an individual in relation to others especially in regard to social and other professional standing. The United Nations was initiative to improve the women status under the ‘‘World Conference on Women’’ held in different places during 1975-95. Still women are being increasingly considered as subject and social welfare of the community depends a great deal on the status, function and responsibility of women. Through the National and International Conferences have assess the status of women in the decision making process in which women can participate in all fields like men and they took active part in every sphere of human life. The first World Conference held in 1975 at Mexico declared as ‘‘Women International Year’’ aiming at achieving universal equality, integrated in the socio-economic and political spheres. In this backdrop, present paper is a simplistic approach to focus on status of women in Majuli. The address is designed to review women’s status as indexed by demographic and socio-economic variables like gender ratio, level of education and work participation of women etc. For this research study the data are collected from both the primary and secondary data. As the primary data, the nature of the address is observatory leaving micro level of investigation in to the subject. Whereas, for secondary data the data sets utilized for observations and drawing inferences are collected from different published, journal, magazine and reports etc.

Key words: 1. Status 2. Women International Year 3.Social Welfare 4. Demographic.

Introduction:

Majuli is a largest river island in the world with an area of total 880 km2 (340 sqmi) situated on the in Northeastern . It is also the first river island district of the country having different ethnic groups inhabited in this region. In this study I try to highlights the socio-economic status of women in . More precisely, Status of women means as a social position or rank. In other words, the Status of women depicts the social, economic and mental condition in a nation. Women are considered as a symbol of spirituality in our scriptures. But women have been treated badly and unequally to men. Women in the early ages were widely prevalent by the different social evils such as dowry, sati- system, child marriage and female infanticide etc. The spread of education and self-consciousness among women has led to their progress over the period. Today, women are empowered. Also, women are gaining advancements and success in each and every field. Like men, women acquired a significant position in politics. Today, women are eager to take up professions and work. They enjoy equal respect and dignity in the family. Also enjoy equal pay for equal work. Under Article 16 of the constitution of are provided equal opportunity for women.

As a River island, the population of Majuli comprises the tribal, non-tribal and scheduled castes etc where Mishing community has the largest population as compare to other castes. In Majuli, the most of the people are based on the and allied sector for their livelihoods where both men and women are equally important. Moreover, women also participates the different economic activities like men such as fishing, mugha rearing, goat, piggery, duck and other activities etc. I also found that tribal women especially Mishing women are more skilled weaver in the weaving industry. Thereby, they have been maintaining their household income gradually. Hence, the economic role of a women shaped by social, economic and political structure is reflected in their ability to own or inherit and control income earning assets, ability to participate in economic activities and control over their husband’s income which is usually determined by the level of their education, the age pattern of marriage, family structure and residential status. In general positive attitude society towards women as reflected in enhanced status of her that takes practical shape in form of favorable or ideal gender ratio, educational attainment and increased participation in the domain of production and decision making processes.

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ISSN- 2394-5125 VOL 7, ISSUE 12, 2020

Through this paper the address is designed to review status of women in Majuli as indexed by demographic and socio- economic variables like gender ratio, level of education, work participation of women etc.

Objectives of the paper:

1. The main objective of the study is to define demographic variables in which the status or position of women would easy to be study relatively among the men

2. To find out the women not only as housework but also important for welfare of the society. 3. To assess the different economic activities of women in our society where leads to enhance the position of women. 4. To find out the needs to be taken special care by the government and frame suitable policies for empowerment of women.

Methodology:

For research study, the present data are collected from both the primary and secondary sources. As the primary data, the nature of the address is observatory leaving micro level of investigation in to the subject. Whereas, for secondary data the data sets utilized for observations and drawing inferences are collected from different published books, journal, magazine, reports, and website etc.

Gender Ratio:

Gender ratio refers to the females per thousand males, which measures the balance between males and females in human population. In a population the gender ratio is an indicator of the gender differential in mortality. Gender ratio is attributed as a basic indicator of the position of a woman in any society and reflector of the socio demographic status. A higher or lower gender ratio indicates the status of the socio-cultural, maternal and child health care programmes existing in the population. The gender composition of the population in India is found to be favorable to males and female disadvantage in mortality has been attributed as the cause for the low gender ratio. In spite of these, the gender ratio of Majuli is significantly different from the national level. Therefore, women in Majuli district have enjoyed a higher status then nation relatively. Gender ratio of Majuli in Assam are shown in the following as - Table: 1 Gender Ratio (Majuli, Assam & India 1991-2011) Year 1991 2001 2011

Majuli 923 929 955

Assam 925 935 958

India 927 933 943

Sources: - Census report 1991-2011

From the above table-1 is shown that Gender ratio of Majuli has registered an improvement over the National level. It is means that the higher the gender ratio the higher will be status where enjoyed by the women. In other words, relative dominant role of the tribal women in the familial structure can be attributed for favorable gender ratio. It is attributed that enhanced status enjoyed by the women in Majuli by the ratio of 955 then National levels of 943 which is lower than that of Majuli but lower than Assam. This tends is shown in the following as

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Table-2 960 955 Majuli 950 Assam 945 India 940 935 GenderRatio 930 925 920 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 Year

Caste Wise Gender Ratio in Majuli:

Caste wise Gender Ratio in Majuli district are shown in the following as- Table-3 Caste wise gender ratio in Majuli district 2001-2011 Year General Caste Scheduled Caste Scheduled Tribe

Total Urban Rural Total Urban Rural Total Urban Rural

2001 912 0 912 911 0 911 967 0 967 2011 937 0 937 947 0 947 973 0 973 Source: - Development Block, Majuli, Kamalabari.

Education: Women education is very important in our society which is considered as having both intrinsic importance as constitute well being and instrumental importance as a means of enhancing other aspects. World Bank and many others have proved that more equitable access to education for women and girls can give very positive returns in improved health, greater productivity and reduced family size. As indexation of female education scenario is shown by literacy rate. The literacy rate of Majuli district is illustrated in the following table-

Table-4 Literacy rate of Majuli, Assam & India (2001-2011, in Per Cent) Majuli Assam India Year Person Male Female Person Male Female Person Male Female

2001 75.40 85.40 64.28 63.25 71.9 56.03 65.4 75.9 54.2 2011 79.56 86.16 71 72.19 77.8 66.2 73.0 80.9 64.6 Sources: Census Report 2001-2011 From the above figure shown that the literacy rate of Majuli is 79% where 86% of male and 71% of female population are literate here. The literacy rate of Majuli is comparatively higher than the national level i.e.73%. In Majuli, the males and females literacy rate has gone up by 2% and 7.6% which is means that the literacy rate of women has increased significantly. So that, the change in literacy rates of women have identified to progressive the status of women over the year.

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ISSN- 2394-5125 VOL 7, ISSUE 12, 2020

Work Participation of Women in Majuli: Work participation of women is an index of their economic status. The UN statistics on women indicate that a majority of the female work force is involved in unpaid family work. Such work participation may be physical or mental in nature. Only few of them work as employees, very few were self-employed or employed. In this study I found that out of total population, 84,873 populations have engaged in either main or marginal works. Of, 53,484 workers are Main work, 37,352 are cultivators and 1,373 are Agricultural laborer and so on. The work participation of women in Majuli are shown in the following as

Table-5

Total Population Male Female

Main Workers 53,484 38,148 15,336

Cultivators 37,352 26,477 10,875

Agricultural laborer 1,373 648 25

Household Industries 2,598 1,389 1,209

Other Workers 12,161 9,634 2,527

Marginal Workers 31,389 11,221 20,168

Non-Workers 82,431 36,197 46,234

Sources: Census report 2011 The Percentage of working population of Women in Majuli District are depicted in the following as

Table-6

Working Population of Women In Majuli Total 58% 57% 60% Male 51% 49% 45% 50% 43% 42% Female 40% 32% 30% 25% 19% 18% 20% 13% 10% 0% Percentage of Working Population Worker Main Marginal Non Worker Worker Worker

Sources: Census report 2011

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Above in the figure shows that in census 2011, about 51 or 85 thousand population are engaged in either main or marginal workers in which 58 percent in males and 43 percent in females. About 45 percent of total males are main workers and 13 percent are marginal workers. For women about 19 percent of total female populations are main workers and 25 percent are marginal workers. Moreover, about 42 percent of total males and 57 percent of total females are non workers. It shows that women not only housewife they took active part in every sphere of economic activities like man in our society. The economic participation of women is therefore very important for welfare of the society.

Problems: There are many problems faced by women in our male domineer family system. An every aspects the women has suppressed by man. So, the majority of women in the rural areas are depends on the member of the family. The main problems faced by women are given in the following as 1. Traditional customs. 2. Lack of education. 3. Lack of employment opportunity. 4. Earlier marriage. 5. Gender discrimination. 6. Lack of knowledge. 7. Lack of special programmed.

Findings of the study: The major finding of the study is that the socio-economic status of women especially in Majuli have reflects the overall well-being and quality of life for women. Through this study I observed that as an indexed of demographic, the gender ratio of Majuli having a favorable then national level. It attributed that the power or position of women in our society have increased and they have enjoyed equally a higher status with men. Thereby, they also took active part in all spheres like political structures, formal decision making process and in the economic sphere. Especially, the favorable gender ratio among the Scheduled Tribes is attributed to relatively dominant status enjoyed by the tribal women in the familial structure. Like gender ratio, the literacy rate of women in Majuli has seen that its rate become increasing gradually i.e. 7.6% from 2001 to 2011 according to 2011 census because the greater the competitiveness among women and parents motivation may leads to spread the education of women in the rural area. So that, more equitable access to education for women and girls can gives very positive returns in improved health, greater productivity and reduced family size. Moreover, I also observed that a majority of rural women are not only involved as housework rather they also participated with different socio-economic activities for their livelihood for example; fishing, mugha rearing, piggery, Goattery and duck farm etc. So that government would be intends to improve the position or status of women through the deliberate policy measures in the rural area like, Swarna Jayanti Gram Swarogar Yojana (SJGSY), and National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM). But women have been challenged by inequality in workforce and unpaid family work. So, economic dependency upon men is consequences the poor socio-economic status of women. In spite of these, the global competitiveness and self-consciousness among women have attributed to a better status or position of women in every sphere of human society.

Suggestion: The socio-economic status or position of women in Majuli is not satisfactory. So, bringing about improvement in the status of women, belonging to different communities throughout the nation is not only vital for enhancing the progression of women, but also for enhancing the community development and well-being of the nation as a whole. The various measures that are common towards bringing about improvements in their status have stated in the following as 1. Acquisition of Education:- Education is regarded as an instrument that is outmost significance in bringing about improvements in the status of women. A proper institutional facilities and training centers are bringing about improvements in their status and well-being of their life. 2. Employment Opportunities:- A greater employment opportunities towards women bringing about improvement in their status and also able to generate income and enhance their personality traits. 3. Participation of Productive Activities:- Participation in various kinds of productive activities especially in the rural areas women fully involved in the production of Food items, Handloom textiles, Fishing, , Piggery, Goattery, Mugha rearing, etc. are one of the important ways through which women can augment their status. 2788

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4. Gender Equality:- Gender equality among male and females bringing about to gets equal rights and opportunities to women. So, it also provides women and girls with equal access to education, health, decent work, political and economic decision-making processes etc. 5. Budgetary Programmed:- A budgetary programmed towards women would leads to enhance the status and empowerment of women. For example, Rashtriya Mahila Kosh, Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana, Dhan Laxmi, Sabla etc. are the comprehensive programmes intended to empowerment of women.

Conclusion: The demographic and socio-economic status of women in Majuli has been experiencing a transition. It means that as an index of demographic status of women, gender ratio in Majuli is indicated a steady movement towards ideal gender ratio where proportion of male and female is equal. Likely, the education status of women in Majuli is tends to increased and gender gap in education is declining gradually. So, further development of education of status women a budgetary allocation is needs to be taken by the government. Moreover, government have intended to design a special programmed to enhance entrepreneurial skill among the women and making women more and more technically equipped to make them employable in any other economic sectors.

References: 1. Ahamad, Alia (1991): The status of Women and Fertility Determination in Traditional Society, Women and Fertility in Bangladesh, Sage Publication, New Delhi. 2. Bhattacharjee,P.R (1993) : Economic Transition in Tripura .Vikas Publications Pvt,Ltd,New Delhi. 3. Verma,Sawlia Bihari (2005): Socio-economic status of women in India: A critique, in S.B Verma (ed), Stauts of Women in Modern India, Deep and Deep Publication,Pvt,Ltd,New Delhi. 4. Viasvanathan,Susan (1996): Women and Work : From Housewifisation to Androgyny,Economic and Political Weekly, Vol.XXXI,Nos.45 and 46,November9-16.1996. 5. Bhagyalkshmi ,J (2005): Women in Development in S.B. Verma(ed), Status of Wommen in India ,Deep and Deep Publication Pvt.Ltd, New Delhi. 6. Anand,Neeta(2005): Working Women :Issues and Problems. in S.B Verma(ed), Status of Women in Modern India ,Deep and Deep Publications ,New Delhi.

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