KARUR DISTRICT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY DISTRICT HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT DISTRICT

Introduction  is an administrative unit of State in southern . The city of Karur is the district headquarters.  The district is located in the banks of river Cauveri and Amaravathi.  Initially, Karur district was carved out of the composite Tiruchirapalli district, consisting of three taluks viz., Karur, Kulithalai and Manaparai. Karur district was formed vide Government Order 913 dated 30.10.1995.  A separate Karur district was formed on 30th September 1995 by trifurcating Thiruchirapalli district.  The district has been divided into two Revenue Divisions Karur and Kulithalai. The district has five taluks of Aravakuruchi, Kadavur, Karur, Krishnarayapuram and Kulithalai. The district consists of eight blocks, namely, Aravakuruchi, Kadavur, Krishnarayapuram, Thanthoni, K.Paramathy, Karur, Kulithalai and Thogaimalai.  The district has 203 revenue villages, 158 village Panchayats, 4 municipalities (Inamkarur, Karur, Kulithalai and Thanthoni) and 11 town Panchayats (TNPL ,

1 Punjaipugalur, Nangavaram, Krishnarayapuram, Pallapatti, Aravakurichi, Punjai Thottakurichi, P.J.Cholapuram, Puliyur, Marudur and Uppidamangalam). Geography

 The geographical position of the district lies between North Latitude 11.000 to 12.000; from 77.280 to 77.500 East Longitude and an altitude of 122 metres from MSL.  The district has an area of 2895.57 km². It is bounded by Namakkal district in the north, Dindigul district in the south, Tiruchirapalli district on the east and Erode district on the west; it is the most centrally located district in Tamil Nadu.  The topography of the district is almost plain except Rengamalai hills in extreme south of - Tipasamymalai and Vellimalai are in Kulithalai Taluk.  Utilization of land area in the district for agriculture purpose is up to 44.59 percent. 4.76 percent of the land area remains as other uncultivated land. 2.74 percent is forest area. Topography

 The Rangamalai hills and Kadavur hills occurring in the southern side of the district constitutes the remnants of the much denuded Eastern Ghats and rise to heights of over 1031 m above mean sea level.

2  From these hills the district slopes gently towards north east and forms a vast stretch of plain country till the eastern boarder of the district.  There are numerous small residual hills represented by Ayyarmalai, Thanthonimalai and Velayuthampalayam hills. The general elevation of the area is ranging between 100 m and 200m above mean sea level. Soil Condition

 The soils of Karur district can be broadly classified into 4 major soils types viz., Red Soil, Thin Red Soil, Red Loam and River Alluvium Soil. Red soil is the predominant one covering major part of the district followed by thin Red soil and Red loam.  Black soil is the predominant soil type in this district accounting for 35.51 percent followed by laterite soil for 23.85 percent.  The red soils are predominantly seen in Kadavur, Kulithalai, Krishnarayapuram, Thanthoni and Thogamalai blocks. The thin red soils are seen in Aravakurichi and K.Paramathiy blocks.  Major portion of the Karur block is covered by red loam. The remaining 20.31 percent is sandy and alluvium soil. Climate

 The district enjoys a tropical climate. The period from March to May is generally hot and

3 dry. The weather is pleasant during the period from November to January. Usually mornings are more humid than afternoons.  The relative humidity is generally between 40 and 80%. But in the period from February to July the air is comparatively drier in the afternoon.  The highest temperature is observed in early May to early June usually about 34°C, though it usually exceeds 38°C for a few days. Average daily temperature during January is around 23 °C, though the temperature rarely falls below 17 °C. Status of Human Development

 The basic objective of development is to create an enabling environment for people to enjoy long, healthy and creative lives. Human development is a process of enlarging people’s choices.  Karur (0.85) K. Paramathi and Aravakurichi (0.78) are top three blocks in HDI in Karur district.  The bottom three blocks in HDI are Krishnarayapuram (0.52), Kadavur (0.37) and Thogaimalai (0.37). Thogaimalai occupies the last rank among the eight blocks in the district for reasons relating to access to drinking water, access to electricity, access to pucca houses, IMR, MMR, U5MR and literacy rate.  Across the eight blocks in Karur district, the top three blocks which have low gender

4 inequality are K.Paramathy (.02), Aravakurchi (0.02) and Karur (0.04). The bottom three blocks with high gender inequality are Kulithalai (0.08). Kadavur (0.08) and Thogaimalai (0.09).  Child Development Index is a positive index and it is based on two dimensions namely Health and Education. In 2013, three blocks which were at the top in Child Development Index are Karur (0.80). Kulithalai (0.61) and Kadavur (0.58).  The bottom three blocks in Child Development Index (CDI) were Thanthoni (0.52). Krishnarayapuram (0.50) and K. Paramathy (.047). Krishnarayapuram and K.Paramathy have a severe problem of malnourishment. In Thanthoni, Aravakurichi, Kadavur blocks, the sex ratio is less than 950.  In the case of education, children never enrolled in school are low in the entire district, except in K. Paramathy block. Thanthoni block has lower enrolment at secondary level than other blocks for reasons of accessibility.  Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) is calculated in terms of health, education and standard of living dimensions.  There are wide disparities in MPI across the blocks. Karur with MPI of 0.16 and Krishnarayapuram with MPI of 0.71.  The top three blocks with lower MPI value are Karur (0.16) Thanthoni (0.35) and K.Paramathy (0.38).

5  The bottom three blocks with higher MPI value are Thogaimalai (0.65). Kadavur (0.69) and Krishnarayapuram (0.71).  Health dimension has correlation with poverty. High range of infant mortality in K. Paramathy block has positive correlation with child malnourishment.  Krishnarayapuram, Thogaimalai and Kulithalai blocks with high order birth rate have the link with malnourishment.  Thogaimalai, Aravakuruchi and Kadavur blocks show higher rate of dropout at secondary level. has very low standard of living. Employment, Income and poverty

 The economy of Karur is based on agriculture as well as industry.  Nearly 45% percent of the land is utilized for agricultural purposes.  A number of industries in Karur district provide employment to a large number of people.  In 2011, the working population in Karur was 5.43 lakhs.  The Work Participation Rate (WPR) in 2011 was 51.04.  The percentage of main workers and marginal workers in total workforce in 2011 was 93.6 and 6.4 respectively.  The percentage of non – workers in 2011 was 48.96. A major reason for the relatively large

6 share in non–workers is declining in rural livelihoods, mainly in agriculture.  Among the blocks, the WPR declined from 60.6 percent in 2001 to 48.4 percent in 2011 in Kulithalai block. Kulithalai is mainly an agrarian block with rural background. With decline in jobs in agriculture and availability of only a few non-farm jobs, Kulithalai witnessed sharp reduction in WPR over the period.  Male and female work participation rate is higher in rural areas than in urban areas. In urban areas, male and female WPR have been witnessing an increasing trend over the period, 2001 to 2011, male WPR increased from 60.52% to 60.79% and female WPR increased from 27.34% to 27.40%.  Male WPR is higher than female WPR both in rural and urban areas.  In 2011, household Industrial and other worker’s categories constituted 43.82 percent of total workers; the percentage of agricultural labourer was 37.88 and cultivators formed 18.29 percent of workers.  While cultivators declined from 22.98 percent in 2001 to 18.29 percent in 2011, agricultural labourers increased from 33.80 percent in 2001 to 37.88 percent in 2011. It is possible that because of the failure of agriculture and transfer of land from agricultural to non – agricultural uses (e.g. industrial and real

7 estate), some of the cultivators would have become agricultural labourers for their livelihood.  The continuous efforts by labour Department have resulted in reducing child labour to a great extent in the district.  Over the period, 2007-08 to 2013-14, 1,18,661 candidates registered with District Employment Exchange office. But only 2,166 candidates got placement.  The per capita income of the district at 2004- 05 constant prices increased from Rs. 48, 793 in 2006 – 07 to Rs. 71, 795 in 2011-12. Over the period 2006-07 to 2011-12, it increased in a sustained manner.  Inter – block variations in the utilization of benefits of MGNREA are observed.  During 2010-11, the contribution of primary, secondary and tertiary sectors to GDDP of Karur district was 24.31 percent, 24.37 percent and 57.11 percent respectively.  About 56 percent of total labourers depended upon the primary sector, especially agriculture, for their livelihood.  During 2013-14, 32.18 percent of households we Below Poverty Line (BPL) in Karur district. There are wide inter – block variations in the proportion of households BPL in the district.  As poverty is mainly due to lack of income, there is need for focussing on the BPL

8 households, especially in blocks like K.Paramathy to lift the people from the vicious circle of poverty by improving their lives in various dimensions of human development. Demography, Health and Nutrition

 The population of Karur district in 2011 was 10,64,493.  The population growth rate of the district during 2001 and 2011 was 13.77 percent.  Karur block, being the district headquarters and industrial centre, had the highest population (3,55,610) in the district.  The sex ratio of the district in 2011 was 1015. The lowest sex ratio was found in Krishnarayapuram (996) block.  The population density of the district in 2011 was 367. It increased from 323 in 2001.  There are wide variations in population density across the blocks. In 2011, the population density of Karur block was 1711, which was the highest in the district; K.Paramathy had the lowest population density (152).  The urban based blocks had higher density than the rural blocks.  The scheduled caste population in the district constituted 22.3 percent.  Krishnarayapuram had the highest percentage of SC population (29 percent).

9  The Crude Birth Rate (CBR) of Karur district declined from 14.2 percent in 2009 to 13.8 percent in 2011 -12 and further declined to 12.5 in 2013-14.  Thogaimalai, Krishnarayapuram, Kadavur and Aravakuruchi blocks had higher CBR than that of the district in 2013-14.  The Crude Death (CDR) of the district decreased from 5.4 percent in 2009 to 5.2 percent in 2013 – 14.  K. Paramathy (7.6 percent), Kulithalai (6.6 percent) Kadavur (6.5 percent) and Krishnarayapuram had higher rate of CDR than the CDR of the district. Of all the blocks, K.Paramathy is a matter of concern in the case of CDR.  The sex ratio of the district increased from 1010 in 2001 to 1015 in 2015.  Kulithalai block had the highest sex ratio (1017) in 2011 in the district.  Thanthoni (999), and Krishnarayapuram (996) blocks had lower sex ratio than that of the district.  In all the blocks, sex ratio increased over the period 2001 and 2011. That is a positive trend in gender development.  Child sex ratio of the district increased from 930 in 2001 to 939 in 2011. Though there is increase in child sex ratio, it is low when

10 compared with the sex ratio of the district (1015).  The Life Expectancy at Birth (LEB) of Karur during 2013-14 was 69.6. The LEB of female is higher (71.7) than that of the male (67.8) during 2013-14.  The Infant Mortality Ratio (IMR) of the district during 2013-14 was 23 and it was higher than the state IMR (21) during the year. Kulithalai and Kaduvur recorded higher IMR of 24.3 and 23.3 during 2013-14.  The Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) of the district during 2013-14 was 98. Though this rate is somewhat high, it is encouraging to note that the MMR of 135 of the district in 2009 declined to 98 in 2013-14.  In Karur block, the MMR declined from 178 in 2009 to 65 in 2013-14 and in Thanthoni block, the MMR declined from 208 to 50 during the respective years.  But in Thogaimalai block, the MMR steeply increased from 125 in 2009 to 190 in 2013- 14 and Kulithalai block also witnessed an increase from 152 in 2009 to 160 in 2013-14 This is a matter of concern and it needs quick and effective measures to reduce the MMR.  It is reported that 40 per cent of all maternal deaths are due to hemorrhaging.  Karur district attained almost 100 percent of institutional deliveries.

11  During 2013-14, private hospitals accounted for the largest percentage of deliveries (42.5 percent) while government hospitals accounted for 34.0 percent of deliveries. Primary Health Centres accounted for 23.2 percent of deliveries. A very small percentage of institutional deliveries took place at Sub- health Centre (0.2 percent) and Home (0.2 percent).  During 2013-14, Karur district had a still birth rate of eleven (11). But Krishnarayapuram (13.9) Kadavur (13.8) and Thogaimalai (13.1) had higher still birth rate during 2013-14.  In Karur district, no female infanticide was recorded. But the child sex ratio (939 in 2011) is a matter of concern.  The nutritional status of children below 5 years reveals that during 2013-14, 17.78 percent of children in Karur district suffered from malnourishment across the blocks.  Kadavur (23.72) Kulithalai (23.38%) Aravakuruchi (21.21) and Krishnarayapuram (20.73) had higher percentage of malnourished children than the district average during 2013-14. A large number of underweight children, poverty, food habit and lack of breastfeeding are the reasons for higher rate of malnourished children in these blocks.  It is distressing to note that the percentage of children who took IFA tablets declined from 53 percent in 2011-12 to 30.4 percent in 2013-

12 14. The district administration should look into the reasons for the decline and take appropriate steps to increase the IFA tablet intake among children.  Water supply is an important non – nutritional factor that has an impact on nutrition. While 99 percent of habitations were covered with access to safe drinking water during 2013- 14, only 61 percent of habitations had drinking water facility in Thanthoni block.  Sanitation is another important non - nutritional factor that has impact on nutrition. During 2013-14, 63 percent of households had toilet facilities in Karur district.  Aravakurichi (73.40 percent), Thogaimalai (71.33 percent) and Thanthoni (70.27 percent) blocks had higher percentage of households with toilet facilities than other blocks in the district. Kadavur (33.62 percent) block had the lowest percentage of households with toilet facilities.  HIV positive persons in the district registered a decrease from 294 for male and 324 for female in 2007 to 176 for male and 174 for female in 2013-14.  Positive TB persons increased from 529 in 2007 to 610 in 2013-14.  Leprosy incidence increased from 33 in 2007 to 50 in 2013-14. This is a matter of concern

13 and effective steps are to be taken by the administration to arrest this trend.  The district has almost 100 percent institutional deliveries.  In 2007, Karur was selected as an IMAI pilot district by the World Health Organization and solidarity and Action against the HIV infection in India. With support from the District collectorate and Tamil Nadu AIDS control Society, the IMAI initiative aims at facilitating decentralization of HIV care at the district and sub-district level. Literacy and Education

 The overall literacy rate of Karur district in 2001 was 75.6 percent, of which the male and the female literacy rate was 84.5 percent and 66.9 percent respectively.  The literacy rate of the district in 2011 was lower than that of the state. (80.33 percent).  The gender gap in literacy (17.6 percent) is higher than that of the state.  The Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in primary education in Karur district is 100.14 in 2013- 14.The GER of girls in the district in 2013-14 is slightly higher (100.19) than that of boys (100.09) In 2013-14, Aravakurichy block (98.0) lags behind other blocks in GER at primary level.  The completion rate at primary level during 2013-14 in the district was 97.71. The

14 completion rate of girls (98.04) in 2011 is higher than that of boys (97.28)  The dropout rate at primary level during 2013- 14 is 1.23. The dropout rate of boys at primary level. (1.26) is slightly higher than that of the girls (1.20) during 2013-14.  The government welfare programmes have helped significantly in increasing enrolment and in reducing the dropout rate.  The Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) at upper primary level in Karur district is 101.69 in 2013-14. The positive trend of girls GER of more than 100 percent in all the blocks in the district is a welcome feature.  The transition rate from upper primary to secondary level in the district increased from 97.65 percent in 2012-13 to 98.31 percent in 2013-14. K.Paramathy block has shown remarkable increase in transition rate from 95.02 in 2012-13 to 98.72 in 2013-14.  In Thogaimalai, Kadavur and Krishnarayapuram blocks the transition rate in 2013-14 declined when compared with that of 2012-13.  The dropout rate at upper primary level in 2013-14 is 1.98 percent. The dropout rate of girls (1.95%) is slightly lower than that of the boys (2.00). Kadavur (3.10%) Aravakurichy 3.07% and, Kulithalai (2.17%) blocks have higher percentage of dropouts than the district average.

15  Access to universal elementary education primary depends upon the density of the primary schools in relation to inhabitants.  During 2013-14, for 2487 habitations, there were 641 primary schools and 191upper primary school in the district.  Only 38 percent of the habitations have a school in their habitation.  Out of 8 blocks, Aravakurichi, K.Paramathy and Thogaimalai have lower accessibility to primary and upper primary schools.  The Pupil – Teacher Ratio (PTR) in primary and upper – primary school in the district during 2013-14 was 21:1 and 22:1 respectively.  The presence of large number of private schools is one of the major reasons for lower PTR in the district at primary and upper primary level.  The Pupil School Ratio is 201:1 and 252:1 at primary and upper primary level respectively during 2013-14.  The GER in secondary education was 84.9 percent during 2013-14 in the district.  Kulithalai (141.42). Aravakurichy (141.04) and Thanthoni (130.22) had very high GER during 2013-14.It is distressing to note that Kadavur block had very low GER (66.94) during 2013-14.

16  The dropout rate in secondary education was 8.14 during 2013-14.The highest dropout rate was recorder in Krishnarayapuram block (19) followed by Kulithalai (17) blocks. The lowest dropout rate is recorded in Thanthoni (5) followed by Karur (6) during 2013-14.  Out of 527 primary schools, 77 percent schools have 3 class rooms and 23 percent schools have more than 3 class rooms.  The availability of toilet facilities in the primary schools needs attention for improvement. Totally, 122 schools are without toilets and 43 schools are without separate toilet for girls during 2013-14.  During 2013-14, 22 schools were without electricity and 7 schools were without compound wall.  Out of 260 government upper primary schools, 29 schools had only three class rooms and 231 schools, have more than three classrooms. There was no toilet facility for boys and girls in 17 schools and three schools had no electricity.  It is encouraging to note that all upper primary schools have drinking water facility.  In Karur district, during 2013-14, there were 26 DADW hostels with 1274 inmates  In Karur district, there are 11 Arts and Science college in 2013-14.

17  In Karur district, during 2013-14, there were four engineering colleges and 6 polytechnics. Aravakurichi, Krishnarayapuram and Kadavur blocks do not have any engineering college or polytechnic. Gender

 In the district, Aravakurichi (0.02) K. Paramathy (0.02) and Karur (0.04) are the top three blocks with low gender inequality.  Kulithalai (0.08) Kadavur (0.08) and Thogaimalai (0.09) are the bottom three blocks with relatively high gender inequality in the district.  In Krishnarayapuram, Kadavur and Kulithalai blocks, women availed more credit under SHG programme. During 2013-14, there were 5367 SHGs in Karur district with a membership of 64,404 and they availed credit running to Rs. 11,441 lakhs.  According to 2011 census, the work participation rate (WPR) of women in the district was 39.95, whereas the WPR for men was 62.30.  The WPR of women in the district ranges from 33.33 percent in Karur block to 47.04 percent in Kadavur.  We find that there is wide disparity in the WPR of male and female in the district. There is feminization of labour in agriculture than in non – agricultural sector.

18  The female employment percentage in government employment and in local bodies has been exhibiting an increasing trend.During 2013-14, out of 7899 government employees, female employees numbered 5024 and in Local Bodies, out of 3162 employees, 1752, were women.  Local body elections in both rural and urban areas were held in Tamil Nadu in 2011. Out of 1996 elected representatives 690 were women members. This constitutes 35.46 percent as against 33 percent reservation for women. Social security  The percentage of population aged 60+ constituted 10.55 percent in Karur district in 2011.  In Karur district, during 2013-14, 37668 aged persons were provided financial assistance. Out of them, 26811 received old age pension, 2747 got pension for differently-abled, and 8110 women received pension under the category of destitute widows and deserted wives.  Old age pensioners can take meals at Noon Meal programme centers. They get 2 kg of rice free of cost. Those who do not take meal at noon meal center, get 4 kg of rice per month free of cost.  During 2013-14, marriage assistance was provided to 2113 women in the district.

19  Maternity Assistance was provided to 8198 women in the district during 2013-14.  In 2011, 14,042 differently-abled persons received financial assistance.  During 2013-14, 114 crimes were reported against women in the district. Kidnapping and abduction’ (56) followed ‘cruelty by husband and his relatives’ (22) are reported as the largest number of crimes against women. Infrastructure

 Infrastructure includes roads, electricity, communication system, financial system, insurance, transport facilities, river basins and their catchment areas, and mineral wealth.  The total road network of the district in 2013- 14 is 4278.63 km.  More than 50 percent of road length falls under the mud road category in K.Paramathy, and Kadavur blocks.  Electricity is there in 200 revenue villages, 1831 hamlets and towns. Nearly 16.87 lakh population enjoy the benefits of electrification in the district.  During 2013-14, the district had 63 Telephone Exchanges, 2054 pcos and 38,197 landlines. Karur block had the largest number of Telephone exchanges (28). PCOs (810) and landlines (24920) in the district. Kadavur block had the lowest number of Telephone

20 Exchanges (2)K. Paramathy block had the lowest number of PCOs (82) in the district. Aravakurichi had only 420 landlines. It is the lowest number across the blocks.  Karur is the home city of India’s very old private scheduled Commercial Banks, namely Karur Vysya Bank and Lakshmi Vilas Bank. Besides these banks, Karur district also has Bank of India, Indian Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and State Bank of India, Union Bank, Indus land Bank, and Corporation Bank with 40 bank branches.  There are 85721 account holders in commercial banks in the district.  In Karur district, there are 84 cooperative societies during 2013-14 with a membership of 195363.  During 2012-13, three insurance companies, namely LIC of India, United India and National Insurance Corporation Ltd were functioning in Karur district and 64, 585 policies were issued.  The State has fairly good road, rail and air transport facilities.  Roadways are the major mode of transport in Karur district.  The developed road transport in the district has facilitated well established industries and trading.

21  Cauvery is a major river flowing on northern and western boundaries. Amaravathi river runs through Karur and confluences with Cauvery at Nerur. There are Kudaganaru, Narganji rivers which flow during rainy days.

 Karur district is rich in mineral wealth. It makes sizable contribution to district’s GDDP.

 Karur is a major textile centre. The town contributes around Rs. 6000 crore in foreign exchange through direct and indirect exports.

 Karur Textile Park Limited has been established at a cost of Rs. 130 crore.

Conclusion

 The Karur District Human Development Report (DHDR) reveals that there are significant inter – block disparities in income, poverty, employment, education, health, and gender inequality, social security and infrastructure.

 Steps must be taken to increase child sex ratio to reduce gender inequality.

 The district administration should focus on Thogaimalai, Kadavur and Krishnarayapuram blocks where the Multi Dimension Poverty index is very high. The households in these blocks should be brought above poverty.

 Vocational skills should be provided for those in school and out of school so that they can

22 seek jobs in the non – farm sector because of the decline in work opportunities in the agricultural sector.  More emphasis should be placed on employment generation schemes. In the poverty alleviation programmes, greater emphasis should be laid on asset creation rather than on employment generation.  There is need for intensification of SHG movement with effective fund flow and proper utilization of fund. Sustainable growth of SHGs will go a long way in the empowerment of women in general, and in improving the livelihood of poor women in particular.

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