CENSUS OF INDIA .1951 SOUTH KANARA, THE NIL,GIRIS, MALABAR AND COIMBATORE DISTRICTS I VILLAGE-WISE MOTHER-TONGUE DATA FOR BILINGUAL OR MULTILINGUAL rALUKS BY J. L ARPUTHANATHAN, B.A., B.L., Superintendent of Census Operations, Madras PRINTED BY THE SUPERINTENDENT GOVERNMENT PRESS MADRA S 195$ VILLAGE-WISE MOTHER-TONGUE DATA FOR BI-LINGUAL OR MULTI-LINGUAL TALUKS IN SOUTH KANARA, THE NILGIRIS,', MALABAR AND COIMBATORE DISTRICTS. NOTE. The statements appended give figures in respect of in each. The slips relating to each rural census unit the principal mother-tongue Janguages for each censns were in separate bundles. In the case of census towns unit (~il1age or town) jn the taluks of Udipi, Karkal, and cities the slips relating to each ward of the census Mangalore, Puttur and Kasaragod of South Kanara town or city were kept distinct. In the Tabulation district, Gudalur, Ootacamund' 8>nd Coonoor of the office, the slips relating to each rural unit and urban Nilgiris district, \Vynaad and 1?alghat of Malabar ward were examined and the slips relating to displaced district and Pollachi, Kollegal and Gqhichettipalayam persons were separated. A 10 per cent sample was of Coimbatore district of Madras State, which are extracted from the rest of the slips. The remaining bi-lingutt! or multi-lingual areas. 90 per cent slips which were called "General slips" were kept distinct. These three categories of slips, viz., 2. The figures have been gathef'Cld by. me at the General, Sample and Displaced persons, were then inf:l.tance of the Government. of Indta who In consulta­ operated upon independently and village-wise popula­ tion with the Madras Goveriunerit instructed tion data in respect of rural areas and ward-wise me to o-ather the figures from the census enumeration population data in respect of the cities and towns of the slips of\he1951 Census which had been deposited for urban areas were gathered with break up for sex safe custody in the offices of the Collectors of tht:' categories and the eight livelihood classes prescribed districts concerned. in the Tabulation Plan. Mter obtaining the 'popula­ 3. The 1951 Census tables relating to mother-tongue tion figures for each village/ward the enumer~tion languages give only figures for the district as a whole. slips relating to the units in each census tract w-ere The figures for the district were compiled from those thrown together for sorting for tract-wise deta~ gathered for subdivisions of districts called" Census required for the several prescribed census tables. The Tracts". These census tracts are convenient divisions identity of the bundles of slips relating to each village, of the district adopted for facilitating the work of panchayat and municipality was lost and the groups of sorting the 1951 Census enumeration slips and compila­ bundles .were merged into the " Census Tract". The tion of the required statistics. In forming the census distinction between the General slips, Sample slips tracts the rural areas of each district were kept distinct and those relating to Displaced persons were, however, from the urban areas. The rural areas of each district maintained throughout. At the close of the sorting were divided into a number of units called" Rural operations, the census slips relating to each tract as Tracts" and the urban areas were divided into a distributed and bundled for the last item of the sorting number of units called "Urban Tracts". As far as operations were preserved intact under each of the possible the rural areas of each taluk were constituted three categories, General slips, Sample slips and slips into a single rural tract. The urban tracts were formed relating to Displaced persons. The bundles of slips out of the areas declared as cities and census towns in relating to the census tracts in each district were each district. Every city was treated as a separate put in boxes or gunny bags, sealed and transferred tract and was called a " City Tract". Towns other than to the Collector's office concerned for safe custody cities were grouped together to form" Non-City Urban there. It is from these slips that. the present .Tracts ". Wherever possible the towns other than mother-tongue language figures for each unit (village cities in each taluk were made into a single" Non-City or town) in each border taluk have been collected. Urban Tract". In cases where the towns in a taluk had The procedure adopted-by me is briefly indicated a total population of 'less than 50,000, the towns in below. more than one taluk were grouped together to form a 5. On receipt in my office, the slips relating to each non-city urban tract. tract were first counted to find out if the total number 4. Under the Tabula.tion Plan of 1951 Census, the of slips agreed with the total of the population figures enUDlP-ration slips of all census units in each district of the tract originally obtained and recorded. Care were received in the Regional Tabulation office con­ was also taken to verify with reference to the code cerned for being sorted there for arriving at the figures numbers of the taluks mentioned on the slips, if the fOF-the prescribed district tables. The census unit was slips relating to any other tract were mixed up with either a village or a panchayat or a municipality those of the tract to which the slips purported to inclusive of all hamlets or other villages comprised relate. ii Regular sorting for language figures was commenced In every case the identification was got confirmed by " only thereafter. The operations consisted of two reference to the relevant National Register of Citizens. stages. At the first stage the slips were sorted out Where such identification could not be secured the; for the units in the tract, viz., villages. panchayats and slips were treated as unidentifiable and shown as such municipalities. This sorting was don~ with reference in the statements appended. to the location code number of the VIllage entered at 8. The total of the language figures obtained at the the top of each slip. The number o~ sli~s representing present sorting in respect of the units in the rural the population figure thus obtam~d. m respect. of each village or panchayat or mUnICIpal town was tracts when compared with those arrived at at the 1951 compared with the popu!a:tion figure of. the same sorting for the same rural tracts showed some varia­ tions. Such comparison in respect of figures relating village, panchayat or mUlllCIpal town obtamed at ~he to urban units in a taluk now obtained is not possible original census sorting in o~der to ensure th?'t the slips of each village were all avaIlable. The sortmg for vil­ as only "tract" figures were compiled at the 1951 Census and not figures for urban units in a taluk and as lages thus made was checked ce~t per cent by perso~s specially appointed as CompIler-checkers. A faIT already pointed out in paragraph 3 8upra a non-city percentage of the work done by the . sorters and urban tract invariably comprised towns in more than one taluk. The reason for the differenc~ in the rural Compiler-checkers was also checked by me al1d by tracts is this- my Deputy Superintendent. In some cases the enumerator 'had omitted to 6. At the second stage of sorting the slips relating mark against the appropriate question the symbol to each village, panchayat or municipality were sorted relating to the mother-tongue language of the indivi­ out for the principal mother-tongue lan~uages of the taluk. The slips relating to persons WIth languages dual represented by the slip. In some cases the other than the principal: mother-tongue languages were symbol marked was etther unintelligible or meaning­ less. For example, the language symbol marked by kept separate and counted. At this stage also a cent some; enumerators in the case of children was ' 0 '. per cent check of the work done by the sorters was According to the instructions issued for the original effe(lted by the checkers. The check rel~ted not only census sorting, the language of the individual in whose to language sorting but also to the countmg done. A case there is no entry in the slip should be taken as the, large percentage, of the work done by the sorters and language of the district, 'unless the entries relating' Compiler-checkers at this stage also was over-checked to other members of the same household provided a by me and by my Deputy Superintendent. The different indication specifically. In the course of the figures thus obtained for each of the principal speedy sorting done in 1951 the sorters naturally languages and "Other languages" were posted for found little time to look up the slips relating to other the villages and towns in each taluk. The figures members of the household or lost sight of the omission shown in the statements appended have thus been at the initial checking stage and sorted such slips under arrived at after careful sorting and a close cent per cent the language of the district. At the present sorting, check at each stage. I instructed the sorters and Compiler-checkers to fix 7. The population figures obtained for each village the exact mother-tongue in such cases by tracing a or panchayat or municipality agreed. with those slip relating to another member of the same household obtai,ned at the original census sorting in most cases. and wherever this could not be done the slips were Differences were noticed only in a few cases.